7 ms·

The TV mounted on blocks and the Hackintosh suggest the author is willing to compromise and using a TV as a monitor confirms it. Don't get me wrong, I also run

The TV mounted on blocks and the Hackintosh suggest the author is willing to compromise and using a TV as a monitor confirms it. Don't get me wrong, I also run a Hackintosh and have had monitors stood on boxes, crates and books over the years, but when it comes to displays I really don't think you should compromise. I have converted many professionals away from TVs because when you can actually have real quality monitors to compare them too it's usually a no-brainer to abandon the cheap TV. No trick, no incentive for me, just the better choice. It is also why every employee in our company has a pair of IPS displays. I've looked at 4K TVs as options for a monitor multiple times, from the early Seiki TVs that hit at the start of the pricing change to what's been on offer for Black Friday, don't do it to yourself unless you are spending most of your time gaming/consuming content on the same system or just using it to monitor things. If you are going to be sat in front of displays for 10,000 hours a year working/focusing (like many of us I am sure) then investing in something like a pair of Dell U3415W, LG UM95 or LG 31MU97Z-B will give you a much nicer experience. Totally appreciate that isn't a $300 solution, but as professionals we should invest in (or demand from your employer) good tools. To those of you who are using 4K TVs, it is obviously hard to get in front of these monitors and see the difference, but if you can you should - you've already made the choice to go for something better than a cheap 22" 1080P monitor, there are a lot of options to create a great environment to do your best work. The article is just pure marketing anyway for referrals, so make of that what you will.

ekelsen 9y ago
You didn't actually say _why_ monitors are better for the author's use case: programming. "A much nicer experience" - how? in what way? is this quantifiable in any way?
- stephenr 9y ago
  Usually a computer monitor is higher DPI, and more adjustable for use on a desk.
- snaky 9y ago
  There are flicker-free (no PWM at all, or at least no PWM at mid and hi brightness) models, and you can find (unfortunately that's usually not that simple because vendors are mostly hesitate to specify it) a model with minimal possible brightness low enough for comfortable programming work.
- regulation_d 9y ago
  This is a very limited sample size but I own and use a 50" 4K monitor from Wasabi Mango and a 50" 4k tv from Samsung. The off-brand monitor's text is quite a bit clearer. I'm not sure if that's just a settings issue, but I have spent quite a bit of time playing with the TV's settings and the text is consistently less clear than the monitor's.
schmookeeg 9y ago
I code on a pair of Samsung 4K 55" Curved TVs, and enjoy them immensely. What am I missing out on with your IPS advice? I don't do graphical/visual work, and you didn't mention anything specific about why a high-end monitor is better. I am also not sure what use case you're championing, nor what your employees use their expensive monitors for. Would be curious what your use cases are, and what the differences are that you've experienced vs 4K TVs as monitors. I moved up from 6 x 27" 1080P monitors and like this arrangement far better. No fussing with multiple video cards, fewer bezels, and gained the equivelant of 2 1080P screens into the bargain. All for $1300, 1/4 of the prior setup cost.
- pitaa 9y ago
  >I code on a pair of Samsung 4K 55" Curved TVs I would love to see a photo of this setup. It sounds simultaneously awesome and ridicules!
  - ladberg 9y ago
    Seconded, all I can imagine is that he's sitting like 6 feet away from 2 TVs next to each other in a setup that would be great for racing games.
- morelikeborelax 9y ago
  Our employees are sat 50cm from their 27" 1440p monitors, they sit at 1.2M/4ft desks and look at text for 5-6 hours a day. So in this context TVs are not suitable, and would be never considered for our office environment. Some are free to choose what they want and have 4K monitors, everything is Dell Ultrasharp for simplicity. There is a mix of portrait and landscape used. I'd suggest quality 4K over cheap 4K, but we don't provide that for all our employees as it is unnecessary, but I do deal with a lot of other businesses and it has been very uncommon for me to see 4K TVs in the workplace here in the UK. I've had IPS monitors for 15 years and maybe it's in my head at this point compared to high end TVs and TN panels, but I wouldn't use anything else nor would I subject those I expect to drive revenue for me to do so. It's a key tool that is often an afterthought. End of the day whatever works for you, but I have seen first hand people have huge TVs on a desk thinking they are getting some kind of gain and then they look up and down all day long or squint to see whats on it. A lot of people have to be forced to adhere to good ergonomics and healthy use of computers. Hardware is cheap compared to what we pay for software, SaaS, pension and perks for our staff so it's something we are good on. /ramble over
PeachPlum 9y ago
27 hours per day is a lot of screen time.
- morelikeborelax 9y ago
  lol yes it is, I mean't 2000 - no idea why I wrote 10,000
  - beavis2 9y ago
    I've told you a million times not to exaggerate!
masonicb00m 9y ago
Tough crowd. I dislike multi-monitor setups. Dunno if it’s the bezels or what. A single unbroken surface feels better to me. For a VC company’s web forum, some HNers sure find making money offensive :D
- timlyo 9y ago
  I'm the opposite, I prefer multi monitor. I like that separation between the things I'm doing, e.g. code and documentation, games and chat.
  - chrisan 9y ago
    Same boat for me. I also have 1 of my monitors in portrait mode that I don't think I could give up by switching to a single ultra wide
  - Insanity 9y ago
    Right on the spot for me. Having my tasks divided between monitors (and always knowing which monitor to look at for program x) is great. I feel like it helps my workflow a lot :-)
  - ionised 9y ago
    Same here. I tend to tile my windows and use the different displays for the different 'flavours' of my work.
- suprfnk 9y ago
  Same here. Give me one good big monitor with multiple software desktops. (Windows 10 finally implemented them too, though half-heartedly) No distractions from another screen, just focus on one single task. Also, no turning my head all the time.
- beavis2 9y ago
  You shouldn't treat multiple monitors as a single display.
- criddell 9y ago
larzang 9y ago
I've had a UM95 for several years and just bought a cheap 4K 40" tv (Samsung MU7000) to replace it as my primary. They have equivalent pixel density and the tv has nicer colors and contrast with less backlight bleed (VA panel instead of IPS) and more real estate. The only advantages the UM95 has are the displayport input and the screen being more matte.
deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
stephenr 9y ago
> If you are going to be sat in front of displays for 10,000 hours a year working/focusing Presumably on a time machine so you can go back and repeat 52 of those days. Or put another way: there's only ~8760 hours in a year total. Most people (~ 40 hours a week types) work around 2000 hours a year.

