Don't game much anymore...Recommend a 4k display?

H

Headbust

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Oct 10, 2003
Messages
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Oh how the times have changed...I have been coming here for almost 15 years now and gone from countless hours of gaming per day to basically non-existent gaming. But one thing has not changed, i always wants the latest and greatest of all tech hardware. I still build PC's for myself and others but one thing has eluded me all these years that I have never gave a second thought..my monitor.

I looked up my HP W2207 monitor model number the other day and was astounded that the thing came out in 2007 originally. I think I got this in 2009 or 2010 maybe but I can't believe I have a monitor that old. So as usual this got me looking and now I am bit by by the bug... I don't pay much attention to PC display talk obviously but I have been reading around the last few days and it basically comes down to a 27" QHD or 32" 4K display are the best options for each. My current monitor is 22", my work monitor is two 24" monitors. I do mainly programming and graphics at work and do some of that stuff at home at well.

Overall though I just want a nice monitor but don't want to break the bank. I can see myself spending about $700 at the most(this up from about $400 originally :) ) Any recommendations?

Thanks
 
I just upgraded from a 30" Dell 3008WFP to a 40" Samsung UN40KU6300. It's amazing. I had used the Dell for 6 or 7 years...I guess things have improved a bunch, cause even though the Samsung is a budget 4k TV it looks better than my old Dell. The biggest difference (aside from the massive gain in real estate) is with motion. On the Dell scrolling through forums would produce a blurry mess - enough that it was impossible read while scrolling. The Samsung still has some blur / ghosting when scrolling but it's a lot better.

Downsides would be color shifting at the edges of the screen. I sit close enough (~30-40") that the edges are probably a 30 degree angle and I can notice some color shifting. Text is just a little bit small at default sizes, but I don't like how scaling looks so I end up pulling the display closer if I have to read something tiny. There's a 43" model that would probably alleviate this, but Best Buy doesn't carry it =(.

Anyhow, the Samsung is a good, cheap option if you value size. I decided to go with a budget model for now since HDR isn't sorted yet. Maybe in a couple years I'll get a 43" with HDR, but for now I love this display.
 
Thanks, i think 40" would be just pushing it though lol. If i get a 27 or 32" that will be quite the increase for me. But after a year or two I could see going larger. Its all about slowly transitioning instead of one huge leap. Thats how I went from a 50"-55"-60"-65" and looking at 72"+ HDTV's now lol.

Usually when I am on my PC I am leaning back in my chair with my feet up. Gives me a good view of the monitor and the TV across yonder in my finished basement. Viewing distance is about 30-40" on average for me.
 
So why do you want a 4K monitor? If it's more 'screen estate', go for the 40" Samsung; if you want better text, go for the 24" or 27" Dell and set scaling to 175% or 150% respectively. I'm writing this post on a 24" Dell P2415Q in portrait mode and it's a significant qualitative improvement over 1080p portrait.
 
I went to a 40" because the DPI was the about the same as my 1440P 27" monitor at the time. So everything looked about the same with scaling. I wet with a Wasabi Mango UHD400. I love this thing. And it is an actual monitor not a TV with a pc input.
 
I also have a 40" UHD screen. It is fantastic for productivity. You rarely full-screen a website unless its a video stream. With Windows 10's corner snap, you can keep 4 20" FHD websites open at once. Or keep a word doc open on half the screen, giving you a full sheet of paper to review/write on-screen, while keeping two FHD websites open. It's awesome.
 
KazeoHin said:
I also have a 40" UHD screen. It is fantastic for productivity. You rarely full-screen a website unless its a video stream. With Windows 10's corner snap, you can keep 4 20" FHD websites open at once. Or keep a word doc open on half the screen, giving you a full sheet of paper to review/write on-screen, while keeping two FHD websites open. It's awesome.
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I use mine for development. RIght now I have 4 x FHD windows up, and using my second and third monitor for documents and media. Very handy setup for production.
 
Can you snap say 4 windows so they are distributed evenly? I thought you could only snap hard left or right and it resizes each to take up half the screen? Is there another way to do this so it splits the views evenly if you have 3, 4 or 5 etc...

Also, since I don't game does a video card matter at all driving a 4k display? The last video card I bought was a MSI 480GTX that I should have never bought in the first place, played about 10 hours worth of games and that was it. The thing ended up frying eventually and i have been using my 8800GTS ever since thats about 10 years old as well and does everything I need. Any issues with it running 4k res? I will probably upgrade it anyway soon as cheap cards now are better than the 8800 these days.
 
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Headbust said:
Can you snap say 4 windows so they are distributed evenly? I thought you could only snap hard left or right and it resizes each to take up half the screen? Is there another way to do this so it splits the views evenly if you have 3, 4 or 5 etc...

