Hi Vincent,
Whilst I am not using a 'TV' screen as such, I am using a 28" widescreen (dedicated) PC monitor, and can share the following experiences with you :-
1.) If you are 'too close' (i.e. 'normal' PC-monitor viewing distance) then you will find that the edges of the screen (all sides) tend to be beyond your peripheral vision area - I found that I had to get used to moving my head around to see everything. And it is worse if you wear glasses. And it will be even more of a problem if you move from 28" to 46" !!
2.) You have to consider the 'resolution' that the TV will give you in PC mode. My monitor gives me 1920x1200 pixels maximum. A 46" TV might not give anything like that - after all, '1080p' only requires '1080' vertical pixels, so may only give around 1600 pixels in width.
3.) You also have to be sure that illumination will be even - especially if the unit will be used for image processing. The internet reviews for my Hanns.G monitor suggested that I would see poor illumination at the top and bottom of the screen. However that has NOT been the case (unless I am sitting 'too close')
4.) Remember that, if you are going to have to 'sit back' from the monitor, you lose the advantages of huge 'screen real-estate', because everything might then become too small to see in the first place. So, having to sit 'further' back from a 46" screen with 'fewer' pixels in the first place may actually defeat the purpose of having it.
5.) There is a huge school of thought that you might be better off using 'multiple monitors', rather than one large one. I did quite a lot of internet Googling on this subject a few months back, and it is the way forward that I will consider when I next upgrade. My plan would be to retain my 28" 1920x1200 'landscape' monitor as a central screen. Then I would add two 'portrait' screens on either side - the intention being to achieve something like 900x1200 resolution (i.e. the 'same', or 'similar' vertical resolution) whilst also maintaining the same 'physical' scale in the vertical axis. But, you need a pair of monitors that will work in 'portrait' mode, and it takes a little bit of 'getting used to' (mouse pointers going missing, etc. !!). And you will need a second video card (preferably), and one that will drive the two new monitors independently of the central screen. And, it will take the new release of PI to allow you full advantage of this type of arrangement.
6.) Multiple monitors are also more conducive to running multiple applications - as each app tends to be given its own monitor to 'live in', and can be 'maximised' to fit that monitor. I find that I just CANNOT work any 'windows' OS environment with a whole load of applications cascaded or tiled all over them. It is not a 'natural' working environment for me, it does NOT represent my desktop (well, it DOES, sometimes
). I use multiple monitors in the observatory at home, and here at work - and it is MUCH easier for the brain to understand ('mail' on this screen, 'word processor' on that screen; or 'image acquisition' on this screen and 'guiding' on that screen, etc.)
Of course, your experience may well be different - and perhaps only a real test will give you the answers.
Perhaps we will hear from others, who ARE actually using a large screen TV in place of a PC monitor, or who ARE using a multiple-monitor setup at home. In any case, it will hopefully be an interesting discussion.
Cheers,
