Playing Nintendo Switch on a monitor is incredible!
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Once upon a time, I found it absurd to be playing a video game console on a computer monitor, consoles are meant for the TV. Recently I've decided to try it out, and it is actually an incredible experience to play Nintendo Switch on a monitor at my desktop PC setup.
I decided to give it a try mainly due to practicality, my living room doesn't have a TV stand, so I had my Nintendo Switch on the floor, with a crawling small child at home, I can't leave it there anymore, so I decided to try connecting it to my computer monitor.
Almost all computer monitors now have HDMI ports, so you can easily connect any multimedia device, including a gaming console in it. No problem, so I gave it a try, and I was impressed.
So far I've primarily been playing Mario Strikers: Battle League since it was a new release, it was outstanding on a monitor, there's next to no latency which significantly improves gameplay.
I just have a low-to-mid end Samsung 24" monitor - not even a gaming monitor, but the Switch output on the display was very sharp, and the frame rate is superb compared to playing on a TV. The visuals were a much smoother experience.
My monitor did not have speakers built-in, nor an audio out passthrough like some monitors have. In order to get sound, I needed to connect a pair of speakers using a 3.5mm audio wire.
Functionally, it looked great playing the Switch on the monitor, but there was still a problem, my monitor only has a single HDMI input, the alternative input is VGA. If I have the Switch connected it'd use the HDMI input, but I'd still like to use HDMI with my PC.
I figured, what the heck, let's try using a HDMI to VGA adapter, while that works, the output is no longer as sharp, and appears fuzzy and no longer vibrant.
Fortunately, I also had a spare HDMI switch that allows you to switch between devices, in this case, switch between the Nintendo Switch and my PC. (That's a lot of "switch" mentions in one sentence.) With this HDMI switch, I just have to click a button and my monitor will switch between inputs which makes it almost seamless.
I'm not one of those no-TV folks, so I can't imagine not having a TV, and of course for multiplayer gaming, it's still best on the couch, so in those scenarios I'll move my Switch over for the TV. But for solo gaming, playing Nintendo Switch on a monitor is an outstanding experience!
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