Best TVs to Use as a Monitor for PC 2023 Reviews

Have you always wondered what it’s like to have a big, widescreen as your computer monitor? There’s so much fun in gaming, multitasking, and watching movies when you’re experiencing it all in a 55-inch TV screen, compared to a monitor a third of its size.

You can make it work with some guidance! Here are some of the best TVs to use as a monitor. You can use them for various purposes since they give you a huge space to work with, plus they’re less expensive than actual computer monitors.

Best TVs to Use as a Monitor

Here are our top picked TVs that can act as a computer monitor. All of these TVs have a 4K resolution and are a great fit for your working setup. Check out their specs below.

1. Best TV for PC Monitor: SAMSUNG 55-Inch Class Crystal UHD TU-8000 Series – 4K UHD HDR Smart TV with Alexa

This Samsung TV would make a very good 4K monitor. Its 55-inch model is huge, which means you can do a lot on it by multitasking. And, its VA panel would give you only the best picture quality: you’ll see dark, deep blacks and the most lively, colorful display.

The Samsung 55-inch screen size Crystal UHD TU-8000 Smart TV uses a Crystal 4K image processor, Samsung’s ultra-fast processor that’s the reason why everything you see on-screen is upscaled to vibrant, crystal-clear 4K quality.

This Samsung TV has a High Dynamic Range that makes even dark images appear more stunningly detailed. This feature does wonders when you’re a gamer who has taken a liking to horror games. And that brings us nicely into the gamer-oriented qualities of this Samsung Smart TV: the Auto Game Mode optimizes the screen and improves gameplay by minimizing input lag.

It’s got a good response time, and with a 120Hz refresh rate, you can get a lot better gaming performance than the average monitor in the same price range. Further, the Black Frame Insertion feature of this Samsung TV will reduce motion blur.

There’s more to the Samsung Smart TV’s elegant and minimalistic design: it also offers a neat cable management solution in the stand.

The Smart TV powered by Tizen gives you two voice assistants: Alexa and Bixby. This Samsung TV takes entertainment to the next level by advancing its tech and letting you control it without pressing many buttons.

Although these Samsung Smart TVs still come with their remote control, you can ask Alexa to change the channel, open apps, search for shows and movies, play your favorite songs, or control your smart home gadgets.

Samsung’s Universal Guide is another nice feature of this machine. It forms a menu based on your favorite content from multiple compatible devices and recommends shows and movies you might like.

2. Best TV With Low Input Lag: TCL 55R617 – 55-Inch 4K Ultra HD Roku Smart LED TV (2018 Model)

TCL’s 55-inch screen is one of the best TVs for PC monitors. With this beautiful TV, you get a premium picture quality and exceptional contrast with Dolby Vision HDR, TCL’s NBP Photon technology, and more.

With TCL 55R617, you’ll have the finest viewing experience in a TV with its 4K resolution and strikingly vibrant, wide color space coverage fueled by the brand’s NBP Photon technology.

Gamers will notice enjoyable gameplay when they use this TV as their monitor because it has an amazingly low input lag and fast response time, along with a black frame insertion that reduces motion blur. This TV’s contrast ratio makes the blacks so deep and strong and makes gaming in a dark room so fun. The full-array local dimming feature also helps a ton in this regard.

Furthermore, it does a pretty good job of flashing backlight to clear up quick movement and interpolate content that’s prone to stutter. However, the sound quality of this 4K TV is not that great.

Although gamers will be happy to play on this TV, it does have a wide range of uses such as watching movies, TV shows, and sports.

When you use this TV for watching Netflix, even in bright rooms, you won’t be disappointed with the picture quality. It can handle a lot of glare, too. But a slight problem with this screen is its bad viewing angles, so keep this in mind if you have lots of people watching on the same couch.

3. Smart TV for Multiple Uses: Sony KD43X720E 43-Inch 4K Ultra HD Smart LED TV (2017 Model)

If you prefer something smaller than the two previous TVs, then perhaps the Sony KD43X720E 43-inch is good for you.

This Sony 4K Smart LED TV (despite being a 2017 version) is still a pretty good classic TV that works as a monitor. Getting one of these right now would do you good since its price is now made more affordable than before. It’s an overall great pick for its price!

The Sony KD43X720E 43-inch 4K Smart TV comes with many features such as a respectable 60Hz native refresh rate and Motionflow XR that greatly reduces motion blur in fast scenes.

