What Should I Get a TV Or a Monitor For Gaming

It’s a very commonly asked question among gamers and individuals users being “what's better for gaming a tv or getting a monitor.” To be said, console gamers tend to play traditionally, TVs and Pc gamers tend to mostly play on monitors. But is either method truly better for gaming and is there even a real difference? We are going to answer all these questions in this article. The following is a guest post that was presented by Finn Mclaren, who also has his known site “Gaming Geek Innovation” where he and his team talk about all things gaming and new technology.

TV vs Monitor For Gaming

On the surface, Monitors and TVs are pretty similar, although the differences begin to shine on specific internal devices. As monitors usually are smaller in size, they have higher pixel density and refresh rates. Unfortunately, they also have narrow viewing angles and normally don’t have that greater of color reproduction when compared to TVs.

TVs are usually bigger and tend to have greater focused specification such as better color reproduction and viewing experience. Rather than sheer pixel density or responsiveness and due to the large frame, they tend to have larger viewing wide angles.

TV vs Monitor Image Quality

As for resolution, most modern TVs are created with about 1080p or 4K, while monitors have all those options and some come with 1440p resolution capacity. As stated previously, a TV tends to have a better viewing experience than an average monitor. However, with the overflow of IPS monitors within the market, this battle has become more evenly matched.

Other specifications such as HDR (High Dynamic Range), that most monitors don’t even have due to pricing reasons, offer better viewing abilities.

TV vs Monitor Input Lag

Some gamers can have a terrible experience within their systems if their HDTV doesn’t have a “Game Mode” that implies its own dedicated graphics processing hardware to handle the higher-resolution signals, make images look cleaner and make the movement look smoother.

Monitors don’t need these “Game Mode” and tend to perform better within this category by default. 144HZ monitors become even better at reducing input lag than any comparable TVs. Most monitors fall between 1ms to 5ms although there are some cheaper, larger, or IPS displays that are generally slower. As for TVs, these tend to start at about 5ms with some even going up to 20ms. But this parameter tends to be generally less if there is the “Game mode” feature.

Refresh Rate & Sync Technologies

Beginning with Sync tech, Specifically, G-Sync and FreeSync. there are various types of technology being Nvidia and AMD. Their main difference lies in moving screen tearing by dynamically matching refresh rate to framerate. Basically, these two various technologies work the same way with both being widely-supported in the higher end of gaming monitors. Some higher model TVs do support G-Sync and FreeSync, but these are commonly on the pricier end.

As for a monitor, if you have a 120Hz monitor, these are more common and reasonably priced. If you have this monitor type, it will offer a display that refreshes rate natively and is capable of displaying extra frames rendered by your PC. When you’re in the game using a 120HZ Tv, you may experience the “soap opera effect” meaning you won’t get all the benefits of 120Hz comes with. The reason is that TV has a high refresh rate with technology such as “interpolation”. Its main focus is to reduce ghosting and make motion look smoother, which results in the “soap opera effect”, while a TV show or movie looks too smooth to be natural, though this isn’t a concern with gaming.

Final Things To Remember On A Tv Or A Monitor For Gaming

Image Quality & HDR

TVs are able to give a better viewing experience and also better HDR support compared to the average monitor. For simply viewing purposes, TV is definitely a winner. However, if you are willing to spend more on your monitor, it may outweigh the TV.

Input Lag

Within this category and aspect, monitors dominate as even the most basic monitor comes with a pretty decent speed, while high-end monitors widen the gap even more in terms of response times and overall input latency.

High Refresh Rate & Sync Technologies

If you just want to play at a high refresh rate and actually make use of framerates above 60, a monitor is an obvious choice. As for TVs, they only use a refresh rate called interpolation, not just raw visual performance.

Sync Technologies are supported by both TVs and monitors but are much more affordable on the latter than the former. Be advised, these are more advanced technological features that come with a hefty price premium over displays.

Usability

TVs mostly provide a better experience as they do offer larger viewing distances and wider viewing angles.

Conclusion

Finally, monitors are the better choice for pure gaming performance featuring faster latency and speed. But if you aren’t a hardcore gamer and just want to play on your couch, a TV may be better for you as they do provide for greater comfort.