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Gaming TV screens - the bigger the better?

Matt_Fox

Member
I'll be turning fifty next year and when I first experienced gaming as a child, it was quite something to see the boxy family television - until then a passive device which obediently broadcast the three channels of the day - suddenly transformed into something interactive. It was me making that little white bat slide up and down on the television screen... what wonderful witchcraft this was!

In the late 70s / early 80s if your TV set was above 20" your family were doing well. Even as a child my brothers and I sat on the floor close to the screen, I think we wanted it to be bigger. And bigger it got. Year by year, decade by decade.

I remember getting my first 42" screen and connecting my PlayStation 2 - thinking good god this is enormous. Gaming wont get better than this.

There is a honeymoon period with new sets where the increased size wows, but after a while you do become attuned to it. This means you cant go smaller, you can only go bigger. Over the past 15 years I've gone from a 55" to a 65", to a 75" and an 82", and I currently have an 85" screen.

I'd like to say I'm content but I suspect that if or when manufacturers start putting out 90"+ screens in an affordable price range that I'll probably bite.

How about you? Does screen size matter or not? What does the future hold, are we at the maximum size or will screens continue to grow?


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If your playing competitevly online arnt smaller screens better as you can see everything on screen at once instead of having to turn your neck or move your eyes to the top right hand corner of a big screen.

I have a projector but I wouldn't dare dream of playing online games on it, or even shooters for that matter. Tbh I don't even play games on it that often. I have a 58" HDR TV and that fulfills my needs.
 

AV

We ain't outta here in ten minutes, we won't need no rocket to fly through space
To a point. 65" OLED in the living room and 55" OLED as my PC "monitor". The second sounds ridiculous until you try it, I'm never going back now. The benefit of OLED is that if something looks weird on a giant screen you can just shrink it and the surrounding border is off, you aren't getting hit with backlight.

I'll say that, too - I'd rather have a smaller OLED than a larger regular TV. It makes way more of a difference.

When you start talking about 8K, that's where size becomes an issue. You'd need a 100+ inch TV to really get the benefit of 8K, and a 100+ inch 8K TV is about a decade away from being sensibly priced as far as I can tell.

Drives me up the wall when people have 32" TVs on the other side of an enormous room. Literally why bother at that point? You might as well huddle round a phone screen, it'd be a better experience.
 
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mxbison

Member
Size definitely matters the most to me.

Yeah OLED and the blackest blacks and most contrary contrasts and whatever look nice, but not not worth the extra cost to me when I can get a screen like 20" bigger that looks just fine for the same price.
 

NeoIkaruGAF

Gold Member
Absolutely not.

I, too, grew up with 21” or smaller screens around. My mind got accustomed to gaming on squarish screens with a narrow field of view. My eyesight not being brilliant and my eyes being quite lazy, I’ve always had a hard time adapting to 16:9 or wider for gaming. After almost 15 years spent with 37”-42” TVs, even going with just 55” has made it hard for me to keep up with fast-paced games that require to keep every part of the screen under control. Going bigger would need me to sit further away from the screen, making the whole point of a bigger screen meaningless.

I’ve watched TV and movies on my uncle’s 65” plasma, but at greater sitting distance and at lower resolutions than today’s screens. It’s quite nice for movies, but for gaming, 50” would be the ideal maximum for me. Just thinking of gaming on 75” makes no sense for me.
 

HeisenbergFX4

Gold Member
To me it all depends on the game I am playing.

If I am playing something like Warzone or any faster paced shooter I prefer my 27" monitor so my eyes have less real estate to cover.

Anything else it was on my 77" OLED until I picked up the Sony X900H 65" because possible burn in always bothered me.
 
Big screen? What kind of idio... Oh wait. I just got this fucking awesome 48 oled. Omg it is glorious

c7LKRTj.jpg
how is it sitting that close to it?

i had a 32" 4K monitor and it was awesome but i can't imagine how big a 48" screen would be sitting that close! i currently have a 27" monitor which i'm happy with but not gonna lie i am tempted to pick up that same TV (LG C1, right?) for my PC. i already have a 55" CX but that'd be going waaay too far i think lol.

edit: also is that an ikea malm desk? if so i have that one except it's has the little table instead of drawers.
 