HDR video content truly does make a difference on this TV. When you combine HDR with 4K resolution, you get an almost lifelike detail, sharp colors, and brilliant highlights. And the Dynamic Contrast further improves that, adding more texture but more natural gradation on the tones.

4. Best Mid-range 4K TV: Sony X800H 43 Inch TV: 4K Ultra HD Smart LED TV with HDR and Alexa Compatibility – 2020 Model

Since X800H is a very recent model, you can be sure of its technological advantages. Like the previous Sony product, this 43-inch TV has Motionflow XR Technology that makes fast-moving scenes look smoother and less blurry.

The Sony X800H 43-inch 4K TV is beautifully designed with its slim bezels, making it appear as modern and refined as ever. And for an even classier, cleaner look, you have the option to mount it flush to the wall like an artwork.

These Sony TVs have excellent picture quality and great user interface, sound quality, and processor. Overall, many people are satisfied with their units, and very few were nitpicky. One such slight difficulty you might have with this TV is its brightness: out of the box, the Sony X800H’s brightness levels are lacking, but with some tweaking of Black Levels settings, you can make it brighter.

The build quality of the Sony X800H competes with most computer monitors in the same price range. If you watch shows daily, you’ll love it very much for its flawless video streaming quality.

Playstation gamers will have a blast with this 4K gaming TV. Sony’s Game Mode ensures gamers of smoother, fast-response gaming experience. If you like gaming on a big screen but don’t care much for the RGB lighting and all “gamer” aesthetics on your gadgets, this one will work just fine.

5. Best Samsung TV with HDR Support: Samsung 55″ NU6900 4K Smart LED TV, 2018 Model

Are you looking to upgrade your setup to have a larger screen? This Samsung 55-inch NU6900 4K Smart LED TV (2018 model) would do you good. It’s even a good deal for gamers because of its incredibly fluid motion and its Steam Link app that lets you stream your games with impressive graphics and speed.

This Samsung 4K Smart LED TV from 2018 would make a great computer monitor due to its high resolution (3840×2160), high refresh rate of 120Hz, and HDR 10+ content. It’s notable in the product reviews that people like using this as a monitor for gaming and even more to watch shows and movies.

Samsung’s PurColor gives you millions of shades of vibrant color, so no matter if you’re browsing the internet to read comics or watch Youtube videos, you’ll appreciate what you see.

Samsung NU6900 has a decent port selection, including two HDMI ports, one USB, Ethernet, and one for RF.

6. Best Large TV to Use as a Monitor: VIZIO P659-G1 P-Series Quantum 65″ Class 4K HDR Smart TV

An excellent high-end option and the biggest screen size (65 inches) would be the VIZIO P659-G1 P-Series Quantum 65″ Class 4K HDR Smart TV.

Its exceptional contrast and local dimming function make it one of the best 4K TVs for PC monitors. Its motion handling is good, and with decent response time and low input lag, it’s a nice monitor for gaming.

This TV’s peak brightness is so high at 1100 nits, plus its Active Full Array backlight that uses up to 200 local dimmings, makes the image look exceedingly bright, full of detail, and strikingly vibrant and deep. The fact that it has a seriously exceptional wide color gamut helps games and movies seem realistic, too.

VIZIO P659-G1 P-Series Quantum 65″ 4K HDR Smart TV’s 240Hz refresh rate should seal the deal for gamers out there looking for a trusty gaming monitor.

7. Best Budget 4K TV to Use as a Monitor: Toshiba 43LF711U20 43-inch Smart 4K UHD TV

Toshiba 43LF711U20 43-inch Smart 4K UHD TV with Dolby Vision (Fire TV Edition) is a great affordable choice for a TV to use as a monitor. Its 4K resolution, Alexa voice remote, and Fire TV, you’re sure to love it!

This Smart TV can be voice-controlled: you can open apps, search for shows, control Smart home gadgets, and more simply by speaking your command.

A relatively big screen size with a 16:9 aspect ratio of this high resolution makes the perfect image quality when you’re watching movies, videos, and even gaming. You can easily connect your gaming console through one of Toshiba TV’s three HDMI ports.

When gaming, a very short blur trail is noticeable on quick-moving objects, but this TV’s got a fast response time, making it suitable for light gaming. For watching TV shows and movies, though, it’s so perfect: the upscaling and reflection handling are both well-executed.

The Amazon Fire TV feature is nice because it’s a streaming technology that can directly link to a 4K TV without certain streamers’ needs.

