LCD PC Monitor vs LCD HTDV

[Santoro]

I am building a slim LCD cabinet and am considering either an LCD PC Monitor or an LCD HDTV.

Size selection aside, is there any difference for MAME purposes as long as the TV has a VGA input?

[Neverending Project]

If it is an LCD HDTV, it will most likely have HDMI or DVI input. Some also have VGA, but from what I recall it is less common. Also, some computers/video cards have a tougher time communicating with an LCD TV through HDMI or DVI.

Other than that, an HDTV will have some thing that a monitor will not: Remote, built-in speakers (which will make the overall size larger). But a monitor may have useful things too, like USB hubs. It all comes down to what you find.

And finally, you will almost only find an HDTV in a widescreen aspect ratio (16:9). But depending on the size, you may still find an LCD monitor in 4:3, which may be more desirable for a cabinet.

[rdenis]

Assuming widescreen:

LCD Monitor (WS) is 16:10
LCD HDTV (WS) is 16:9

How much of a difference is this?  If you compare a 27.5" viewable area for each, the dimensions are as follows:

16:9 is 23.97" x 13.48"
16:10 is 23.32" x 14.57"

That's over a one inch difference on vertical which is relevant if you are not going to rotate your screen.

I'm going throught the exact same decision process right now.  I would definitely go for the monitor over HDTV when LCD is the choice.

[TOK]

Aren't LCD PC monitors higher resolution? I don't have an LCD TV, but the ones I have seen couldn't display small text as clearly as a PC monitor. They're mostly designed for 10 foot+ viewing distances.

[Nipedley]

I use my hdtv as my main monitor (dvi -> hdmi) and I have it set to 1920x1080 resolution, plenty big enough . Most of them are designed for 720p/1080i resolutions which is more than enough really. Of course in a cab you aren't going to want gigantic resolutions anyway so that's not a problem.

[Santoro]

I wound up buying a 20' LCD.  The price was very good....

Thanks to all for the feedback.