HDCP monitor/tv

Question

i do a lot of final cut studio work and i recently sold my g5 for a MBP since i do a lot more onset editing. However, I was looking to create more workspace by adding another monitor. After looking around, i decided to get something that had HDCP capabilities. However, upon looking around, I noticed that an LCD HDTV was much bigger and cheaper than a monitor. So, I guess i'm missing something, but i cant figure out the difference between the TV and monitor in terms of quality other than the monitor has a better resolution. Any help on the matter?

Answer 1

these are generalizations, so not always true, but...
Computer monitors (CM) are designed to be viewed within inches of the eyes, so their dot pitch must be a very small value. Consumer electronics (CE) are designed to be used in a living space, where the viewing distance is a factor of feet or tens of feet. Pixel pitch can be larger, therefore resolution can be lower as the eye cannot discerne the pixel structure at typical distances.
CM and other hardware has a very small sales margin, typically much less than 10%. CE electronics have a larger margin, almost always over 10%.
CM usually do not have A/V inputs (1 exception is many Samsung displays), while CE have tuners, baseband video and HD inputs... most always audio too.
CM generally support VGA, XGXA, SXGA, UXGA, WXGA, WSXGA, WUXGA, and WQXGA resolutions. CE generally support WXGA, WSXGA, WUXGA, and other HD formats such as 480i/p, 720p, 1080i/p.
Most CM are not as concerned with accurate brighness and contrast values, off axis performance. Most CE highlite color temp accuracy, close to video ref brightness and contrast performance, but do not care about things such as panel latency. That being said, one could find examples of products in both markets that outperform products in the other market.
Because the avenues of distribution are completely different, there are differences in sales support, warranty service, installation, and on site support mechanisms.
In my market, A/V integration and embedded control systems programming, things such as have RS-232 com ports to query power status, input selection, aspect ratio, video settings, are important in the scope of making CE devices work within the context of a larger integrated system... something that is absent on virtually all CM products.