If you want a budget-friendly TV to use as a 4K monitor, it is your best pick if you don’t mind the relatively low peak brightness of about 300 nits too much. Besides, it will do great in dark rooms – perfect for game night.

How to Pick the Right TV to Use as Computer Monitor

Will it work as a monitor in the first place?

Yes, it will. It would help if you had a cable that can connect to the HDTV input and the output of your device. Further, you’ll have to take a look at a couple of settings and do some tweaking. In the end, you should find yourself easily connecting your PC to modern TVs.

HDTVs nowadays have HDMI outputs. You’ll even find DVI inputs in some previous models, while others have specific VGA inputs for the PC. Whether you find DVI or VGA inputs on your TV, you should be fine as long as your graphics card has an output for HDMI. You can then proceed with connecting your PC to the said graphics card using an HDMI cable.

If you’re planning to use your TV as a secondary monitor, you might need to use another port (like the DisplayPort output) on your graphics cards. Likely, you’ll want to use a different cable in that situation.

Aspect ratio

In layman’s terms, the aspect ratio is the shape of your screen. It may lean more towards a rectangular or square shape. Older televisions have more of a square shape (4:3 aspect ratio), while modern ones usually have wider screens or a 16:9 aspect ratio, thus looking more rectangular.

It’s important to set your TV’s aspect ratio properly in the settings. Otherwise, the display would look distorted, or there would be black bars on the side or at the top and bottom. For example: if you purchase a 16:9 TV, configure it to a 16:9 aspect ratio to get a good viewing experience.

Other features to look for

Pixel density

The pixel density is another thing you should consider in a TV if you’re turning it into your monitor. It tells you how many pixels are in a square inch of screen space (pixels per inch, or ppi). Monitors usually have a higher pixel density than TV screens due to their smaller sizes. In contrast, TV manufacturers devote more time and effort to making TVs have larger sizes, better color reproduction, and the overall viewing experience. Thus, there’s a pretty good chance that a monitor would have a clearer image than a TV.

TVs are made to be seen at a longer distance, while monitors have to maintain the image quality and sharpness even when viewed inches away. A lower pixel density is not necessarily bad if you look at the screen from a viewing distance of a few feet away.

Refresh rate

The refresh rate of a TV is the number of times the image refreshes per second. It’s of crucial importance in fast-paced gaming since they aid in the smoothness of the gameplay.

Most modern TVs have a 60Hz refresh rate, which is good enough for gaming and daily computer tasks.

Input lag

The input lag is also worthy of note when looking for a TV to use as a monitor. You always want a low input lag on a monitor so that your keyboard and mouse actions will reflect on the screen instantaneously. TVs usually don’t focus on decreasing the input lag – rather, they give more attention to video processing.

Input lag is so critical for gaming, especially when you’re participating in eSports.

FAQ

TV vs. monitor?

To sum up, monitors generally have higher refresh rates, faster response times, and lower input lag than TVs. However, TVs come in larger sizes and are more affordable than monitors.

Buy a TV if you’re into console gaming, watching movies, and TV shows. You’ll save up on a lot of money, and you’ll get a bigger screen real estate!

Why do 4K computer monitors cost more than TV models with the same resolution?

TVs are cheaper than computer monitors because they’re produced in greater quantities. A monitor also tends to have lower input-output latency. Additionally, monitor manufacturers (especially gaming monitors) prioritize a super high refresh rate and fast response time for their extreme gamer customers that like to over-stress their PC using expensive and powerful GPUs, unlike your PS4 or Xbox.

Specs also make a huge difference in the price. Monitors have a lot more demanding user base, such as content creators, graphic artists, video and photo editors, and hardcore gamers. There are specs to consider, such as a wide color gamut, great color depth, an insanely high refresh rate, and screen technology.

Can I use a 4K TV as my monitor?

We recommend sitting farther away if you’re planning to use a 4K TV as a monitor on your main work station. It will lessen neck and eye strain and make the image appear less pixelated. Look for a TV with a decently high pixel density so that at least text would be nice to read.

Bottom Line

If you’re thinking about using a TV as a monitor, it’s a good decision: it’s going to be easier on the budget, plus the size will be massive and immersive. Stick to our buying guide and reviews of the best TVs to get the absolute best options out there!

Joshua A. Taylor

He has an interest in graphic design and video editing, which led him to obsess over display equipment. He believes that for a perfect setup, you not only need a high refresh rate and brightness, but also excellent color calibration and uniformity.