Should I get a 55" 4k tv to use with my pc?
October 13, 2022 11:30 AM Subscribe
I have been using a 37" monitor, as my pc is also my tv, movie theatre and gaming machine. I am considering moving up to 55" 4k, and I think this would work out ok for my personal day to day computing (surfing, some music production), as well as to watch stuff on...However, I work from home, using a corporate laptop which does not output 4k. Is this likely to be manageable? I work doing tech support, using web based apps, and Microsoft Teams to connect to user's desktops.
So I understand that you want to use your laptop to drive the large television display, correct? That should work fine, the 4k TV will usually have all the other lower res modes and you'll be able to match the output. People have all kinds of devices such as cable boxes or Rokus or Chromecasts that output lower resolution and use them with their brand new TVs all the time, no problem.
The only thing I'd think about is how close you are working to the television. A 55" TV is pretty wide, and if it were on my desk I'd be worried about getting a sore neck? If I were working from the couch though that would be no problem.
posted by Horkus at 12:11 PM on October 13, 2022 [1 favorite]
The only thing I'd think about is how close you are working to the television. A 55" TV is pretty wide, and if it were on my desk I'd be worried about getting a sore neck? If I were working from the couch though that would be no problem.
posted by Horkus at 12:11 PM on October 13, 2022 [1 favorite]
If you're very close (e.g. it's on a desk you're sitting at) to a large TV with an LCD-based technology you may see contrast or colour issues towards the corners, as you get farther and farther off-axis. Bigger screens are worse for this. However it won't be an issue unless you're doing work that needs colour accuracy.
I'm sitting closer to a 43" 4k TV than it is wide and it's a little grey in the corners but other than that very sharp and has acres more desktop real-estate than the 27" QHD monitor it replaced. (And it was only $330 what the actual fuck.)
The current crop of TVs can upsample / uprez any signal you give them, no problem.
posted by seanmpuckett at 1:45 PM on October 13, 2022 [1 favorite]
I'm sitting closer to a 43" 4k TV than it is wide and it's a little grey in the corners but other than that very sharp and has acres more desktop real-estate than the 27" QHD monitor it replaced. (And it was only $330 what the actual fuck.)
The current crop of TVs can upsample / uprez any signal you give them, no problem.
posted by seanmpuckett at 1:45 PM on October 13, 2022 [1 favorite]
55" is pretty huge, and upscaling, while it works, results in some clearly visible fuzziness in the details. It would (and does!) drive me nuts. 1080p will look OK, but it'd be massive on a screen that big; 1440p would be less obnoxiously over-scaled but fuzzy. YMMV, but not for me.
posted by doomsey at 1:58 PM on October 13, 2022 [5 favorites]
posted by doomsey at 1:58 PM on October 13, 2022 [5 favorites]
Best answer: You'd definitely need to move the 55" farther away than your current 37" monitor. Otherwise, seeing anything on the screen that's not directly in front of you will require a lot of head-turning and that can lead to neck strain.
Some people have been using a 48" as a monitor and for normal computer work, they use a bunch of windowing software to set up their windows, because the normal half, third, or quarter window sizes don't work. Here's an example: OLED 4K TV as a PC Monitor | 2 Years Later IMHO it seems to eliminate much of the point of having the large size.
Speaking of OLED, there are three different screen types for TVs/monitors: VA, IPS, and OLED. VA is apparently the worst for off-center viewing, and OLED is the best. At close ranges, you have a similar problem - you're going to be viewing the sides of the screen from a greater angle. Rtings has an article: Viewing Angle of TVs
TVs have different behavior when it comes to power. Most TVs will turn themselves off eventually when not supplied with a signal from your computer (like when the computer goes to sleep), but monitors will go into a sleep mode. Monitors will be awoken by the computer waking up, but TVs will not as they are completely powered off.
posted by meowzilla at 2:42 PM on October 13, 2022 [1 favorite]
Some people have been using a 48" as a monitor and for normal computer work, they use a bunch of windowing software to set up their windows, because the normal half, third, or quarter window sizes don't work. Here's an example: OLED 4K TV as a PC Monitor | 2 Years Later IMHO it seems to eliminate much of the point of having the large size.
Speaking of OLED, there are three different screen types for TVs/monitors: VA, IPS, and OLED. VA is apparently the worst for off-center viewing, and OLED is the best. At close ranges, you have a similar problem - you're going to be viewing the sides of the screen from a greater angle. Rtings has an article: Viewing Angle of TVs
TVs have different behavior when it comes to power. Most TVs will turn themselves off eventually when not supplied with a signal from your computer (like when the computer goes to sleep), but monitors will go into a sleep mode. Monitors will be awoken by the computer waking up, but TVs will not as they are completely powered off.
posted by meowzilla at 2:42 PM on October 13, 2022 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: All these answers were very helpful, thank you, I am encouraged to give it a try.
posted by not_that_epiphanius at 9:21 PM on October 13, 2022
posted by not_that_epiphanius at 9:21 PM on October 13, 2022
This thread is closed to new comments.
I have a few different 4K monitors and all will happily display 1920x1080. Definitely check the manual for the monitor/tv you have in mind to ensure that's the case.
Note the 4K refresh rate for the new display -- I think that some cheap 4K displays may not do more than 30Hz. This might not matter to you if you're not a gamer, though.
Ensure the new display has the right number and type of inputs so that you can switch between corpo and personal work without juggling cables, which is a big pain.
posted by Sauce Trough at 12:08 PM on October 13, 2022 [1 favorite]