Seiki 42" 4K SE42UGT Experience

RomanMtz said:
Is it possible to make a 21:9 resolution on this screen even if you end up with black bars on the top and bottom? And if so, could you game like that?
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As per EDID this TV has 2 native resolutions: 3840*2160@60Hz and 1920*1080@60Hz, so 1080P is scaled quite nicely over entire 4K screen without bars. It also has a list of supported standard TV and monitor resolutions, but the picture will occupy only part of the screen at Just Scan 100% aspect ratio. You can add any custom resolution as EDID Override with your GPU Control Center and CRU utility, making sure it fits 600Mhz pixel clock limit. Your 21:9 reso is equivalent to 2560:1080@60Hz or 3440:1440@60Hz, so in theory both should work, but not higher reso. If your gaming device outputs one of such reso, the gaming experience should be the same as with any other reso at 60Hz. If it outputs a higher 5K reso like 5120x2160@120Hz, the TV will drop frame rate to 60Hz, and downscale the input reso to native 4K at best, or show just a pattern on screen or nothing at worst.
 
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zamaracrillio said:
As per EDID this TV has 2 native resolutions: 3840*2160@60Hz and 1920*1080@60Hz, so 1080P is scaled quite nicely over entire 4K screen without bars. It also has a list of supported standard TV and monitor resolutions, but the picture will occupy only part of the screen at Just Scan 100% aspect ratio. You can add any custom resolution as EDID Override with your GPU Control Center and CRU utility, making sure it fits 600Mhz bandwidth limit. Your 21:9 reso is equivalent to 2560:1080@60Hz or 3440:1440@60Hz, so both will work, but not higher reso. If your gaming device outputs one of such reso, the gaming experience will be the same as with any other reso at 60Hz. If it outputs a higher 5K reso like 5120x2160@120Hz, the TV will drop frame rate to 60Hz, and scale input reso to native 4K at best, or show just vertical line pattern on screen at worst.
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Thanks for your response! Yes, I would be curious to see if you could "emulate" a Dell U3415W on this screen and be able to game in 21:9 3440:1440@60Hz. If anyone has tried this I would love to hear your opinion on it. Thanks!
 
I did not try any 21:9 but any res I tried outside of 1080P and 4K resulted in white lines on part of the screen making it unusable.
 
DooLocsta said:
any res I tried outside of 1080P and 4K resulted in white lines on part of the screen making it unusable.
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It sounds unusual. I tried quite a few standard HDTV resolutions listed in this TV EDID Extension, and they worked out of the box, once DP-to-HDMI adapter induced pixel clock limits were restored back to port defaults with Pixel Clock Patcher and PC reboot to re-read the EDID from TV. I also tried some custom resolutions, and success depended on choosing the right Timings and also adding them in a certain sequence, like resetting the TV, adding the new reso to EDID Override extension block, adding and testing it in AMD Control Center. I had at some reso black screen, at others vertical or horizontal lines, some resulted in picture overlap. Custom resos only work if you put the right detail timings and polarity, and this is monitor specific and hard to guess.

RomanMtz said:
If anyone has tried this I would love to hear your opinion on it.
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When you wrote 21:9 without detail resolution, I thought "Did you ever try it yourself what you ask others to do"? Pls try a similar task on any other monitor you can access to better understand what's involved and let us know your findings. :)
 
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zamaracrillio said:
When you wrote 21:9, I thought "Did you ever try it yourself what you ask others to do"? Pls try a similar task on another monitor you can access to better understand what's involved and let us know your findings. :)
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I would gladly if I owned this TV, but I don't. I wanted to find out if anyone tried this on this TV before I made a purchasing decision. Thanks again!
 
Smashed panel, it happens. Probably during shipping...
 
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Got a smashed panel from HHGregg on this model 2 days ago - Sucks

My uncle got one that was in good shape a couple weeks ago though and has been very much enjoying 4k @ 60hz!
 
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RomanMtz said:
Quick question to the owners of this TV... Is it possible to make a 21:9 resolution on this screen even if you end up with black bars on the top and bottom? And if so, could you game like that? Thanks!
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Yes, it's possible.

I just tried it with the Nvidia Control Panel.

I setup a custom resolution of 3840x1640 and it looked great, especially since the horizontal resolution is native to the panel.

Now as for PC gaming at that resolution? Well that totally depends on the game since many games don't support 21:9 resolutions or give you the ability to arbitrarily set a custom resolution.

Other lower 21:9 resolutions worked like 3440x1440, but then you're either looking at GPU scaling or just dealing with 1:1 pixel mapped image and black bars on the side too.
 
NoxTek said:
lower 21:9 resolutions worked like 3440x1440, but then you're either looking at GPU scaling or just dealing with 1:1 pixel mapped image and black bars on the side too.
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Would you share detail timings for this one, I was having a hard time to find the right ones. :confused:
 
zamaracrillio said:
Would you share detail timings for this one, I was having a hard time to find the right ones. :confused:
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I literally just went into the Nvidia control panel, enabled custom resolutions, and then setup a 3440x1440 resolution with automatic timings. Works just fine, although there is like five seconds of panic as you wait for the TV to adjust to the new resolution.