Also, since I don't game does a video card matter at all driving a 4k display? The last video card I bought was a MSI 480GTX that I should have never bought in the first place, played about 10 hours worth of games and that was it. The thing ended up frying eventually and i have been using my 8800GTS ever since thats about 10 years old as well and does everything I need. Any issues with it running 4k res? I will probably upgrade it anyway soon as cheap cards now are better than the 8800 these days.
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To drive 4k @ 60hz I think you'll need something with HDMI 1.4 or Displayport 1.2.
 
Ok, ill pick up a cheap vid card afterwards, probably around $150 i would guess I would spend..Man i forgot how much this forum influences me..now I am looking at $1200 monitors :(
 
You need HDMI 2 or DP. I drive a Samsung 4k with both a 970 (HDMI) and the IGP of an i5-4690k (DP->HDMI2). The HDMI (1.4) off the IGP will only do 4k@30Hz. For more ability to manage windows look at DisplayFusion, you can define a grid for snapping windows to amongst many other tools.
 
Headbust said:
Can you snap say 4 windows so they are distributed evenly? I thought you could only snap hard left or right and it resizes each to take up half the screen? Is there another way to do this so it splits the views evenly if you have 3, 4 or 5 etc...
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So, In Windows 10, you can snap to corners, allowing a window to take up exactly 1/4 of your desktop space. Also, if you right-click the taskbar in Windows 7, you can select "Show Windows Side By Side" and roll the dice.
 
The challenge with 4k is cable/connector bandwidth.

Seriously though, my suggestions - one of the $400 Samsung TVs, an 18gb/s HDMI cable and a newer video card with HDMI 2.0. You can pick up a 1050ti for what $140?
 
Headbust said:
Thanks, i think 40" would be just pushing it though lol. If i get a 27 or 32" that will be quite the increase for me.
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I wouldn't consider 4k in anything less than 40"

You're gonna squint your eyes out or would need to use scaling (which beats the whole point of 4k)
 
StormClaw said:
I wouldn't consider 4k in anything less than 40"

You're gonna squint your eyes out or would need to use scaling (which beats the whole point of 4k)
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Not to mention Windows is shit at scaling. With 4K at 40" it's a usable DPI at 100% scaling, below that it gets unpleasant without scaling. And scaling itself is unpleasant.

If you don't have the desk space, make it. The (illogical) cost savings alone are worth it.

My 3440x1440 21:9 monitor, used, is worth more than a 46" Samsung 4K TV capable of 60Hz 4:4:4 mostly because it has better response time. For your purposes? The TV is the far better deal.
 
silent-circuit said:
Not to mention Windows is shit at scaling. With 4K at 40" it's a usable DPI at 100% scaling, below that it gets unpleasant without scaling. And scaling itself is unpleasant.

If you don't have the desk space, make it. The (illogical) cost savings alone are worth it.

My 3440x1440 21:9 monitor, used, is worth more than a 46" Samsung 4K TV capable of 60Hz 4:4:4 mostly because it has better response time. For your purposes? The TV is the far better deal.
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Have to agree here, I'm running a 48" 4k for the same DPI as my previous 2x 24" monitors.
 
silent-circuit said:
Not to mention Windows is shit at scaling. With 4K at 40" it's a usable DPI at 100% scaling, below that it gets unpleasant without scaling. And scaling itself is unpleasant.
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Scaling is just fine in Windows 10. I'm using 175% scaling on this 24" 4K monitor.
 
Ok thanks for the replies but the answers are different than I was expecting. I have zero interest in using 40" tv as my monitor, it's not an option.

I have read many reviews here of people that are happy with there 4K monitors that are around the 32" mark. Many are using that 32" without scaling and from the videos I have seen everything would be fine. But I am willing to listen to other options, but ll ass no more 40" monsters. If I want to use something that large I will just turn my head to the left from where my computer monitor is and hook my desktop up to my 65" tv.

32" is about the max I would like to go. It will fit perfect I the space I have with a few inches to spare. If some of you say 4K is to much res for a 32" then recommend a 1440p panel instead for that size. I am willing to consider one of those but I would like to watch some 4K stuff here and there when the opportunity arises, hence my wanting a 4K display.

Thanks!
 
Alright I made a decision and ordered a 27" Dell Ultrasharp QHD U2717D. figurd I would try a 27" to see how I like it. If it don't I will probably go up to an ASUS or benq for $750-$900
 
If you're young and have good eye sights. Then you might be OK with a 4K 27" without having to scale up the fonts. I'm older and I use a 32" 4K at office at about 24"-26" and a 40" at home at about 36". Even then, I sometime have to go to 125% on webpages with smaller fonts.
 
