TV monitor any good with sim racing?

Alexis Clapano · Dec 11, 2014

Hi,

Im in the process of upgrading my 3 monitor setup to a bigger one (still 3 way) and is thinking of going to a TV monitor which is the cheaper way to go compared to a full pledge PC monitor (size : price).

The TV monitor I am looking at has a native res of 1366x768 but is capable of 1080 using an HDMI. It has a respond time of 6.5 ms.

Feedback would be highly appreciated.

Chris Dawson · Dec 11, 2014

6.5 ms will be the response time of the pixels (grey to grey usually).

The useful value you need to know is the overall response time of the panel and electronics. Lots of TV's add in signal processing and possibly scaling if you don't run at the panels native resolution (why would you want to run 1080p on a 1366x768 panel?) which all add up to a much greater response time than just the pixels themselves.

HUM24H · Dec 11, 2014

Alexis Clapano said:
Hi,

Im in the process of upgrading my 3 monitor setup to a bigger one (still 3 way) and is thinking of going to a TV monitor which is the cheaper way to go compared to a full pledge PC monitor (size : price).

The TV monitor I am looking at has a native res of 1366x768 but is capable of 1080 using an HDMI. It has a respond time of 6.5 ms.

Feedback would be highly appreciated.

I'm running a single 1080p 32" TV and if i'm honest I have enjoyed it, for Sim Racing & regular gaming I don't notice the extra response times over a standard 2ms Monitor. As for triple screen TV's, it would be good but the one thing I have noticed while using my TV is that while games look good, normal day to day stuff does not look as good as it did on a Monitor. So I probably would say you can upgrade to 32" Monitors (BenQ or Samsung) which have a resolution of 2560x1440 but triple TV's may be ok depending on how close you are sitting to them.

As you also have to remember that with TV's vs Monitors is that most Monitor sizes (Excluding 1080p 27") have close to optimal resolutions where as TV's, especially when you go larger the resolution still stays the same (except 4K

) so when viewing closer it can look worse or fuzzy to a degree. With the response times, it is always better to get a monitor with a fast response and possibly faster refresh as well.

But in the end its whether these things really affect you, if you find that standing or sitting close to a TV doesnt look that good and also that it isnt very responsive then I would suggest not to go for triple TV's.

Connor Caple · Dec 11, 2014

I currently have a single Hitachi 40" 1080P TV and sit very close to it. The picture is sharp and I enjoy the sheer size of it for Sim Racing.

I run it in 'Game' mode so it has no added signal processing to induce lag.

HUM24H · Dec 11, 2014

Connor Caple said:
I currently have a single Hitachi 40" 1080P TV and sit very close to it. The picture is sharp and I enjoy the sheer size of it for Sim Racing.

I run it in 'Game' mode so it has no added signal processing to induce lag.

Yeah I have my 32" setup in Game Mode and it does look good but for some TV's I have had sitting close can cause the picture to be not as good as if you sit at the correct distance for TV's.

Alexis Clapano · Dec 12, 2014

The reason why i want to run a native 1366x786 on 1080 is for the picture to be as sharp as possible but then I really dont know what will happen if I run it that way thus the reason why I am asking feedback from people who have tried that setup.

I have tried racing on one monitor but pressing a button to look left/right is not my thing. I lose focus. Compared to a triple screen setup, I dont have to do that at least on most cases.

I do appreciate the feedback guys, might just have to settle with a triple 27" pc monitor setup or just wait for Oculus Rift consumer version (just dont like the idea of not able to see what is actually around you).

Chris Dawson · Dec 12, 2014

The sharpest possible picture is for the display to be run at its native resolution; it can't show 1080 so sending it a 1080 (or 4k) signal to it will not make it show more information than it is capable of.

This will result in a worse image as the TV's scaler will have to re-scale the image to fit on the screen generally resulting in lower image quality, increased lag due to the scaling operation, and your graphics card getting lower framerates as it is outputting a higher resolution image than you can actually display.

azwris · Dec 13, 2014

very interesting thread, I'm also looking for a good TV for simracing but so may different opinions overall. I believe the only way to be sure is to test live.

Boby Kim · Dec 14, 2014

Philips should be on the verge to release the BDM4065UC 40 inch PC monitor with 3840x2160 resolution which comes close to a 24 inch full hd.

Blkout · Dec 15, 2014

Pixel response time and input delay are two different things. Pixel response time will affect how much blurring you're seeing when the scene is in motion. Input delay will affect how long it takes from the time you make an input into the game and when the display can start to make that change. Its possible to have a 5ms response time which would be almost blur free for most people and yet still have 120ms input delay which would mean you have a noticeable lag between your inputs and what the display is showing. Many TV's as opposed to monitors have more input delay. Some are better than others. That being said, your brain has a remarkable way of adapting to the display, even if it has shortcomings and you will learn to adapt to it as if it were completely normal.

joecronk · Jan 29, 2015

Hi guys I have a 47 inch vizio with hdtv,3d,connect to the internet,hdmi, I love the tv it also has game mode but what I need is some thing to bolt the tv flat screen to, because I have it setting on a small dresser like and I cant get close enough to the tv. Becaues my racing chair and my thrustmaster pedal set hits the dresser stand, I need a stand that will let my pedal set slide under neith so I can get closer to my tv I don't want to mount it to the wall just a stand with nothing to get in my way like my pedales and my racing cock pit. Please help thanks joe cronk

Pär Öqvist · Jan 30, 2015

Not seeing what is around you is the whole point. But I see what you mean there is big chances of uncanney valley syndrome with virtual arms etc

I run on a 50" Sony W6. Currently I have it at about a metre distance I do sacrifice image quality quite a bit pixel grid get very apparent on such a large panel. So 1366x768 I did run that on a 32" but that I wanted 1,5 metre away or more. But today I would maybe sacrifice image quality and put it close. That one on similar distance has a similar pixel grid effect as my 50" at 1080p. Maybe a bit worse. Just pick up the calculator I am to tired to count

Size do a lot for immersion that´s for sure. I think even more so with our real wheels then in virtual reality. It got totally ridiculous when I got my 360 mm rim and raced with my 24p monitors. The wheel was as wide as the monitor it just looks and feels wrong. If I run my shrinken 280mm rim my 50" tv give kind of an accurately scaled windshield lol.

Rift is on the horison here also. I would never go back to tiny 24 or 27" monitors though triple monitor or not.