Updating my multi monitor setup to 4K (monitor, TV or wide)

[PierreFSX 5]

Hi,

I currently have 3 Asus VE248Q 24" wide led monitor that I use for my cockpit view (wide screen) and I also have one VE278H 27" wide led monitor that I use to display the overhead panel. I have a Asus GTX1080 Ti for my video card. I would like to upgrade to 4K and my understanding after reading a lot of topic on this forum, is that I should go down to one monitor and drop the overhead view. My card will not support a 4K monitor and the VE278H 27" wide led with a acceptable FPS rate, I get with P3D v5 between 40-50, right now  . 

My questions is, should I buy a good monitor like the BenQ PD3200U 32” UHD monitor, or I go for a TV del 48" or I go with a widescreen curved?

Is a monitor better the a TV for the price? that would be my first question. 

Then is a flat screen better then a curved one? like a 32" monitor versus a 39" wide screen curved? 

My PC is only use flying, P3D and the new MS2020

Pierre Nantel

 

[Ted Striker 338]

As is the case in other areas of life, it is not the physical size of your monitors that matters. It is the number of total pixels that you are trying to display. You did not state what the resolution (pixel count) of your current triple monitor setup is. Going to a 4K monitor setup with the overhead panel many not cost you any FPS at all if you are running high resolution monitors now in your triple monitor setup. I have a less powerful system than you and run a 4K system just fine. I used to have a triple monitor system also and lost nothing going to 4K but gained a much better experience by getting rid of the bezels and gaining more vertical view area.

Also, I’ve had both a 55” 4k Sony TV and a 43” 4K LG monitor hooked up to my sim. I did not notice any difference in image quality except for the increased crispness due to the higher pixel density of the smaller LG. The best recommendation I have is to buy a monitor or TV from a local store that you can return if does not meet your expectations. 

Ted

[PierreFSX 5]

Hi Ted,

Thanks for the reply, the current resolution that I use is 1920X1080X32 on all monitors, in P3D 4 and 5. You seem to think that even if I change my 3 monitors that I use for cockpit view with a 4K monitor or TV, I would still be able to keep the monitor that I use for Overhead panel, without affecting my FPS? That would mean that I have 2 monitor hook to my GTX1080 instead of 4. 

Interesting.

What about those 39 each curved monitor, are they more demanding on the video card?

Pierre 

 

[MaSi 6]

I have Philips HDR monitor with G-sync, very good picture and price similar to TV.   [General information]
	Monitor Name:	PHILIPS
	Monitor Name (Manuf):	PHL 436M6VBP
	Date Of Manufacture:	Week: 39, Year: 2019
	Monitor Hardware ID:	Monitor\PHLC179
	Max. Vertical Size:	53 cm
	Max. Horizontal Size:	94 cm
	Horizontal Frequency:	160 - 160 kHz
	Vertical Frequency:	48 - 62 Hz
	Maximum Pixel Clock:	600 MHz
[Advanced parameters]
	Input Signal:	Digital
	Color Bit Depth:	10 Bits per Primary Color
	Digital Video Interface Standard Supported:	DisplayPort
	Gamma Factor:	2.20
[DPMS Modes]
	Standby:	Not Supported
	Suspend:	Not Supported
	Active Off:	Supported
	Standard Colour Space (sRGB) Default:	Not Supported
	Preferred Timing Mode:	Supported
	Default GTF (Continuous Frequency):	Supported
	DFP 1.x Compatible:	Yes
[Supported Video Modes]
	1920 x 1080	60 Hz
	1680 x 1050	60 Hz
	1440 x 900	60 Hz
	1280 x 1024	60 Hz
	1280 x 960	60 Hz
	1280 x 720	60 Hz
	3840 x 2160	941 x 529 mm, Pixel Clock 533.25 MHz
	2560 x 1440	941 x 529 mm, Pixel Clock 241.50 MHz

[Bob Scott 7,720]

5 hours ago, PierreFSX said:

Hi Ted,

Thanks for the reply, the current resolution that I use is 1920X1080X32 on all monitors, in P3D 4 and 5. You seem to think that even if I change my 3 monitors that I use for cockpit view with a 4K monitor or TV, I would still be able to keep the monitor that I use for Overhead panel, without affecting my FPS? That would mean that I have 2 monitor hook to my GTX1080 instead of 4. 

Interesting.

What about those 39 each curved monitor, are they more demanding on the video card?

 

The total number of pixels that the GPU has to process and push to the monitor(s) is the width x height in pixels...so a 1920x1080 HD monitor requires 2.073 megapixels per frame rendered, regardless of the screen size.  A triple-monitor HD setup is three times that, or 6.22 megapixels per frame.  A single 4K monitor requires the GPU to push 3820x2160 = 8.25 megapixels per frame.  That's a heavy load...if you go with a big display that needs AA, then a 1080Ti is going to be pushed to or beyond its limits.  A smaller 4K display that does not need much AA, if any at all, will be within the 1080Ti's capability, but it's not nearly the immersive experience as a large-format display.

The immersion from a 4-foot wide 55" 4K TV at a 1m viewing distance is really something you have to experience to understand.  And a single 4K monitor dispenses with all sorts of hoop-jumping associated with multi-mon setups.

