What's the best screen for both my Playstation 2 and my PC computer games?

Question

LCD TV or widescreen computer monitor? I want one screen to use both on.

Answer 1

I'd use a LCD TV, thus LCD TVs are High Definition ready, they are much better for Multimedia. You have to keep in mind 4 points when buying a LCD TV:
1. The Inputs and Outputs it has. Make sure it has an input for your PC, in this case.

2. Response time. The lower the better. This is the time the TV spend processing graphics and presenting them.

3. Aspect Ratio. Right now the better is 16:9, which is the wide format.

4. Contrast ratio. The higher the better. A 4000:1 would be great. The contrast ratio defines the brightness of the image, so you wont have a dark TV. There are 5000:1 and 6000:1, but from 4000:1 and on are good enough.

PC Monitors don't have the same quality as LCD HD TVs, so when talking about multimedia, I'd prefer a LCD TV instead of a PC monitor.

Hope this helps. Regards.

Answer 2

Given the background and your station in life, I'd recommend the PS3. First of all it acts more like a PC, with non-proprietary options of backup, online cloud storage (coming soon if you don't pay for PSN+), free online, server support, keyboard/mouse support, web browser, and various other things. The complaints that most gamers have about how technical the PS3 gets are things you will be familiar with and like control over. There's even a hacking option if you wish, although it comes with its own risks. As for the online thing - the 360 only charges if you want to play anything online. You can download content and even sign on and message without a paid membership. PSN gives you everything for free, but if you subscribe to PSN Plus you get cloud storage, free content, and faster downloads, really your choice. Also many PC DLC titles release on PSN and not on XBLA, for example Trine (although the sequel will be on both systems) and TellTale Games (although Jurassic Park will be on both). And finally failure rate - the original first and second generation Xbox 360s suffered from the great Red Ring of Death (RRoD) massacre that claimed basically all consoles. The new slim design hasn't had that problem and I think it was remedied before even that. The dreaded Yellow Light of Death (YLoD) did afflict early PS3s, but those are the backwards compatible (PHAT) consoles. The new slim ones don't seem to have any problems either. Technically, in the grand scheme, PS3s have less of a failure rate overall but both are currently safe. All that and a blu ray player? Yeah, I think you'll prefer the PS3.

Answer 3

An LCD Monitor would be good, except you kind of need a theodolite (piece of surveying equipment) to make sure you're lined up with the screen exactly (otherwise the picture doesn't quite look right if you're sat at an angle)....... but they do give a good picture (at least the one shipped with the DELL computer my cousin's oldest son has does).

To cut down on wiring, if you ain't already got one stick a TV tuner card in the back of your PC in a spare PCI slot (though it would mean having to turn the PC on in order to be able to play the PS2.. though it does work, as I tried it with both my PS2 + Gamecube on my old PC which had a TV tuner card).