Jump to content

Suggestions for a TV as a computer monitor

Kenpachi

Hey all,

I've been using TVs as monitors for my PCs / Laptops for a while now. My main system has an old Samsung 40 Inches 1080P TV as the monitor and my laptop uses the Samsung NU7470 4K 43 inches TV as it's monitor. I need a 3rd monitor and I'm really confused as to which one to get, I wanted to know which TV should I go for my new system.

I am looking for a good 4K TV of 40-43 inches which has a good display to use as a computer monitor. Could you guys please give me some suggestions of a good one which has price around or lesser than the price of NU7470 because I'm not sure of pricing of TVs elsewhere as here, they seem a bit costly.

  • I have no requirement of ultra-low response time as I hardly game, I am okay with a decent level of response time and for me OS of a TV doesn't matter much as long it has a good display panel, which is bright, color accurate and has an HDMI port on it.
     
  • Looking across the options of LG, Samsung, Sony and TCL had me confused because I have been a Samsung TV user since long and I'm not sure how  TCL or budget-oriented TVs perform, do they provide something exceptional for $300 that could go head to head with a $500-600 TV or is it just a regular $300 TV which is not so impressive. After seeing Linus' video in which he guessed the prices of different TVs, LG also seemed like a great option to me.

Thank you

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Link to post
Share on other sites

Any LCD 4K TV from Sony, Panasonic, Samsung or LG will do as long as it has reasonable response times. IPS is great for a monitor. Avoid OLED as they burn in.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Link to post
Share on other sites

4 minutes ago, ShortRouter said:

Any LCD 4K TV from Sony, Panasonic, Samsung or LG will do as long as it has reasonable response times. IPS is great for a monitor. Avoid OLED as they burn in.

@ShortRouter Thanks for the reply!

By LCD you mean LED only right?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Link to post
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, Kenpachi said:

@ShortRouter

Thanks for the reply! I have been using LED TVs, and my old one had blacked out after 10 years of service, when you said that OLED's burn in, it includes regular LEDs too? Also LCD TVs are better than other TVs for using as a computer monitor?

By LED you mean LCD with LED backlight. OLED don't have backlight, the pixels are self-lit but OLED is prone to burn-in. LCD TVs do not do that.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Link to post
Share on other sites

@ShortRouter

Yeah lol, I had to google and I understood. So regular $400-500 LED TVs are same as LCD right?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Link to post
Share on other sites

@ShortRouter

Thanks for the response!

I am pretty confused as where I live, the budget TVs of TCL, Xiaomi, etc. provide 60Hz panel whereas the Samsung/Sony/LG TVs provide max 50Hz Native Panel. I want to use it as my computer monitor, I am not sure if 50 Hz would cause me any problems or not in the fluidity of display.
If I go on the global site of any brand and search the specs of a TV, it shows 60 Hz whereas at their local site, the model name would be slightly changed and the panel would be 50 Hz. Also is 4:4:4 thing a must have?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Link to post
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Kenpachi said:

@ShortRouter

Thanks for the response!

I am pretty confused as where I live, the budget TVs of TCL, Xiaomi, etc. provide 60Hz panel whereas the Samsung/Sony/LG TVs provide max 50Hz Native Panel. I want to use it as my computer monitor, I am not sure if 50 Hz would cause me any problems or not in the fluidity of display.
If I go on the global site of any brand and search the specs of a TV, it shows 60 Hz whereas at their local site, the model name would be slightly changed and the panel would be 50 Hz. Also is 4:4:4 thing a must have?

You won't notice much, especially after using it for quite sometime. I have been using 40 fps plasma TV for nearly a decade before upgrading to LCD monitor, it's fine. If you get LG though, be aware that while IPS has great viewing angle which is useful in large screen, they also have the IPS glow which also obstruct viewing angle to the rear in darker scene.

 

IMO both IPS (LG) or VA (Samsung) are good if they are a decent modern monitor imo

 

Not sure about OLED though, I heard that they had done a lot better in term of burn in but it most likely way over your budget anywat, OLED panel is very expensive.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Link to post
Share on other sites

53 minutes ago, e22big said:

You won't notice much, especially after using it for quite sometime. I have been using 40 fps plasma TV for nearly a decade before upgrading to LCD monitor, it's fine. If you get LG though, be aware that while IPS has great viewing angle which is useful in large screen, they also have the IPS glow which also obstruct viewing angle to the rear in darker scene.

