decent mega-monitor?

[Lennart Sorensen]

On Tue, Apr 30, 2013 at 01:36:11PM -0400, D. Hugh Redelmeier wrote:
> There is a slow move towards talking about supporting "4k" HD TV.  This 
> seems to mean 3840 x 2160 pixels (up from 1920 x 1080).  You hear of 
> prices like $20k for TV sets.  Here's a startlingly low price:
> <http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=7674736&CatId=4717>
> Only $1,499.97 for 50" 3840 x 2160 display.
> 
> Specs:
> <http://static.highspeedbackbone.net/pdf/Seiki%20SE50UY04%204K2K%20LED%20HDTV%20Data%20Sheet.pdf>
> 
> That sounds like a lot of money for a monitor but it isn't much more
> than a 30" 2560 x 1600.
> 
> Does anybody know if this actually makes a good computer monitor for a
> conventional desktop?  I've noticed that some TVs look inferior as
> computer desktop monitors, even though their specs look appropriate.
> 
> The refresh rate is probably not good enough.  The monitor is fed by
> an HDMI 1.4 monitor and I understand that the HDMI standard doesn't
> have enough bandwidth to drive this resolution at more than 30Hz.
> Apparently the next HDMI standard will improve this.  The display can
> refresh at 120Hz at lower resolution.  This limitation seems to be
> reported in the specs: the top resolution for component and HDMI is
> listed as "4k2k 30Hz".  Note: one of the user comments says that it
> does work at 120Hz at full resolution.  So I'm confused.
> 
> The top VGA resolution listed is 3840 x 2160 (with no mention of
> refresh rate).  What VGA interface would drive that?  In my
> experience, VGA isn't great for LCDs because the two sides don't share
> a clock and this leads to unpleasant artifacts.
> 
> This probably uses TN technology since that isn't specified (if it
> were IPS, that would be mentioned).  TN makes viewing angle critical
> and with a desktop monitor that big, only a portion of the screen
> would be in the sweet spot.  Mind you, the specs say 176 degree
> viewing angles, horizontally and virtically.

Yeah I noticed.  Hmm.

> This review damns it with faint praise as a TV.
> <http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2418007,00.asp>

So it seems, if you have a use for 4kx2k resolution, then it's a cheap
way to get it.  If you just want a 50" TV, then there are a lot of
cheaper options with better colour and picture quality as longas you
are OK with normal full HD resolution.

-- 
Len Sorensen
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