Regards

[vp49p3 216]

1 hour ago, MaSi said:

I have Philips HDR monitor with G-sync, very good picture and price similar to TV.   [General information]
	Monitor Name:	PHILIPS
	Monitor Name (Manuf):	PHL 436M6VBP
	Date Of Manufacture:	Week: 39, Year: 2019
	Monitor Hardware ID:	Monitor\PHLC179
	Max. Vertical Size:	53 cm
	Max. Horizontal Size:	94 cm
	Horizontal Frequency:	160 - 160 kHz
	Vertical Frequency:	48 - 62 Hz
	Maximum Pixel Clock:	600 MHz
[Advanced parameters]
	Input Signal:	Digital
	Color Bit Depth:	10 Bits per Primary Color
	Digital Video Interface Standard Supported:	DisplayPort
	Gamma Factor:	2.20
[DPMS Modes]
	Standby:	Not Supported
	Suspend:	Not Supported
	Active Off:	Supported
	Standard Colour Space (sRGB) Default:	Not Supported
	Preferred Timing Mode:	Supported
	Default GTF (Continuous Frequency):	Supported
	DFP 1.x Compatible:	Yes
[Supported Video Modes]
	1920 x 1080	60 Hz
	1680 x 1050	60 Hz
	1440 x 900	60 Hz
	1280 x 1024	60 Hz
	1280 x 960	60 Hz
	1280 x 720	60 Hz
	3840 x 2160	941 x 529 mm, Pixel Clock 533.25 MHz
	2560 x 1440	941 x 529 mm, Pixel Clock 241.50 MHz

I have the 2016 version of this monitor at 4k and it has worked well.  I have three of these in surround and a fourth monitor at 1080p for my GPS.  All runs well on a watercooled 6700k at 4.6 ghz with a 2016 Titan Pascall  watercooled and overlooked.  

[vp49p3 216]

I meant over overclocked. 🤪

[PierreFSX 5]

So what would be the maximum size my video card can handle? 

Pierre

[PierreFSX 5]

I just realized that with my current setup i have 4 monitors running at 1920x1080 HD. So according to your calculation my card is already pushing 8.29 megapixels per frame. So i should be ok by replacing all 4 sceens by 1 4K monitor or TV. 
 

Any special specs i should be looking for in a TV or monitor?

Pierre

 

 

[Ted Striker 338]

8 hours ago, PierreFSX said:

You seem to think that even if I change my 3 monitors that I use for cockpit view with a 4K monitor or TV, I would still be able to keep the monitor that I use for Overhead panel, without affecting my FPS?

I didn't know what the resolution of your existing monitors was last night so I said "may". Actually I meant "may" but I misspelled it as "many" Anyway, as Bob explained above, each of your current monitors displays 2 megapixels which for the triple monitor setup plus the overhead is 8 megapixels. A 4k monitor is also about 8 megapixels.  So theoretically replacing your your current setup with the a 4k monitor should yield about the same fps. However when I went from a triple monitor ( lower resolution 1280 x 1024 monitors) setup I noticed that the extra pixels of the 4k monitor did not hurt my performance as nearly much as I expected from this linear relationship. I do not know nearly as much about the technical engineering of this as Bob does, but it appeared that just running 3 monitors vs. 1 was also taxing my FPS quite a bit. There is a lot of value in buying from a local shop where you can return the monitor/TV if it does not perform as expected.

You made your last post coming to the same conclusion just as I was about to hit the send button.

Ted   

[Ray Proudfoot 8,954]

1 hour ago, PierreFSX said:

So what would be the maximum size my video card can handle? 

Pierre

I have a 1080Ti and have a BenQ PD3200U UHD monitor. I have no problem maintaining 30fps in most situations. I run the monitor at 30Hz. It makes the sim very smooth indeed. Once you start adding extra monitors the workload on the graphics card increases significantly. The crisp detail is second to none.

You can have immersion or sharpness but not both. Only you can decide what is more important to you.

[Ted Striker 338]

One other thing. As Bob also said the hard choice is deciding on the size of a 4k monitor. I started with a 55" Sony 4k TV but it looked so good I was "forced" to donate it to the TV room to replace the smaller old HD Vizio. I replaced the Sony with a 43" LG 4k monitor as the 55" seemed too big at times and I figured the higher pixel density of the smaller monitor would be better. Well long story shortened, I am know thinking of getting another 55" or 49" TV for the sim as I miss the immersion of the bigger screen. The correct size is purely a personal opinion that only you can determine, as Ray just stated.

[Ray Proudfoot 8,954]

Use this calculator to see the pixels per inch (PPI) for any given screen size and resolution. https://www.calculatorsoup.com/calculators/technology/ppi-calculator.php

Note that a 55” 4K display has a ppi value of just 80 whereas a 32” is 137.

In comparison a 27” 1920*1080 has a ppi of 81 so will appear just as sharp as the 55” 4K. But the 55” will give you immersion the 27” cannot.

[PierreFSX 5]

Thank you both,

This is very good info, I am getting closer to what I will go shopping for. One more question, is the HZ important? Does TV run at different HZ, like 30 HZ or this is only a monitor spec. I understand that running at 30 HZ instead of normal 60 HZ is better / smoother. 

I thing I am looking more for the immersion so I will look at a 49" or 55" inch. I need to take the measuring tape out first. 😀

Pierre

[Ray Proudfoot 8,954]

Pierre, you have to be careful when buying TVs to use as monitors. Look for those that support chroma 4:4:4. This ensures text in Windows is as sharp as possible. Most TVs that support HDR should be okay.

Not all displays support 30Hz. Download the manual from the manufacturers site for any display you’re interested in. The supported resolutions are listed towards the back.

Users of VR won’t get on with 30Hz as the refresh rate is too low. But for everyone else it can make the sim very smooth but mouse movement is jerky. You do get used to it.