Hello, I'm considering an upgrade from my current 21.5" 1080p monitor.

 

I'm looking at either a 2k or 4k monitor in the 27" - 32" range.  I want to be able to read the gauges etc more easily without zooming in all the time...plus I'm looking for more immersion, more visual "wow" etc.

 

I typically sit 2'-2.5' from my monitor.

 

I'd like to keep it under CDN$700-$800...but that could be flexible if it makes a huge difference to go a bit higher.

 

At those sizes, is going to 4k really worthwhile?  Much different than 2k?  Any thoughts on a "sweet spot" for monitor size, or is the sweet spot "as big as possible"?  :smile:

 

I mostly play P3Dv3, along with a few other sims, racing games, occasionally shooters.  I don't do anything productive on my computer   :smile:

 

I use Track IR if that makes a difference.

 

What could I generally expect for a performance hit going from 1080p to 2k to 4k?  My specs are:

 

GTX770 4GB

i5 2500k o/c to 4.5Ghz

8GB Ram @ 2133MHz

 

Any specs I should pay particular attention to?  I've heard response time doesn't make a big difference as long as its <5ms...

 

Thanks for any help/advice.

 

Dave

Edited February 29, 201610 yr by regis9

Hi.  My specs are very similar to yours and I'm using a 980Ti video card.  I have a 50" 4K Samsung (6500 Series) TV and sit about 3 to 3-1/2' from it and that seems like a good comfortable setup. I think this TV goes for around $800-850 now.   I paid about $995 I believe about 8 months ago. I'm not sure at 2 to 2-1/2' distance you would need to go any more than 48", if even that, but that is definitively subjective.  Maybe bigger is always better, but I don't have anything else to compare to.

 

Jeff

I've recently upgraded from a 22" monitor to a 32" 2560x1440 monitor (AOC Q3277PQU - highly recommended!). I had initially looked at some 27" 2560x1440 monitors and found that the desktop and in-game menu text was just too small for me. I would imagine the 4k monitors would be even worse in this respect but I haven't actually seen one to compare. My 32" screen is pin-sharp and has no noticeable lag or motion blur and all text is easily readable. I sit about 70cm from the screen and 32" seems about perfect at that distance.

I've recently upgraded from a 22" monitor to a 32" 2560x1440 monitor (AOC Q3277PQU - highly recommended!). I had initially looked at some 27" 2560x1440 monitors and found that the desktop and in-game menu text was just too small for me. I would imagine the 4k monitors would be even worse in this respect but I haven't actually seen one to compare. My 32" screen is pin-sharp and has no noticeable lag or motion blur and all text is easily readable. I sit about 70cm from the screen and 32" seems about perfect at that distance.

Exactly what i did as well, going from 22" to 32" although in my case it's a BenQ BL3200 (also recommended). I too felt that 1440p @ 27" wasn't a great combo as many games and programs don't scale very well so UI components tends to get annoyingly small. 

 

What could I generally expect for a performance hit going from 1080p to 2k to 4k?  My specs are:

 

GTX770 4GB

i5 2500k o/c to 4.5Ghz

8GB Ram @ 2133MHz[/size]

 

Any specs I should pay particular attention to?  I've heard response time doesn't make a big difference as long as its <5ms...

 

 

My specs are about the same as yours except I have a GTX 970. Performance in FSX didn't change noticeably when upgrading from 1050p to 1440p. in FarCry 4, which is the most demanding game I own currently, my framerate dropped from ~67 FPS on ultra settings to ~45 FPS. Generally a CPU intensive game like FSX isn't going to be affected as much by an increase in resolution as a GPU intensive one, although there will always be some impact so you might wanna move those sliders a bit to the left. It's worth it though, I think.

 

I have a TrackIR as well and I've never felt that it had a noticeable impact on performance the few times that I've been using it.

 

If you use your computer for flight sim and gaming I would go for a flat screen TV as a monitor, and a minimum of 40''. Beware that the cheaper 4K TVs might not be very suiatable for other games than FSX/Prepar3D (which because of very low fps don't need a high performance gaming monitor).

 

If you need your monitor for photo and graphics you'll be better of with a PC monitor that has Adobe RGB color space - no TV is offering this at the moment.

Simmerhead, I have a 65" Curve Samsung SUHD, with its soundbar. Is this suitable for the occasional usage, when family are out, using an HDMI cable? I use FSX legacy + Acceleration. I have just purchased FSLabs Concorde-X v1.3, but their preference for resolution is 1920x1080.

 

Thank you

There are a number of things to think about if you go down the large-screen TV route. First is the viewing distance - have you got the space to sit far enough away not to be overwhelmed by the size? Also, ignoring 4k for a moment, the closer you sit, the more obvious the pixels become and the "softer" the image appears. The next thing to think about is display lag. Most TVs have a response time well over 30ms (some over 100ms) which is then processed by the TV to make it acceptable. Setting my new TV to game or PC mode makes the picture look quite poor compared to my monitor. PC based, fast, first-person shooters generally don't work too well on TVs either. If you go for a 4k TV, you need to consider whether your graphics card will cope. Also, the small text problem will be even more noticeable, particularly as you'll be sitting further away from a big screen. That said, there are a number of people around the forums who are happy using their computer with a 4k TV. Gaming on a TV is just too much of a compromise for me.

You've got nothing to lose. Just try that Samsung and see if it works.

 

I use a 40'' at about 0,5 meter distance. I never use my Dell 30" monitor even though it has better resolution and color accuracy. With 4K I would consider a 50'' at that viewing distance, but I'm only running HD at 1920x1080. With only HD resolution you will see individual pixels, and Anti Aliasing is a problem as image appear very sharp, but I live well with the compromise.

Thank you. The computer used for simming does not have an entry for the HDMI cable. It does have a socket for the HDMI connector for the monitor and that is what is used at present. As for the Samsung it has to be an HDMI cable for the computer to be the source.

Thanks everyone. So it sounds like if i want to go 27", no need to go above 1080p, whereas if i go bigger (say 32"), 1440p can become worthwhile?

I have a 27'' Dell that I use for photo editing that runs 2560x1440. For that kind of work the resolution is perfect, but for anything else, websurfing, flightsim, word, excel, it is a tad too much, and I usually end up running 1920x1200.

 

For a 32" 1440 is perfect.

 

For 50" I would want 4K if used as a computer monitor.

Alternatively, Philips do a 40" 4K monitor (not TV) which a number of simmers including myself, currently use.

 

It is capable of 4K at 30Hz and 60Hz - I use 30Hz to reduce stutters etc.

 

The item number is BDM4065UC. I had mine from Amazon.

Thanks everyone!

Update, i decided to buy a 32" BenQ BL3200PT, can't wait for it to get here! Thanks again for your help.

To close off the thread, the monitor arrived today, I'm absolutely blown away by it!  So glad I went with 32", very immersive, and 2k is beautiful!