Can anyone explain why monitor and TV prices are so vastly different for the same size? Could you not substitute a small flat screen in place of a monitor and save a few hundred?
Are they? AFAICS ceteris paribus, monitor prices are not that different from TV prices. It's only when you want a monitor with specs better than can be found in almost any TV (>HD resolution, high-end IPS or PVA panel) that the prices get higher, for obvious reasons.
EDIT: Also, not nearly all cheap "HD" TVs actually have real 1080p panels. They accept a HD signal but internally resample it to a lower resolution, leading to an image that's obviously blurry in desktop use. With computer monitors, you know you get pixel-for-pixel the image the video card pushes out.
Monitors and TVs are similar but designed with different use models in mind.
I find TV's are bulkier, run hotter, have poor refresh rates, worse viewing angles, and look pretty poor up close. None of this matters when you use it as a TV, of course.
They also usually have massive bezels, harsher lighting, and come on fixed stands (no rotation or vertical adjustment, often not even any pivoting up/down).
You totally could use a TV as a monitor if you wanted. I personally stick with monitors for my desk, TVs for my wall.