 

IMO both IPS (LG) or VA (Samsung) are good if they are a decent modern monitor imo

 

Not sure about OLED though, I heard that they had done a lot better in term of burn in but it most likely way over your budget anywat, OLED panel is very expensive.

@e22big Thanks for the response!

I now think that the 4K TV I have been using (NU7470) also has no mention of refresh rate whatsoever so it may also be 50Hz only. As for that screen bleeding issue in IPS, I believe then a Samsung TV would be fine as they use VA Panels right? Also, is there any logic behind the 50Hz and 60Hz mess that is prevalent in my place, as the budget TVs are providing 60Hz but the top guys (Samsung, LG, Sony) are only providing a max of 50Hz with Automotion of 100 Hz for the 40-43 Inches size.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Link to post
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, Kenpachi said:

@e22big Thanks for the response!

I now think that the 4K TV I have been using (NU7470) also has no mention of refresh rate whatsoever so it may also be 50Hz only. As for that screen bleeding issue in IPS, I believe then a Samsung TV would be fine as they use VA Panels right? Also, is there any logic behind the 50Hz and 60Hz mess that is prevalent in my place, as the budget TVs are providing 60Hz but the top guys (Samsung, LG, Sony) are only providing a max of 50Hz with Automotion of 100 Hz for the 40-43 Inches size.

eh no idea, but generally even 60 hz isn't need for general TV use (most cinematic content are at 24 fps) they probably want to save some money

 

why don't you also consider a traditional desktop monitor though? if you are going to just work on it, a smaller screen is much more efficient

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Link to post
Share on other sites

7 minutes ago, e22big said:

eh no idea, but generally even 60 hz isn't need for general TV use (most cinematic content are at 24 fps) they probably want to save some money

 

why don't you also consider a traditional desktop monitor though? if you are going to just work on it, a smaller screen is much more efficient

 

 

Thanks for the reply!

The thing is that I have been using TV screens with a PC/Laptop for most of the time as I prefer to do work on TVs as they act as good monitors and also allow for comfortably watching movies or tv series also. Moreover, 40 inch 4K monitors cost WAY more than the TVs mostly because of their super-high 144+ Hz display which I probably will never need. If you  do have a suggestion for a good monitor that'd fit my purpose, please do recommend!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Link to post
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, Kenpachi said:

Thanks for the reply!

The thing is that I have been using TV screens with a PC/Laptop for most of the time as I prefer to do work on TVs as they act as good monitors and also allow for comfortably watching movies or tv series also. Moreover, 40 inch 4K monitors cost WAY more than the TVs mostly because of their super-high 144+ Hz display which I probably will never need. If you  do have a suggestion for a good monitor that'd fit my purpose, please do recommend!

 

Yeah.. if you want the screen real estate, TV is the way to go. I guess each to their own but a TV is way too tall for me to be working upclose, you kind of having to put your head up to see thing at the top which is a major ergonomic issue for me. 

 

If you are willing to put up with smaller screen though, a 27 inch 4k panel can be as cheap as 300 buck and less (I got my LG 27UL600 at around that price) - you may not even need 4k because things look sharp enough at that kind of size. 

 

But if working space is a priority, ultrawide monitor sound pretty good. You get better ergonomic as the space span up horizontally and not vertically but it will probably cost a lot more if you also want it to be 4k

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Link to post
Share on other sites

59 minutes ago, e22big said:

 

Yeah.. if you want the screen real estate, TV is the way to go. I guess each to their own but a TV is way too tall for me to be working upclose, you kind of having to put your head up to see thing at the top which is a major ergonomic issue for me. 

 

If you are willing to put up with smaller screen though, a 27 inch 4k panel can be as cheap as 300 buck and less (I got my LG 27UL600 at around that price) - you may not even need 4k because things look sharp enough at that kind of size. 

 

But if working space is a priority, ultrawide monitor sound pretty good. You get better ergonomic as the space span up horizontally and not vertically but it will probably cost a lot more if you also want it to be 4k

I see, I settled for 43 inches RU7100 by Samsung as DisplayLag showed how good of a monitor it was and more over it is VA. I am confused about only one thing, US review sites and e-commerce sites show that it has 60Hz panel, whereas in my place, it only shows Auto Motion 100Hz and they don't show the native refresh rate. A local TV reviewer on YouTube said that it has 50Hz for PAL content and 60Hz for NTSC content. So, in short, if I use it as a computer monitor using HDMI, I'll have the regular 60Hz display?