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rofif

Can’t Git Gud
how is it sitting that close to it?

i had a 32" 4K monitor and it was awesome but i can't imagine how big a 48" screen would be sitting that close! i currently have a 27" monitor which i'm happy with but not gonna lie i am tempted to pick up that same TV (LG C1, right?) for my PC. i already have a 55" CX but that'd be going waaay too far i think lol.
Too big on first day for sure. I almost sent it back. But on 2nd day it was better and yesterday it felt great. So I think I am getting used to it. Actually it don't seem so huge now :p
I also lowered sdr brightness to 30% and changed color to warm so it's easier on the eyes.
 

johntown

Banned
If your playing competitevly online arnt smaller screens better as you can see everything on screen at once instead of having to turn your neck or move your eyes to the top right hand corner of a big screen.

I have a projector but I wouldn't dare dream of playing online games on it, or even shooters for that matter. Tbh I don't even play games on it that often. I have a 58" HDR TV and that fulfills my needs.
LOL what kind of massive TV are you thinking about where you need to turn you neck to see what is on the screen? A movie theater?
 
Too big on first day for sure. I almost sent it back. But on 2nd day it was better and yesterday it felt great. So I think I am getting used to it. Actually it don't seem so huge now :p
I also lowered sdr brightness to 30% and changed color to warm so it's easier on the eyes.
have you had any trouble with ABL/ASBL? i have seen people mention that it sometimes kicks in when there are lots of white (abl) or dark (asbl) backgrounds. not just games but desktop use.
 

rofif

Can’t Git Gud
have you had any trouble with ABL/ASBL? i have seen people mention that it sometimes kicks in when there are lots of white (abl) or dark (asbl) backgrounds. not just games but desktop use.
Not at all. Maybe because I play on 30 oled light so about 120nits in sdr mode but I don't notice anything changing.
People also said that gsync would cause some gamma issues... I am yet to notice anything wrong
 

AJUMP23

Member
I will take all the screen size I can get. I hope for the Video wall at some point, but I would also like to put more than one thing on that screen. Have a major section for most of the game and then maybe a show in the corner.
 

fart town usa

Gold Member
For me it depends on the room size but the biggest factor is the game itself and it's output capabilities. Clearly CRT is better for actual retro hardware. In cases for the Wii, some games look amazing on the small WiiU gamepad in 480p, most notably Skyward Sword. HD games in SD are usually an issue because of font size but I've played PS3 games in S-Video for fun on a CRT and it's still totally playable. Kind of like the eye of the beholder scenario.
 

Great Hair

Banned
Playing on a 75" must be insane. Imagine playing the Witcher 3 for the Switch on that thing. The game turns into a Vincent van Gogh
painting.

Van Gogh GIF by Practice English with yadada


First time in decades, i´m considering connecting a console to a PC Monitor 32" 4K IPS 144Hz or better. TVs are too big nowdays and for true cinema, movie feel, the philips cinema tvs were much better suited.
 
I used to play the NES on a 13" Sanyo CRT with a carrying handle on top. It had a pretty nice picture compared to my parent's big 20" TV upstairs.

My brother only had a 13" CRT in university and he'd have Goldeneye tournaments in his dorm on that little set.

When I got my 55" set about a decade ago it wasn't even the biggest set around but it replaced a 40" set and it seemed stupidly large at the time, now I walk into Best Buy and see 80" sets for less than I spent on my 55" set.
 

Pejo

Member
I just got a 65" OLED, and honestly I can't imagine going any bigger. Maybe if I get filthy rich and buy a house with a huge living room or something like that, but 65" seems just big enough to go "wow that's big" without being absurd in my current living room. As always, I will be interested in new TV tech and resolution though, once there are sufficient devices to push that resolution.
 
I will take quality over size any day. I would choose a 55" OLED over a 75" LED screen, as an example. Currently I'm on a 65" OLED, but I built this space to just barely be able to fit a 77" OLED as soon as I can get one for the right price!
 

intbal

Member
I play pubg on a 28" monitor but move to a 82" when playing games with the kids.

Insanity.

I find that I can't keep focused on enough of the view, even at 43", when playing PUBG. I'm much better when I play that on my 28" monitor.
You must have enormous eyes.

However, for every other game, I prefer a display as large as possible.

Edit: I think I misunderstood you. You do the same thing as I do. Play Pubg exclusively on the smaller monitor. Right?
 
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To a point. 65" OLED in the living room and 55" OLED as my PC "monitor". The second sounds ridiculous until you try it, I'm never going back now. The benefit of OLED is that if something looks weird on a giant screen you can just shrink it and the surrounding border is off, you aren't getting hit with backlight.

I'll say that, too - I'd rather have a smaller OLED than a larger regular TV. It makes way more of a difference.

When you start talking about 8K, that's where size becomes an issue. You'd need a 100+ inch TV to really get the benefit of 8K, and a 100+ inch 8K TV is about a decade away from being sensibly priced as far as I can tell.

