Monitor is an essential part of computer to display information on the screen; its size varies from PC to PC. Usually, the monitor is large enough for normal work. However, if users want to watch movies from a distance, they may want to get a larger monitor. Some of them start to think whether they can use TV as monitor or not.
What is computer monitor?
Actually, it’s an output device which is used to display information in pictorial form. Monitor is an essential hardware component of computer; it mainly consists of casing, circuitry, visual display, and power supply. A monitor can be connected to computer via different proprietary connectors and signals: VGA, HDMI, DVI, Thunderbolt, etc.
When needing a larger computer monitor, some people would think of buying a new one; this may be a waste of money. Why not use TV as monitor? TVs and monitors are very similar in appearance and functionality; the formatter has a much larger display screen than the latter.
The question is can you really use a TV as a computer monitor and how to do it. The following content covers all.
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Can You Use a TV as a Computer Monitor
- Using TV as monitor is a good choice if you only want to display some pictures, watch some videos & movies, or play games on TV.
- However, you shouldn’t consider using a TV as a monitor if you need to send a few emails, use a lot of applications, and even do some work in Photoshop.
In short, if you are an entertainment user, you can connect TV to computer; but if you are a hard working user, you shouldn’t use TV to work as the monitor.
How to Use TV as Monitor
First step: check the connections.
You must make sure that there’re the right ports to make TV compatible with the computer. Luckily, the HDMI could do the job. Almost all the modern TVs are equipped with a least one HDMI port. As for the computers, a lot of graphics cards using on it have HDMI ports, especially the dedicated GPU.
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Therefore, you should go to check whether there’s HDMI port on both the TV and the target computer. This is the easiest connection between them.
If the TV or computer (or both of them) doesn’t include an HDMI port, you may consider using an adapter (such as HDMI to DVI). But you need to know that this may increase the chances of input lag, lower video quality, and related issues.
Second step: connect your TV directly to computer through the HDMI port (or via an adapter).
Third step: set up your computer.
- Open Settings by pressing Windows + I .
- Select System from the list.
- Make sure Display is selected in the left pane.
- Scroll down to find the Multiple displays section.
- Click on the Advanced display settings link.
- Click Display adapter properties for Display 1.
- Click on the List All Modes button.
- Select a proper resolution that matches your TV.
- Click on the OK button to confirm.
The Best 4k TVs for PC Monitors
Which are the best TVs to use as PC monitors? According to the result of tests and studies, there are 5 TVs to choose when you want to use TV as monitor.
- Hisense 65H9G: a brighter TV to use.
- LG 43UN7300PUF: a smaller TV to use.
- Hisense 55H8G: best budget TV to use.
- Sony XBR43X800H: the best small TV to use.
- Samsung QN65Q80TAFXZC: the best large TV to use.