The site also says :
Power Supply AC100-240V 50/60Hz

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Link to post
Share on other sites

40 minutes ago, Kenpachi said:

I see, I settled for 43 inches RU7100 by Samsung as DisplayLag showed how good of a monitor it was and more over it is VA. I am confused about only one thing, US review sites and e-commerce sites show that it has 60Hz panel, whereas in my place, it only shows Auto Motion 100Hz and they don't show the native refresh rate. A local TV reviewer on YouTube said that it has 50Hz for PAL content and 60Hz for NTSC content. So, in short, if I use it as a computer monitor using HDMI, I'll have the regular 60Hz display?

The site also says :
Power Supply AC100-240V 50/60Hz

hmn rting never mention 50 hz, it seem like the monitor have a native 60 hz if I have to guess, it's probably chorma subsampling issue - judging from the review I guess you will have a solid 60 fps if you enable the monitor in PC mode, I don't think you would have to worry about it too much

 

what worry me though is it's a rather dim screen (peak at less than 300 nit) you might want to check it out in person whether that is good enogh for you in a bright room - it also has pretty bad colour but should be ok if you don't do any color critical work (and if it's not too warm or too cool for your overall taste)

 

 

https://www.rtings.com/tv/reviews/samsung/ru7100

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Link to post
Share on other sites

12 hours ago, e22big said:

hmn rting never mention 50 hz, it seem like the monitor have a native 60 hz if I have to guess, it's probably chorma subsampling issue - judging from the review I guess you will have a solid 60 fps if you enable the monitor in PC mode, I don't think you would have to worry about it too much

 

what worry me though is it's a rather dim screen (peak at less than 300 nit) you might want to check it out in person whether that is good enogh for you in a bright room - it also has pretty bad colour but should be ok if you don't do any color critical work (and if it's not too warm or too cool for your overall taste)

 

 

https://www.rtings.com/tv/reviews/samsung/ru7100

Thanks a lot for responding and helping me out, I am sorry for constantly messaging my queries I can't check out the TVs physically due to the lockdown and the online chat support at the official sites is no help but I really needed a new display and your replies have certainly helped me in knowing what would be the best for me.

At this point after going through rtings also, I think LG UM7300 or UM7780 would be good for monitors even though it's IPS, I am thinking of taking either that or Samsung RU7470 (newer version of my current NU7470)

Also, on the net there is NO INFO at all about refresh rate of my current Samsung NU7470 also. I went to settings and also and did an online test.

(Note I use my PC at 1080p 60Hz as the laptop doesn't support 4k@60Hz and only does 4k@30Hz max, and for HDR, I have yet to enable it somehow)
image.png.237ddd181707dedf4f81b7898c10a449.png

(Disabling the UHD color mode from TV settings makes the setting show 60Hz instead of 59Hz)

image.thumb.png.133d1719fbcec7e7972bc6a494d7d376.png


I guess this means the Samsung TVs that don't have native refresh rate mentioned on the site are also 60Hz.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Link to post
Share on other sites

9 minutes ago, Kenpachi said:

Thanks a lot for responding and helping me out, I am sorry for constantly messaging my queries I can't check out the TVs physically due to the lockdown and the online chat support at the official sites is no help but I really needed a new display and your replies have certainly helped me in knowing what would be the best for me.

At this point after going through rtings also, I think LG UM7300 or UM7780 would be good for monitors even though it's IPS, I am thinking of taking either that or Samsung RU7470 (newer version of my current NU7470)

Also, on the net there is NO INFO at all about refresh rate of my current Samsung NU7470 also. I went to settings and also and did an online test.

(Note I use my PC at 1080p 60Hz as the laptop doesn't support 4k@60Hz and only does 4k@30Hz max, and for HDR, I have yet to enable it somehow)
image.png.237ddd181707dedf4f81b7898c10a449.png

(Disabling the UHD color mode from TV settings makes the setting show 60Hz instead of 59Hz)

image.thumb.png.133d1719fbcec7e7972bc6a494d7d376.png


I guess this means the Samsung TVs that don't have native refresh rate mentioned on the site are also 60Hz.

 

yes most likely

 

you also don't miss much on HDR, that Samsung model have a terrible HDR performance (HDR on windows is bad in general anyway - if you can't check it out in person though, think of it like 300 nit is a laptop (none high end) at around 60-70 percent brightness - so sort of you will not have any head room to raise display brightness if needed

 

IPS probably not too bad if you don't sit too close to your monitor, the glow have a minimum effect on your usage - unless it's a dark environment, kind of the opposite to VA which perform well in the dark but has slight colour shift in bright environ

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now

×