I have such a television, but it's a Sony Bravia. Otherwise, it's the same for all intents and purposes as this goes. It's 32", 720p or 1360x768 when connected to a PC (1024x768 widescreen, wow, that's low), etc.
Here's my experience. I've tried it, and these things just don't have a good enough dot pitch (or whatever the equivalent is for LCDs if it's called something else) for heavy PC use. Basically, the screen is too large a size for too low a resolution, so it's not sharp. Text, namely, is going to look terrible (smudged and blurry) compared to any, and I mean any, PC monitor. It will be tiring to read after long use. Games and movies may look fine though. They're fine to use this way, but I wouldn't use it to replace a PC monitor. After using it for a while, and then going back to an actual PC monitor, you'll be surprised at the sharpness you were missing. Just be aware of this.
As for your questions, a DVI connection may help a bit (HDMI is DVI plus sound, nothing more), but it will not be a world's difference that eliminates the issue I mentioned above.
You'll need to make sure your PC has an HDMI out, unless that television has a DVI port (some newer ones seem to be going the trend of having HDMI and VGA only, or at least most of the 32" ones when I was getting mine did).
As for the aspect ratio, if the game isn't taking up the whole screen, make sure you have a widescreen ratio selected.
Here's my experience. I've tried it, and these things just don't have a good enough dot pitch (or whatever the equivalent is for LCDs if it's called something else) for heavy PC use. Basically, the screen is too large a size for too low a resolution, so it's not sharp. Text, namely, is going to look terrible (smudged and blurry) compared to any, and I mean any, PC monitor. It will be tiring to read after long use. Games and movies may look fine though. They're fine to use this way, but I wouldn't use it to replace a PC monitor. After using it for a while, and then going back to an actual PC monitor, you'll be surprised at the sharpness you were missing. Just be aware of this.
As for your questions, a DVI connection may help a bit (HDMI is DVI plus sound, nothing more), but it will not be a world's difference that eliminates the issue I mentioned above.
You'll need to make sure your PC has an HDMI out, unless that television has a DVI port (some newer ones seem to be going the trend of having HDMI and VGA only, or at least most of the 32" ones when I was getting mine did).
As for the aspect ratio, if the game isn't taking up the whole screen, make sure you have a widescreen ratio selected.