40 "CURVED 4K TV as a full-fledged 60Hz monitor for working with a PC?
Today, few people will be surprised at the large diagonal of monitors, not to mention the TVs, even our grandparents are almost used to the wonders of technological progress. And today, a good-quality monitor is not so much a luxury as an indispensable working tool.
This article will discuss how technologies “do not keep pace” with the real needs of users due to the marketing conspiracy of manufacturers and the associated difficulties of choice and whether it is realistic to use UHD TV as a full-fledged monitor.
A bit of history
We will not take into account the monochrome wonders of technology, but we will not move so far in the 1990s. Many of you will recall monster-like convex CRT monitors with a diagonal of 13, 15, 17, 19 inches ... Then this was considered the norm! I do not take Sun's products into account, it would be possible to write a separate article about it, but this is not about that now. Further, as they say, more - pseudo-flat CRT, increased diagonal, even better parameters and the race for the sweep frequency. At that time, 85Hz was considered comfortable, but for some, only sky-high at that time could be acceptable - 200Hz. Remembered?
Then, thin (relative to CRTs) and flat-panel LCD monitors burst into our lives, which quickly replaced CRTs by sending them to a landfill or for a well-deserved rest.
With the advent of LCD technology, new diagonals also gradually became available, from the already familiar 13 ", 15", 17 ", 19" to the progressive 20 ", 22", 24 ", 28", etc. with different response time, matrix, coating and aspect ratio. And what seemed like unclaimed fiction yesterday became a daily necessity when people had two or even three large monitors on a table.
Today
Today, no one can surprise anyone with a large diagonal - in many fields this is already a standard, but still there are people who don’t understand why we need a 40 "4K monitor. It's okay - this is the norm.
Now we are at about the same technological frontier, where they were in the 2000s when CRTs were replaced by LCDs: the matrices got better, curved technology appeared, sky-high color rendition, frequency, grain pitch, huge diagonals, and also the resolution of the screen with incredible 4K - this is all already passed stage, but why we do not see such masterpieces in the monitor market, but only a miserable 32 "or 34" (with the outdated FullHD)?
- "Uh-uh, brother, these are
Manufacturers Policy (for fans of conspiracy theories)
Let's go to any of the major stores: Eldorado, M-Video, etc. What a variety of televisions here! One thinner than the other, curved and incredible in size, Internet on board, usb 3.0, HDMI, DisplayPort, Wi-Fi, breathtaking grain pitch, etc. etc. - just some kind of holiday. And immediately a reasonable question arises, why not use any of these masterpieces as a monitor?
“Yes, indeed, and why not?” No sooner said than done.
When trying to connect such a miracle of technology to the PC, we get a pathetic 30Hz (for those who do not understand, I exaggerate: the mouse cursor moving the window on the screen will lag for example for 1-2 seconds - and so on). But this "unpleasant miracles" will not end, because The “shift” in red and blue will finish you off completely. It just so happens that TV, which in some respects surpasses any of the monitors, cannot be used as a monitor, because he shamelessly soap the image in the indicated colors, which negatively affects the display and makes the use of such a TV monitor uncomfortable.
*** UNreadable! ***
“Well, what can you do, this is a TV, not a monitor,” the inexperienced reader will say, and he will be wrong. The situation is that it is profitable for manufacturers to divide essentially the same technological niche into different categories, with their pricing policy and technology growth rates for different directions. In connection with such a dirty policy, a clear gap has formed today when the FullHD monitor 34 "costs from 60 to 100 tr, and the curved 4K-TV 40" costs 50 tr, although the latter is technologically and functionally an order of magnitude higher than the first and it can perfectly function with a PC no worse than a monitor, but there are a number of artificial limitations. Indeed, to extract maximum profit - monitors for 100 tr also need to sell.
Therefore, if you accidentally buy a 40 "miracle and connect it to a PC, you will most likely just swear in your hearts and hand over such a TV back, but this is not our method!
Difficulty translating choices
Before making my choice and buying a 40 "curved 4K-TV, I thoroughly studied more than 20 models of different manufacturers. This saga began before the new year and then I looked mainly at flat TVs, but having tested several models at home, found for myself a few things:
1. 30Hz - it's still not enough for comfortable work and at 60Hz run, not every TV and every video card here that in part lies the notorious "devil in the details";.
2 . 48 "of course looks impressive, but completely not functional and has to be moved elom from side to side, as turning your head no longer saves due to insufficient viewing angles. As the saying goes, I want and prick, but everything should have a reasonable limit! Therefore, common sense triumphed and the choice of 48 "models I swept aside;
3. 40 "is an ideal maximum for the home monitor format. But still, viewing angles were not enough;
4. If we are talking about large diagonals, then this should definitely be a CURVED (curved) screen, at that time they were not yet on sale and I decided to wait until the beginning of spring or summer (and I wasn’t mistaken);
5. Even the price increase of 45-50 tr (due to the growth of the dollar) is quite acceptable to me for a 40 "model, which I can use as for work and for home theater;
6. Almost all tested models smear blue and red, and for almost any user - this is critical, for me certainly. So that I didn’t win, this did not work out and then, so as not to take every model I liked home, I did a simple TV test in the form of a 4K image recorded on a flash drive. It is enough to insert a flash drive with such an image on the TV and everything immediately becomes clear.
In winter, none of the monitors passed my test, but then the summer came and (lo and behold) the desired instance was found! In order to facilitate the agony of search for the same geeks as I, I recommend using the image I created to test the TV for an adequate 4K.
Not all the gold that glitters
What was my disappointment when, when connected to a home PC, the same disease manifested itself with a shift of red and blue colors! Moreover, if you watch a 4K image from a flash drive, then everything is displayed correctly, which means that the matter is something else.
After a little digging and consulting with the community empirically, it was found out that it was necessary to set the “PC” mode (special thanks to the darthslider user ) in the interface settings on the TV
“Menu” / “Source” / <select the port through which the connection to the PC was established> / <Press down and see the drop-down menu> / "Change device type" / "PC"
Then the colors are displayed more correctly and there is no soap, but only at 30 Hz, but at 60 Hz the artifacts do not work properly and the color still smears.
Hence the assumption was made that it means the case should be in the video card.
A song helps us build and live
As a result, the GTX 660 was replaced by the GTX 960, and “lo and behold!” It worked, the chic 60Hz at 4K and no problems or artifacts. This is just a song! In general, any card with HDMI 2.0 will do.
MUST HAVE!
Conclusion
There is simply no alternative for this money today, as Marketing has played a trick on monitors. Therefore, 4K-TV for 50 TR may well become a worthy replacement for a monitor for a home PC. But only if you don’t abuse it with a diagonal and don’t aim at models over 40 ". At the same time, flat models are a bit more budgetary, but less comfortable to work than curved ones due to lower viewing angles.
Well, the main problem is the red and blue color shift, not all TVs correctly display the image when connected to a PC.If you want a potentially high-quality 4K-TV, I advise you to use my test image, which will reliably show the potential of the 4K-TV you have
chosen.150606-milevsky-4K-display-test-v1.0. png
PS Constructive criticism, noting and addenda are welcome.
UPD 2 (09.09.2015):
I was literally overwhelmed with questions about the TV model, so the audience is the name of their model: Samsung JU6790U (triples me all).
UPD 3 (09/12/2015):
After connecting via HDMI 2.0 and working at 60Hz rather than 30Hz - I noticed a nice feature - I lost the feeling of anxiety and overvoltage, which I can only associate with the fact that before that the monitor worked at 30Hz, all other things being equal, this could affect the psychoemotional state.
Thanks!
