Use LCD Monitor in place of HDTV for PS3

January 1, 2011 5:36 PM

Is it viable to use an LCD Monitor in place of a HDTV for my PS3?

Right now my local store is having a huge sale on LCD Monitors, and I was thinking of getting one to use with my PS3 (and maybe my laptop) as right now getting a HDTV is too expensive for me.

Is this a viable alternative? Or would it be better in the long run if I were to save up for a proper HDTV?

posted by uboat to Technology (5 answers total)

I use an LCD for my XBox 360. Your biggest concern is going to be matching inputs- I had to pony up an extra $40 for XBox360 VGA cables. I tried buying cheaper off-brand versions and they were hideous, only the real deal gave me a clear pictures.

I don't know what the PS3 outputs are like, but make sure you can hook it up to whatever monitor you get.

Another concern is sound. Most LCD monitors are just that. They don't have speakers like a TV does. So you'll need to get some cables and odds and ends to hook up the PS3s sound output to a set of speakers. Thankfully the 360 VGA cables have a red/white output that's seperate from the VGA cable proper.

So, 2 challenges: Inputs and sound. Otherwise it's fully identical and I've had no issues.
posted by GilloD at 6:05 PM on January 1, 2011

Yes - an LCD monitor with an HDMI input works great!
posted by urbanhayseed at 6:27 PM on January 1, 2011

You should be able to do this in a couple of ways. If the monitor has an HDMI input and built-in audio, you can just connect the PS3 with an HDMI cable. If the monitor only has DVI-D inputs you can connect the video with an HDMI cable and an HDMI-DVI converter, then use another PS3 cable (IIRC the PS3 can output sound through more than one cable at the same time) to plug the audio in to a set of computer speakers or whatever.

Don't get a monitor with only VGA inputs, as the PS3 can't work with these like the Xbox 360 can. You'd need to buy some sort of VGA converter box, which from what I've heard tend not to work very well.
posted by fearthehat at 7:26 PM on January 1, 2011

A monitor would work better if you got one with a fast enough response time, and good enough contrast ratios and color rendition. Cheaper monitors don't make good video playback devices. They look sort of blurry in motion and dull in color. But a better one will look just fine. Make sure you get one that is 16:9 and not 16:10 like many computer monitors are. The image won't look right otherwise.

Also, TVs have processing that needs to be turned off ("game mode") and monitors don't.
posted by gjc at 7:56 PM on January 1, 2011

This is what I'm doing, and it's awesome.
posted by Jilder at 4:03 AM on January 2, 2011