How many of you have a "real" gaming PC hooked-up to your home theater
- Thread starter Kain
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DigitalDemon
New member
I used to, back when I had a full size server rack in my living room.
Gaming experience? Nearly the same, as my 55" tv at the equivalent viewing distance of my 24" monitor looks pretty much the same. Of course I was sitting on the floor with my keyboard and mouse on the coffee table, but otherwise very similar. Mouse and Keyboard didn't matter, I just ran a very long usb extension cable to a powered hub on the table, and plugged all my peripherals into that.
Upsides?
-Gaming using a controller. Sit back on the couch and have fun. Just like a console, but prettier.
-5.1 audio. Sure my TEACs are badass, but they are 2 channel and I am not settling for some crap logitechs. With the PC feeding through the Onkyo, my neighbors knew full well that I needed additional pylons.
-Picture quality. My TV currently stomps my monitors in picture quality and contrast ratio, plus I could tinker with things like 3D and 240fps barf inducing interpolation.
Downsides?
-My back. Sitting on the floor with a non adjustable height coffee table makes for some uncomfortable sessions.
-Input lag. If you are lucky your tv will only cost you a frame or two, other tvs can cost you 5-15 frames, have fun with that.
-Singular activities. Wife wants to watch a movie? No pc for you.
-My porn. Unless you live by yourself, it's a little difficult to hide 55 inches of vagina on your wall. Pictures on the walls and any other reflective items become spy tools.
-Actual work. Most people don't have separate gaming and regular computers, so the first downside is expanded upon when you have to do non fun stuff.
Gaming experience? Nearly the same, as my 55" tv at the equivalent viewing distance of my 24" monitor looks pretty much the same. Of course I was sitting on the floor with my keyboard and mouse on the coffee table, but otherwise very similar. Mouse and Keyboard didn't matter, I just ran a very long usb extension cable to a powered hub on the table, and plugged all my peripherals into that.
Upsides?
-Gaming using a controller. Sit back on the couch and have fun. Just like a console, but prettier.
-5.1 audio. Sure my TEACs are badass, but they are 2 channel and I am not settling for some crap logitechs. With the PC feeding through the Onkyo, my neighbors knew full well that I needed additional pylons.
-Picture quality. My TV currently stomps my monitors in picture quality and contrast ratio, plus I could tinker with things like 3D and 240fps barf inducing interpolation.
Downsides?
-My back. Sitting on the floor with a non adjustable height coffee table makes for some uncomfortable sessions.
-Input lag. If you are lucky your tv will only cost you a frame or two, other tvs can cost you 5-15 frames, have fun with that.
-Singular activities. Wife wants to watch a movie? No pc for you.
-My porn. Unless you live by yourself, it's a little difficult to hide 55 inches of vagina on your wall. Pictures on the walls and any other reflective items become spy tools.
-Actual work. Most people don't have separate gaming and regular computers, so the first downside is expanded upon when you have to do non fun stuff.
OzzieBloke
New member
I do. I have a common-living area, half of it for my PC/midi-studio/piano setup, the other half for my couch and home theater.
On a 50 inch Panasonic V-series plasma TV hooked up via HDMI, input lag about 1-2 frames, the image quality on the TV is superior to my (admittedly rather cheap) LCD, and I use a logitech keyboard on my lap (with a 10m long boosted USB cable) with a big-ass Kensington trackball plugged into the USB port on the keyboard that sits on the armrest of the couch.
Since I don't play twitch FPSs, the lag is fine for me. Audio is routed via an Asus Xonar Home Theatre that does DTS-encoding on the fly over HDMI, and with my 7.2 surround sound system and Butt Kicker under my couch, some games are
It's just a shame most modern games have really shitty sound positioning even encoded for 5.1 sound.
On a 50 inch Panasonic V-series plasma TV hooked up via HDMI, input lag about 1-2 frames, the image quality on the TV is superior to my (admittedly rather cheap) LCD, and I use a logitech keyboard on my lap (with a 10m long boosted USB cable) with a big-ass Kensington trackball plugged into the USB port on the keyboard that sits on the armrest of the couch.
Since I don't play twitch FPSs, the lag is fine for me. Audio is routed via an Asus Xonar Home Theatre that does DTS-encoding on the fly over HDMI, and with my 7.2 surround sound system and Butt Kicker under my couch, some games are
It's just a shame most modern games have really shitty sound positioning even encoded for 5.1 sound.
MUTHA-Theresa
New member
55 inches of Vagina... Isn't that a chick book?
deadite_9
time for go to bed
my pc sits right in line with the home theater (it literally sits less than a foot from the receiver). i've always used my sound system with the computer, for as far back as i can remember... and long before i was ever able to use an hdtv as a monitor. can't imagine not having real bass when listening to music or playing games. i used to use analog out to the multi-channel inputs on my receiver (up to 7.1 with my old x-fi xtrememusic), but now i just use a toslink cable to connect to the receiver and let it decode the dts-connect output from the zx.
years of bad posture have resulted in a bad back, though, so i mostly game on the couch now. i know it's frowned upon, but i honestly just use an xbox 360 controller instead of trying to fuss with a mouse and keyboard. i don't play competitive shooters, so i don't have to worry about lag and/or response times-- plus it's just more comfortable to lean back on the couch. the tv's only 60hz (vs. the 120hz monitor), but i'm honestly fine with that. it's an older samsung dlp and the image quality beats the monitor, hands down. plus the couch is in the sweet spot, whereas the desk sits at the front of the room next to the tv.
as for the gaming experience? i wouldn't want to play any other way now. really looking forward to the steam controller since it should theoretically make any pc game controller compatible.
years of bad posture have resulted in a bad back, though, so i mostly game on the couch now. i know it's frowned upon, but i honestly just use an xbox 360 controller instead of trying to fuss with a mouse and keyboard. i don't play competitive shooters, so i don't have to worry about lag and/or response times-- plus it's just more comfortable to lean back on the couch. the tv's only 60hz (vs. the 120hz monitor), but i'm honestly fine with that. it's an older samsung dlp and the image quality beats the monitor, hands down. plus the couch is in the sweet spot, whereas the desk sits at the front of the room next to the tv.
as for the gaming experience? i wouldn't want to play any other way now. really looking forward to the steam controller since it should theoretically make any pc game controller compatible.
VW_Factor
New member
Image processing generally.
bittermann
Well-known member
I've had my pc hooked up to my TV for the past 5 years or so. TV's for a while now have been able to turn off those image processing effects using gaming mode. My 60" Samsung can do this.
VW_Factor
New member
I had a big long post going to attempt to explain that, and how it works. Then I remembered most of the jerks around don't give a ****, and simply answered the question.
I use the "game" mode on my plasma as my HTPC is the primary media driver. The AMD 6950 is more than adequate to provide any image processing or color correction I need.
bittermann
Well-known member
Yeah, I understand with my limited knowledge that to get the best picture possible on modern TV's they use a lot of these image processors/filters and turning them off can degrade the picture quality. I've never noticed much lag so I've never bothered switching modes all the time.