3440x1440%20seiki.png
 
Welp, bought 2 of the 42" models and 1 of the 55" models, all for about $900. The 55" is dwarfing my computer desk but is great for movies and my favorite visualizer xD.
 
NoxTek said:
I literally just went into the Nvidia control panel, enabled custom resolutions, and then setup a 3440x1440 resolution with automatic timings.
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If you change now from Automatic to Manual, would it show detail timings set in Automatic mode? Any other way to find out what they are?
 
OK, I took the leap. This is the best inexpensive monitor I have ever seen. MY adapter is still on the way but hell 2160p at 30hz is damn impressive and this just rocks as a cad machine!

I'm guessing this will be great for me since I'm more of a RTS gamer than FPS.
 
Yeah I also took the plunge and bought this for $260 thanks to you guys. This TV is huge on the desk and the screen real estate is enormous. The only downside is playing FPS on this thing. I was coming from a 120hz Samsung 1080p. So the 60hz is definitely noticeable playing something like Star Wars Battlefront. You can just tell it's not as smooth as the 120hz.

So I also got the Club3D adapter and hooked it up just fine. 4k Youtube vids were incredible. For a 'budget' TV this thing works great. Highly recommended for the price.

When 4K 120hz screens come out I'm all in!
 
I'm going to get my shit together over the next few months and grab one of these -- sounds like it's better in some aspects than the $800 4K TVs I was trying to get to work as monitors months ago.
 
My adapter came in. Threw it on the machine and BAM! 60HZ 3840 x 2160.

60 FPS in Diablo 3 with an r9 280x
Civ V looks incredible.

Threw my old 1900 x1200 dell 24" on the side with dual monitors so I can watch HD tv on that while I work on main screen.

Very close to heaven.
 
I wish I could figure out how to turn off the damn auto brightness / contrast on this TV.... it can be quite annoying at times.

How to replicate:

Set your desktop to an all black background, then turn off all icons and hide the taskbar. Now move your house cursor around the screen, particularly to the edges of the screen and back again. Watch closely as the black level on the screen changes depending on where the mouse pointer is.
 
I picked up two of these to use a monitors Friday. So far I am very happy with them. They are on two different computer with GTX970s. I am at 3840 x 2160 60hz using Amazon Basics HDMI cables rated for 18gbps. The cables were $11 for two shipped, so I really can not complain about that either.
 
Sorry for the retailer referenced question but I ordered one of these Saturday, is it normal not to receive shipping info for a few days from hhgreg?
 
My SE42UGT (corrected) from HHGregg arrived at my door, with free shipping, in just 3 calendar days. But it shipped to me from my own state, three counties away.
 
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Maryland said:
My SE442UGT from HHGregg arrived at my door, with free shipping, in just 3 calendar days. But it shipped to me from my own state, three counties away.
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Obviously im just too impatient and apparently it's shipping today. I'm in Texas and they said between 7 and 10 days, just used to Amazon two day shipping I guess.
 
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So just to confirm, there is currently no capability to display 4:4:4 Chroma at 4k 60Hz? There are some local stores near me that carry this model, and it looks like a great cheap monitor. Does anyone know of any upcoming firmware updates that might make that possible? Wouldn't be able to buy one unless I knew that it would work.
 
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hishamkali said:
So just to confirm, there is currently no capability to display 4:4:4 Chroma at 4k 60Hz? There are some local stores near me that carry this model, and it looks like a great cheap monitor. Does anyone know of any upcoming firmware updates that might make that possible? Wouldn't be able to buy one unless I knew that it would work.
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The current firmware does not support 4:4:4 chroma, although it appears as if the hardware does. This TV appears to have a wide following though with many people already having submitted tickets to Seiki for firmware updates, they have listened in the past so only time will tell.
 
Well I just got the tv in and upon inspection there are a few spots that are underneath the screen that are black, there's also a hair stuck under there. Insane how this company has no QC in place.
 
How do you think they made a 40" 4K TV they sell for less than $300 when /everyone/ else sells for $600+? It sure as hell isn't in the VW Phaeton factory.
 
silent-circuit said:
How do you think they made a 40" 4K TV they sell for less than $300 when /everyone/ else sells for $600+? It sure as hell isn't in the VW Phaeton factory.
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Horrible analogy but I get your point, I think it's appropriate to add my experience for anyone looking at this TV, be aware they have QC issues.
 
hishamkali said:
So just to confirm, there is currently no capability to display 4:4:4 Chroma at 4k 60Hz? There are some local stores near me that carry this model, and it looks like a great cheap monitor. Does anyone know of any upcoming firmware updates that might make that possible? Wouldn't be able to buy one unless I knew that it would work.
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I filed a ticket about this twice and not once did I get a reply. Their Facebook page also had a thread about it where they stated they would not be able to support 4:4:4 and it pretty much stopped there.

