Large screen TV for Computer Flying

[Cat_Dad 17]

Everyone seems to be talking about those expensive 4K TV/monitors. I would like to move up from a 27" LG IPS computer monitor to a 40-50 "TV/Monitor. My question is does the 4K really matter with the larger screen size, especially for older pilots with less than perfect vision. I am blind in one eye and have marginal vision in the other so to me I think size would be better than 4K. I have looked at 4K tvs in the store and yes the color looks nicer but some of the 1080 s looked good too

If anyone is using a 40-50" 1080 LED TV for their monitor, I would be interested in hearing how they perform. I am currently flying both the X-plane 10 and the new beta 11 on a i7 4790 16 Gb ram and a GTX 980.

I do not need a so called smart TV but would like to have a good quality name brand set that does not cost a arm and a leg. .

 

Terry

 

[Overload 91]

I'd say if you struggle a little visually, 4K isn't the way to go, some of the menu's and other text can be pretty small in 4K.

I don't  think you'll find a modern large screen TV from one of the market leaders that won't be smart - but that's no problem, they're still TV's, no need to use the "Smarts".

Eugene

[Cat_Dad 17]

If the screen is larger than my current 27" LG, Should the font/print be larger too in respect to the size of the images on the screen? Example, in X-plane, would the numbers on the instruments be small and unreadable if the instrument is now 2 to 4 times larger? There is a 100 % and a 150% setting in the configuration page to make the info larger on the screen.

 

4K should just give me a whole lot more pixels per inch of screen which then makes for a sharper/clear image, yes?

 

Terry

 

[Overload 91]

I don't think you'll have a problem with the instruments in the VC, as you can zoom in to whatever size you need, but other things like drop-down menus, and text like frame rate, will look pretty small, as they're font size is fixed. In fact I have the windows desktop on a second non 4K TV just because I found everything so small, icons are tiny.

Just like if you ran your current monitor on a VGA resolution like 604x480, the icons are huge, once you go to a 4K display, the icons are very small.

You could run your current monitor as a second one for windows desktop, but you'll still come across some sim things on your 4K TV that will be very small, but not the virtual cockpit, that should be OK as you can zoom in.

Eugene

[MarkDH 234]

15 hours ago, Cat_Dad said:

4K should just give me a whole lot more pixels per inch of screen which then makes for a sharper/clear image, yes?

Yes. So in that sense going for 4K will give you a clearer image that will better serve your poor eyesight. A 1080p display at that size will be fuzzy to start with, so you would be at a double disadvantage. The point about small icons and Windows text is only relevant if you go for a small 4K screen - on a 55" screen the icons and text will be about the same size as on your 27" screen. On a 50" they will be a bit smaller but not that much. On a 40" you may struggle. You can, as you say, get Windows to scale everything up but this will only affect the desktop and well-behaved Windows apps, it won't affect the menus in FSX. I can't speak for P3D or other sims.

[Overload 91]

17 hours ago, MarkDH said:

Yes. So in that sense going for 4K will give you a clearer image that will better serve your poor eyesight. A 1080p display at that size will be fuzzy to start with, so you would be at a double disadvantage. The point about small icons and Windows text is only relevant if you go for a small 4K screen - on a 55" screen the icons and text will be about the same size as on your 27" screen. On a 50" they will be a bit smaller but not that much. On a 40" you may struggle. You can, as you say, get Windows to scale everything up but this will only affect the desktop and well-behaved Windows apps, it won't affect the menus in FSX. I can't speak for P3D or other sims.

I'm sure you're right Mark, your knowledge on such matters is extensive, and I've appreciated your opinions and youtube video's often in the past.

Here's a pic taken from my 4K Samsung, a 65 inch screen, that I sit quite near it, just measured it, 3ft 6 inches from the screen. I can just about read the frame rate, and other information  if I lean forward (the red font doesn't help), and I put a windows folder on it, to show how they look. Once again, I can read the text (I've normal eyesight), but would choose to drag the folder to my 2nd 1080 TV for more comfortable viewing.

The pic shouldn't be taken too literally, it will look a lot worse here than when facing a 65inch screen, but just gives an idea of scale. It was originally a 12mb file, now reduced to 3mb, so a lot of detail may have been lost.

Eugene 

[MarkDH 234]

I'm making my comparisons on the relative dpi in each case, calculated with this tool.

[Overload 91]

I bow to your knowledge on the techy stuff, Mark, I'm sure your numbers are right. But I'm not sure I'd agree that the image on a 1080 TV would look fuzzy to start with. Before 4K, I was using 3 42 inch plasma's with a triplehead setup, and was pleased with it, never thought it looked fuzzy.

As a comparison, a similar view screenshot with P3D on the other 1080 TV.

Bottom line line is 4K is awesome, but would hate for Terry to buy something that didn't work for him...

Eugene

[Cat_Dad 17]

Went out and got a Samsung UN405200AFZA 1080P. Several factors were price and screen size.

 

The price is about 1/2 ($328) that of a similar size 4K.  As for the size, my desk is only 19" deep so could not use much larger screen size. In fact with the three legged Samsung stand, the small ducktail leg in the rea touches my wall as it is.and the desk sits 3 to 4 inches away from it. 

 

Initially, had some problems with the desktop size but was able to  resize it via the Nvidia control panel. I was unable to see the edges of the windows and unable to click on the various expand and close icons. It appears that that has not effected the 1920 x 1080 resolution which is the native one for this screen.

 

I flew in both X-plane 10.51 and 11 beta 12 or 13 which ever is the most current as we had another update yesterday. All I can say is WOW. The colors and scenery pop out and come alive now. Almost like going from a monochrome screen to a color . My 27" LG IPS was and still is a good screen but the extra 13 inches the new one has really makes flying fun again. I have looked at some name brand TVs that have 1080 next to a 4K and for me, there is not a whole lot of difference until you get super close to the  screen.  Maybe when the 8 or 12K screens hit the market, the 4K will get to be the price of the 1080s if they are still being made. For right now, this Samsung 40 inch looks like what I have been searching for.

 

Many thanks to all that commented on this subject.

 

As we would say when I worked on the F-4E and F-111D flight simulators in the Air Force,

 

Sim-u-lator

 

Terry 

[hillsboy 33]

I use a 50 inch LG 4K smart TV bought specifically for FSX.   I run it at 2560 X 1440 resolution.  Using Track IR, it opens up a whole new world of simming for me.  Love it.  No issues with font size, clarity, or response time.  The colors are rich and deeper than before.

 

John

[MarkDH 234]

4 hours ago, Overload said:

I'm not sure I'd agree that the image on a 1080 TV would look fuzzy to start with. Before 4K, I was using 3 42 inch plasma's with a triplehead setup, and was pleased with it, never thought it looked fuzzy.

Well it's all relative, of course, and whether you call it 'fuzzy' will depend how far away you sit. I went from my 3 x 19" display to a 40" TV (1080p) but it was fuzzy in comparison so I went back. Looking at the numbers, I have 86 dpi on the three-screen setup and only 55 dpi on the TV. At the same distance (about 60cm in my case) and displaying the same image it simply can't be as sharp. That's not to say I couldn't have lived with it, but it's hard to go backwards once you've had a nice sharp display.

[yellowjack 28]

I run an ACER 21:9 (35" diagonal) Predator monitor at 3440 x 1440. I have come  to really enjoy this aspect ratio particularly in FSX.  Just another option to consider.