1080p HD TV as Monitor - What Determines Resolution?

Question

I am trying to use a 46" Sony Bravia 1080p HD TV (from 2010) as a computer monitor.

To connect it to the PC, I bought a DisplayPort-to-HDMI cable that "supports video resolutions up to 1920x1200 and 1080p (Full HD)". I have connected it to an HDMI input. (The TV also has a "PC input" port, but that did not seem to sense any signal.)

It all works, but I find that the resolution (1920x1080) is lower than when I had a dual-monitor setup, and I miss the extra screen pixels. (My previous setup was using two 21" computer monitors.)

What determines the max resolution my TV can display? I noticed that the cable has a max resolution. Does it depend on the cable? Can I get a better cable? Or is it that the TV is built to have 1080 vertical pixels, and therefore can never support more than that?

Or should I just buy a computer monitor, because it is built to be used as a monitor, and supports higher resolutions?

Answer 1

The maximum resolution is literally the number of pixels the screen has.

As you've discovered, what was once 'fabulously high-res & detailed' when compared to pre-HD television broadcasts becomes 'wow, that's way too big & fuzzy' when applied to a computer monitor you actually have to read. That's also why TV subtitles are so big, they have to be so you can actually read them.
TVs are designed to be watched from 8 - 12 feet away, monitors from 2ft.

So, these days you'd expect a computer monitor of only 1920x1080 to be a 13" screen or smaller. You'll probably find your phone can do that.

A 'good' large monitor these days will be 2k, 2560x1440 or larger - 4 & 5k monitors are becoming the norm, & 8k is on its way.

So, as "HD TV" by definition is a 16:9 picture format, its 1920 wide needs to have 1080 deep. 1200 was an older standard for small early computer monitors.