If they were to enable 4:4:4 it would pretty much kill their SeikiPro line so I would not hold your breath.
 
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Using an HDMI 2.0, 60 Hz 4K adapter (first Club 3D, then UpTab) has allowed me to enjoy 4:4:4 at 30 Hz. When I was using an HDMI 1.4, 30 Hz adapter, I was seeing only 4:2:2 color. 30 Hz is all I need, so for me it's been worth spending $30 or $50 to get nonlossy color.

As for quality control: I've had no problems with my SE42UGT, nor with my two SE39UY04s. But when a coworker set up her SE42UGT at home, the screen began flashing, and stayed flashing, even before she could attach the adapter. A factory reset didn't help. So she's returning it to the local HHGregg for a replacement.
 
Pretty happy with mine so far. Running 4k@60hz for desktop, Text isn't as good as my SE39UY04 running 4k @ 30hz, due to the reduced chroma I reckon.

That said, once you fire up any game and aren't locked to 30hz, it's amazing. What a difference in games like GTA or even P.Cars, not to mention shooters like FO4. I'm gonna have to add another 980 now just to take advantage of 60hz. I'm getting about 45fps in most modern games @ 4k with no AA and its a world better. This is great, because I never liked the 1080p scaling to get 120hz on my SE39UY04, it just didn't look good.
 
Just FYI for anyone else buying this from HHGregg, I got a shipping notification email but it was missing the tracking number. The TV showed up 4 business days later (I'm on the West Coast). The box was in good condition and the tv appears to be working (No scratches or dents or craxks or dead pixels). Out of the box, I could only test the built-in YouTube and Netflix apps and connected to my old pc in 1080p via hdmi 1.2. Everything looks great! Can't wait until I get the rest of my new PC to actually use this as a monitor in 4k.

Dumb question time... What does the "Blue Screen" option in the menu mean?
 
silentstone7 said:
Out of the box, I could only test the built-in YouTube and Netflix apps and connected to my old pc in 1080p via hdmi 1.2. Everything looks great! Can't wait until I get the rest of my new PC to actually use this as a monitor in 4k.
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After getting the Seiki, I upgraded my Netflix account to 4K. I also bought a 4K Amazon Fire TV (2015), connected it to HDMI 1. Under the settings for DTV and HDMI 1, I set sharpness to the same value--I think 40. Then, using both apps, I compared the detail of a1080p movie: Across the Universe (2007). The movie looked sharper when viewed on Amazon's Netflix app; when viewing a brick wall, I saw texture that I couldn't see on the Seiki app. Now I need to compare the two devices for Netflix 4K, YouTube 4K, YouTube 1080p.

Dumb question time... What does the "Blue Screen" option in the menu mean?
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I think it's referring to the blue SEIKI welcome screen: Do you want to see the welcome screen? Or do you prefer to see only blackness until your signal displays?
 
silentstone7 said:
Dumb question time... What does the "Blue Screen" option in the menu mean?
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This TV like most other TVs will by default mute the audio and put up a blue screen whenever you're using the NTSC (analog) tuner and it doesn't get a usable signal. This feature, like the analog tuner itself,. is a holdover for less developed areas that still use analog broadcast TV. It's pretty much useless for 90% of people buying the TV currently. Disable the 'Blue screen' option and if you use the analog tuner and tune to a channel with no signal, you will see and hear static.
 
This model is discontinued now :S
Also the adapter is sold out pretty much everywhere... Anyone know a good source for these?
 
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Indeed, the SE42UGT has been discontinued; HHGregg has sold the last of its stock, at least online. You can probably still find them in retail stores.
If you don't need streaming video, there's always its streamless twin, the SE42UMS. BuyDig is selling it on U.S. eBay for $300 shipped.
As for the Club3D mini DisplayPort adapter: Their full-size DP adapter is the same the Accell B086B-011B. But the one you want--the Club3D mini DP adapter--looks very different from Accell's version, the B086B-012B. Still, that Accell has been getting good reviews and user reports. So have the UpTab and its twin, the mini DP adapter by Micro SATA Cables.
 
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Maryland USA said:
Indeed, the SE42UGT has been discontinued; HHGregg has sold the last of its stock, at least online. You can probably still find them in retail stores.
If you don't need streaming video, there's always its streamless twin, the SE42UMS. BuyDig is selling it on U.S. eBay for $300 shipped.
As for the Club3D mini DisplayPort adapter: Their full-size DP adapter is the same the Accell B086B-011B. But the one you want--the Club3D mini DP adapter--looks very different from Accell's version, the B086B-012B. Still, that Accell has been getting good reviews and user reports. So have the UpTab and its twin, the mini DP adapter by Micro SATA Cables.
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Actually, I do want the full size :) Thanks. I'll look up the Accel one.
 
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Digital Viper-X- said:
This model is discontinued now :S
Also the adapter is sold out pretty much everywhere... Anyone know a good source for these?
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Just place your order on Amazon. Mine shipped within that week I ordered even though it says temporarily out of stock.
 
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