Any reason not to use a 40"+ 4k TV as a gaming and productivity screen?

xchaotic

xchaotic

xchaotic

Associate
Joined
28 Sep 2008
Posts
116
I was looking into getting a 34" uwqhd screen for work and gaming. 40"+ 4k TVs are cheaper, offer more physical area, have lots more pixels and at such big size I can just run 4k natively and not worry about scaling.
Now for the caveats:
60hz max. That's ok with me.
Input lag. A lot of lower end models may not have 'game mode' or an option to disable processing. Not a problem for work, but not great for gaming.
If anyone can recommend a cheap 4k TV with decent input lag, I think I'll go for it and spend the rest of the budget on GPUs to get solid 60fps in games.
 
tvs would need to have display port, as hdmi currently dosent support 60hz at 4k, i personally got the phillips 40" 4k monitor which is great.
 
However you need a GPU that can output HDMI 2.0 - currently thats the upper end nVidia 900 series only - NO OTHER SETUP WILL CURRENTLY GET YOU 60HZ 4K OVER HDMI* (sorry for caps). I believe there are 1-2 TVs that have displayport for 4K 60Hz now but they are still the minority and I'm not upto speed on which models that is.

While fine for console/controller type gaming in "gaming mode" most 4K TVs still have 40+ms latency which can be quite poor for more serious gaming depending on how sensitive you are to it.




* With full colour range.
 
Last edited:
Yeah but still leaves not much other than high end GPUs that can do HDMI 2.0 currently :S not sure if AMD's incoming range will have HDMI 2.0 at all levels but I'd assume so.
 
You should have a look at the 2015 Samsung models - there's a long old thread on hard forum about them.
I don't think they would be classed as cheap mind.
 
Displayport 60/4k and hdmi 2.0 60/4k are both fitted to the now bargain Panasonic 802b 50" screen. Recently as low as £649 from Pana refurbs on ebay. Input times are under 40ms. For better response and support for common pc resolutions in MST mode turn picture to 'monitor' and 'game mode' to on. I tend to whack all the other gizmos upto 100% too as I like vibrant (maybe slightly unrealistic but vivid) bright colors.


Also watching freesatHD in the corner of my desktop in full 1080p is awesome :)
 
Last edited:
LFletcher said:
You should have a look at the 2015 Samsung models - there's a long old thread on hard forum about them.
I don't think they would be classed as cheap mind.
Click to expand...

Thanks - I am comparing this to 32" 4k Acer which is currently ca £750.
If I can get a larger 4k TV for the same price or less that gives you a good user experience for both work and gaming it is at least worth considering.
 
The 40" 4k screens are truely awesome, and you'd probably be ok with only occasional gaming :)

Gsync helps a great deal in that regard though, and the extra you'd spend would help your gfx card to last a good deal longer than it would normally :cool:
 
You need to pick the 4K TV with care, input lag can big a significant issue. Once you go big though normal PC monitors look very inadequate, it's very easy to readjust to the new size.

The Samsung JS9000 2015 models seem to be particularly good for PC desktop/gaming imo, with regards to screen quality and input lag.
 
Singleplayer games are usually fine and for any multiplayer games its generally safe to assume everyone else playing against you has a TV (similar latency) so only competitive players bother with low input TV's or monitors. This is what I imagine anyway.
 
@sanaxe1:

TL;DR:
Because with consoles, you're playing with gamepads. Mouse is a precision device, you'll notice the lag more easily. Nevertheless, there are TVs that are bad even for consoles.

Longer explanation:
30ms input lag (Leo Bodnar) starts to get noticeable with a mouse. With a gamepad, you might get away with 40ms. It will still affect your gaming, but you'll get used to it. Or rather, your brain will adjust to the lag, and you'll start automatically pressing the buttons in advance. Which is OK for most console games, where you have time to react, and you'll just have to time the presses right. But with games where you'll have to react faster or even instantly to the action (like Tekken-style fighting games), the input lag might indeed become a problem. Even moreso with FPS games on PC. FPS on consoles is more lenient, as the analog pads are not that accurate, to begin with, so you won't notice it as easily.


@james.miller:
Currently, the best 1080p HDTVs are slightly under 15ms (mostly Sony). Best 4k HDTVs are slightly over 20ms (mostly Samsung).


@xchaotic:
For 4k TVs, Samsung indeed currently has the best models. You'll just have to find the right one. Check this post for more info. I would strongly recommend staying under 25ms.

Then again, how much in a hurry are you? You've already thought about this for at least a year. :D


Ps. Mandatory Philips rant: Do NOT, under any circumstance, purchase a Philips TV. I made the same mistake, and quickly noticed that their product support and customer care are quite simply appalling. Consider yourself warned.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom