Monitor Upgrade

[Puma44]

Found this a couple of days ago.  For you IT/Gaming experts, is this a good idea for a monitor upgrade for the price?  My computer is a robust VR rig.

free screen capture software

[streakeagle]

Look for information on the port used for PC/gaming, usually HDMI port 1 on most modern TVs. The HMDI input spec will determine its maximum frame rate at 1080p and 4K. A quick google search on this model's performance for PC gaming shows that a lot of people appear to be happy with it. This review talks about its performance for Xbox One gaming, which is a good measure since an Xbox One is really just a Win10 PC in disguise.

A good way to compare TVs as PC monitors is to bring a laptop to the store to try it out on the demo TVs. That way you can get a good idea about the tradeoffs between price and quality instead of relying on listed feature sets. But most TVs need setting changes for the appropriate input to get the optimum quality from a PC.

[Puma44]

Good stuff Streakeagle.  Thanks for the reply! 

[Skuzzy]

You cannot do 4K resolution on a computer monitor using the HDMI port.  You have to use the DisplayPort for 4K monitors.  HDMI does not have the bandwidth to support the 4K resolution.

If your video card does not have ta DisplayPort, then you will be looking at a video card upgrade, along with a cable.

[Puma44]

Good point Skuzzy.  Thanks!

[FLS]

You cannot do 4K resolution on a computer monitor using the HDMI port.  You have to use the DisplayPort for 4K monitors.  HDMI does not have the bandwidth to support the 4K resolution.

If your video card does not have ta DisplayPort, then you will be looking at a video card upgrade, along with a cable.

I believe hdmi 2.1 supports 4k. It seems to work on my TV that I use as a monitor.

Puma won't get 120Hz though, that's a TV feature, he'll only get 60Hz with a PC.

[Chalenge]

I have a 43" 4k monitor that I run using a Display Port cable. I'm a tall guy, built a desk specifically for computer use with a 43" monitor center mounted and under-desk keyboard. From what I have learned if you are under 6' tall you are going to have to mount the display awfully low to be comfortable in using it when you are not gaming, or you use an adjustable mounting that allows some change in positioning. My wife hates gaming at the desk here, but can play on a 75" from the couch just fine. Just some things to consider.

[streakeagle]

I use an old (fall 2006!) 46-inch 1080p LCD as my monitor for both gaming and conventional use of my PC. I used the stock table stand and placed the monitor on the desk rather than the elevated stand meant for conventional smaller monitors. I also sit in virtual ejection seat (handmade wooden frame, sport-scale replica of a Martin-Baker from an F-4 Phantom). The ejection seat is mounted on a wooden platform that is on castor wheels that elevates my seat height about 1.5". Combined with my height (about 5' 10"), this puts the center of my display level with my eyes, which is exactly what I would have wanted if I had not inadvertently achieved this result. At 2.5-3 ft from face depending on my posture, that gives me about a 70 +/- 5 degree horizontal field of view, which looks reasonably close to what I see when using the Oculus Rift. If it only had an equal field of view in the vertical, I would be really happy with it as I need to look up leading gunnery targets in a dogfight a lot more than I need to look left or right.

As for HDMI and 4K, I have never had 4K but I have been following the tech for years. As I understand it, this website was correct as of October 2016 and the spec keeps getting better: https://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/hdmi-premium-high-speed-certification/

I think every recent TV and high end gpu has at least one HDMI port that supports 4K at 60Hz. I don't know of any TVs that have display port and as far as I can recall, no TVs support PC 4K video faster than 60 Hz. I am tempted to get a 60-inch 4K OLED TV or budget LCD optimized for PC gaming (TCL 6-series in 55-inch and 65-inch have lots of gaming optimizations for a fairly low price). But I am waiting for the nVidia BFG displays to hit the market to make a final decision.

[streakeagle]

I am expecting the pricing to be too high for my taste, but I love most of the specs: https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/geforce/products/big-format-gaming-displays/

The 65-inch TCL can be a cost-effective option: https://www.pcmag.com/review/361079/tcl-65r617
But if you read reviews by people who have bought them, quality control is horrible. If you get a good one you will be happy aside from the known design flaws, if you get a bad one, you may have to exchange it multiple times before you get a good one if you ever get a good one. The low price makes it tempting to get from Best Buy, where return/exchange is quick and easy. The 55-inch version has the best cost effectiveness (I could almost buy two for the price of the 65-inch), but I would really like the extra diagonal 10-inches, which would give me a huge difference over my current 46-inch, pushing the fov to nearly 90 degrees, very closely matching the horizontal view in an Oculus Rift but at a much higher resolution with HDR support. Of course, the Rift does 90 fps when not bottlenecked by the cpu/gpu versus the 60 fps of a large TV. But if I can actually run my sims at 4K and 60 Hz on a 65-inch panel 30 inches in front of my face, I can live with 60 Hz!

Otherwise, I may go with an LG OLED in the 50 to 55 inch class sacrificing size and price for awesome image quality.

[Skuzzy]

Be cautious between a television and a computer monitor. They are different.

Some monitors may support HDMI 2.0, many don't.  Even if they do, finding an HDMI 2.0 video card which will work with that connector is a bit hit and miss.  If they happen to work together, then you would need a different cable for the 2.0 speeds and you would be relegated to 30FPS as a maximum frame rate.

The DisplayPort connection is the only port that insures you being able to take advantage of all the capabilities of the monitor.

[Gman]

Puma won't get 120Hz though, that's a TV feature, he'll only get 60Hz with a PC.

Most budget 4k TVs (in fact pretty much all right now until the nVidia big format gaming displays @120hz 65" come out), don't do 120hz in 4k from a PC, only in lower resolutions.  They are all in 60hz at 4k.  The only real option right now for higher than 60hz 4k is the Acer/Asus 144hz 4k 27" monitors.  We have one Asus unit, at 27" I think the 4k is only really marginally better than 1440p, but these monitors have other benefits as well.

As said above, it's TV/GPU dependent and a bit random across the board so far as HDMI2.xx/etc standards and 4k working on a "gaming" TV.  I have a couple TVs that are 4k and have specific PC gaming modes, 55/65" LG NanoCell units are inexpensive for the most part, and using a standard HDMI cable from the HDMI port on the 1080ti/TitanXP cards, I'm able to see games at 4k and 60hz on both of these TVs.  IMO once the 65" nVidia gaming large screens are out, which will do 4k at 120hz, the LG NanoCell are one of the other options (there are a few other more or less acceptable PC gaming 4k tvs out there, lots of info on Google about this) but still limit you to 60hz in 4k. 

When planning on using any 4k TV with your PC, Google that model and check the specific sites dedicated to 4k TV PC gaming, there are several out there.  Input lag and other factors are important to know, some TVs will be better than others for PC gaming, but none will touch a gaming LCD in performance, not yet anyway (65" nVidia again). 

[Puma44]

Good info.  Thanks for all the inputs gents!