Drives me up the wall when people have 32" TVs on the other side of an enormous room. Literally why bother at that point? You might as well huddle round a phone screen, it'd be a better experience.
I want a full wall TV, 100inch would be about it for my small Livingroom !

Even at 4K it would be great (and nothing plays well at 8k anyway), movies are mastered below 4K, etc.


However, as others noted, small screens are better to remain in focus because you see everything without having to move your actual head around.
 
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Derktron

Banned
I would say the smaller the better and what I mean by that getting a gaming monitor that has the features like higher refresh rate, are worth the purchase. But if you are playing in the living room, then yeah in my opinion the bigger the better.
 

dave_d

Member
I used to play the NES on a 13" Sanyo CRT with a carrying handle on top. It had a pretty nice picture compared to my parent's big 20" TV upstairs.

My brother only had a 13" CRT in university and he'd have Goldeneye tournaments in his dorm on that little set.

When I got my 55" set about a decade ago it wasn't even the biggest set around but it replaced a 40" set and it seemed stupidly large at the time, now I walk into Best Buy and see 80" sets for less than I spent on my 55" set.
Sounds similar to me. BTW as I remember it that 13" was the size of the tube and you lost an inch or 2 due to it being behind the frame.(More than you lose on a modern flat screen tv) So a 13" TV was something like 11"-11.5" TV. (Played tons of Street fighter 2 on that thing.)
 

lem0n

Member
Depends on what sort of games you play, really. Competitive multiplayer games will suffer but otherwise the bigger the better IMO. I play on a 75'' and wouldn't have it any other way. I play mainly story and racers though.
 

KellyNole

Member
To me, it depends on how far you sit from the TV. My old house, 55 inch was a good sweet spot. In my new house, I sit about 16 to 18 feet away and the 77 inch is preferred. The only issue I have is tiny text on some games in 4K.
 
What's the deal with oled and HDR? My friend won't shut up about it and every time he shows me a pic of something on it, it looks like he's watching a kids show or that fucking Speed Racer movie.

The colors look oversaturated and artificial.
 
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55 inch is as big as you need it to be, unless you sit far away. For my older stuff like 360, Wii etc. I have a 49 inch, mainly because that's the smallest size TV Sony (or any lcd maker) produces that is still mid-high range. I probably don't want to go smaller though because it does feel immersive with how close I sit to it, smaller might not be as "wow".

A 65 inch from like 5 feet away is just waaaay too big, which is my distance from my 55 in the living room.
 

Kuranghi

Member
I first played MGS on a 15" CRT, then I just had a monitor for years, then a 40" LCD and now a 65" LCD. With the size of this room 65" is just right for movie watching when I'm on the couch, 10' back from it, but its right of the border of being too big when I'm sitting in my chair that faces the TV (For gaming), which is about 7' away.

The only exception to this is PC use, like how I'm writing this comment on my 65" right now and the text is about 1cm high on the screen, thats with Windows scaling set to 300%, I would have to increase the scaling further if it was 55" or smaller, but with actual movies/tv/games 55" would be enough imo.

I was going to buy a 55" but then got an amazing deal on a model that only comes in 65", 75" and 100" so I "had" to get a 65", I could see getting a 55" when there is an upgrade available for it, because it looks completely fucking stupid for the size of the room, its like a screen on the wall in a dentist where they show you your teeth xrays.

So there is a limit where its so big you will naturally turn your head to look at the corners* (or you just won't notice things in the corners), my flatmate sits about as close as rofif rofif does to his new 48" OLED, but his is a 55" TV and he literally watches youtube videos not fullscreened because its "too big" when its fullscreen 🤦‍♂️ He also misses UI stuff thats in the corners a lot.

*Which will either lead to a bald patch on the back of your head or a sore neck.
 
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Matt_Fox

Member
Too big on first day for sure. I almost sent it back. But on 2nd day it was better and yesterday it felt great. So I think I am getting used to it. Actually it don't seem so huge now :p
I also lowered sdr brightness to 30% and changed color to warm so it's easier on the eyes.

This is what I'm talking about - the acclimatisation. You become accustomed to a bigger screen and makes it hard to go back.
 

Gediminas

Banned
like randomized wallpapers or wallpaper engine ?
wallpaper engine is amazing. anyways, both can do great things, important thing, don't leave static imagines too long. wallpaper engine suits that very well.
Rtings has an Oled test, if you interested, you can check their test. they tested Oled for many month and there are results week after week.
 
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