Wiz33 said:
If you're young and have good eye sights. Then you might be OK with a 4K 27" without having to scale up the fonts. I'm older and I use a 32" 4K at office at about 24"-26" and a 40" at home at about 36". Even then, I sometime have to go to 125% on webpages with smaller fonts.
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Scaling is no longer a problem with Windows 10. I have scaling set to 150% on my 27" 4k monitor and 175% on my 24" 4k monitor.
 
Wiz33 said:
Scaling defeats the purpose of having the screen real estate of a 4K.
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No it doesn't; it uses it for a different purpose. Scaling makes the text nicer to look at and easier to read. Do you have a laser printer? Print out the same text at 150 dpi, 300 dpi, and 600 dpi and see which looks best. That's proper scaling for you, and it's the same on screen.
 
Headbust said:
Alright I made a decision and ordered a 27" Dell Ultrasharp QHD U2717D. figurd I would try a 27" to see how I like it. If it don't I will probably go up to an ASUS or benq for $750-$900
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You won't be able to use it without scaling.
And having to use scaling sucks, trust me i tried.

I just got a 38" ultrawide LG (3440x1600) and i'm happy as a kid in a candy shop.

Before that i had 34" ultrawide asus and couldn't use it because things were too small.

Here's a comparison pic, the extra height makes a lot of difference: https://i.imgur.com/LhZfRDN.jpg

If you refuse to use 40" display because you're limited in space on your desk, that's understandable.
If you refuse to use it because you think it's gonna be too big - then you are dead wrong. You would love 40". It's not big at all, it's the perfect size.
 
Quartz-1 said:
No it doesn't; it uses it for a different purpose. Scaling makes the text nicer to look at and easier to read. Do you have a laser printer? Print out the same text at 150 dpi, 300 dpi, and 600 dpi and see which looks best. That's proper scaling for you, and it's the same on screen.
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Increased scaling reduce the amount of info you can have on screens. one of the reason I got a 4K screen is that I work with large spreadsheets and need multiple windows side by side instead of overlapping.
 
Wiz33 said:
Increased scaling reduce the amount of info you can have on screens.
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And your point is? Increased scaling means that the info on screen is better presented. It looks better; for some - including me - that's worth paying for. It's swings and roundabouts.
 
Quartz-1 said:
And your point is? Increased scaling means that the info on screen is better presented. It looks better; for some - including me - that's worth paying for. It's swings and roundabouts.
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My point is I would rather get a larger screen size so I don't have to scale. Having to scale up so I can read the text means I have to scroll around more often while working to large spreadsheets. Is that that difficult to understand.
 
Why do you need a 4K display? Just for bragging rights?

Get it through your thick scull that you will not be able to use it without scaling.

And if you're gonna use scaling you might as well buy a non-4k display, like 1440p cause it's gonna look the same (but you get better refresh rate, etc on these screens)
 
StormClaw said:
Why do you need a 4K display? Just for bragging rights?

Get it through your thick scull that you will not be able to use it without scaling.

And if you're gonna use scaling you might as well buy a non-4k display, like 1440p cause it's gonna look the same (but you get better refresh rate, etc on these screens)
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Depending on viewing distance, a 32"+ 4K is perfectly usable without scaling. If all you do is game then sure, a 34"-38" QHD+ is probably better and much easier to drive. But some of us actually do work stuff, for people using large spreadsheet and doing coding. The extra screen real estate is actually meaningful.
 
Wiz33 said:
My point is I would rather get a larger screen size so I don't have to scale. Having to scale up so I can read the text means I have to scroll around more often while working to large spreadsheets. Is that that difficult to understand.
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It does seem to be rather difficult for you to understand that other people may have different requirements. Scaling is a feature, not a bug. If 27" 4K doesn't work for you, that's fine, but it doesn't mean that it doesn't work for someone else.
 
Quartz-1 said:
It does seem to be rather difficult for you to understand that other people may have different requirements. Scaling is a feature, not a bug. If 27" 4K doesn't work for you, that's fine, but it doesn't mean that it doesn't work for someone else.
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Because scaling does not work on everything, There are a lot softwares that are not affected by Windows scaling and you would have to hope they included an option to enlarge the UI within the application.
 
Wiz33 said:
Because scaling does not work on everything, There are a lot softwares that are not affected by Windows scaling and you would have to hope they included an option to enlarge the UI within the application.
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Care to back up that claim with statistics? Because while I'm sure there are some - I recall Photoshop having problems, for one - I've yet to come across any recent applications that have problems.
 
Quartz-1 said:
Care to back up that claim with statistics? Because while I'm sure there are some - I recall Photoshop having problems, for one - I've yet to come across any recent applications that have problems.
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Filemaker Pro up to version 14 still have problems. Only solution is shelling out for version 15. It all depends on how much legacy software you have, I'm still using Filemaker Pro 2007 everyday but I'm ok since I can run native on the 32" 4K at the office and still see everything. I also have foreign language software that will not scale in Win 10.
 
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