ekelsen 9y ago

You didn't actually say _why_ monitors are better for the author's use case: programming. "A much nicer experience" - how? in what way? is this quantifiable in any way?

stephenr 9y ago
Usually a computer monitor is higher DPI, and more adjustable for use on a desk.
snaky 9y ago
There are flicker-free (no PWM at all, or at least no PWM at mid and hi brightness) models, and you can find (unfortunately that's usually not that simple because vendors are mostly hesitate to specify it) a model with minimal possible brightness low enough for comfortable programming work.
regulation_d 9y ago
This is a very limited sample size but I own and use a 50" 4K monitor from Wasabi Mango and a 50" 4k tv from Samsung. The off-brand monitor's text is quite a bit clearer. I'm not sure if that's just a settings issue, but I have spent quite a bit of time playing with the TV's settings and the text is consistently less clear than the monitor's.

schmookeeg 9y ago

I code on a pair of Samsung 4K 55" Curved TVs, and enjoy them immensely. What am I missing out on with your IPS advice? I don't do graphical/visual work, and you didn't mention anything specific about why a high-end monitor is better. I am also not sure what use case you're championing, nor what your employees use their expensive monitors for. Would be curious what your use cases are, and what the differences are that you've experienced vs 4K TVs as monitors. I moved up from 6 x 27" 1080P monitors and like this arrangement far better. No fussing with multiple video cards, fewer bezels, and gained the equivelant of 2 1080P screens into the bargain. All for $1300, 1/4 of the prior setup cost.

pitaa 9y ago
>I code on a pair of Samsung 4K 55" Curved TVs I would love to see a photo of this setup. It sounds simultaneously awesome and ridicules!
- ladberg 9y ago
  Seconded, all I can imagine is that he's sitting like 6 feet away from 2 TVs next to each other in a setup that would be great for racing games.
morelikeborelax 9y ago
Our employees are sat 50cm from their 27" 1440p monitors, they sit at 1.2M/4ft desks and look at text for 5-6 hours a day. So in this context TVs are not suitable, and would be never considered for our office environment. Some are free to choose what they want and have 4K monitors, everything is Dell Ultrasharp for simplicity. There is a mix of portrait and landscape used. I'd suggest quality 4K over cheap 4K, but we don't provide that for all our employees as it is unnecessary, but I do deal with a lot of other businesses and it has been very uncommon for me to see 4K TVs in the workplace here in the UK. I've had IPS monitors for 15 years and maybe it's in my head at this point compared to high end TVs and TN panels, but I wouldn't use anything else nor would I subject those I expect to drive revenue for me to do so. It's a key tool that is often an afterthought. End of the day whatever works for you, but I have seen first hand people have huge TVs on a desk thinking they are getting some kind of gain and then they look up and down all day long or squint to see whats on it. A lot of people have to be forced to adhere to good ergonomics and healthy use of computers. Hardware is cheap compared to what we pay for software, SaaS, pension and perks for our staff so it's something we are good on. /ramble over

PeachPlum 9y ago

27 hours per day is a lot of screen time.

morelikeborelax 9y ago
lol yes it is, I mean't 2000 - no idea why I wrote 10,000
- beavis2 9y ago
  I've told you a million times not to exaggerate!

masonicb00m 9y ago

Tough crowd. I dislike multi-monitor setups. Dunno if it’s the bezels or what. A single unbroken surface feels better to me. For a VC company’s web forum, some HNers sure find making money offensive :D

timlyo 9y ago
I'm the opposite, I prefer multi monitor. I like that separation between the things I'm doing, e.g. code and documentation, games and chat.
- chrisan 9y ago
  Same boat for me. I also have 1 of my monitors in portrait mode that I don't think I could give up by switching to a single ultra wide
- Insanity 9y ago
  Right on the spot for me. Having my tasks divided between monitors (and always knowing which monitor to look at for program x) is great. I feel like it helps my workflow a lot :-)
- ionised 9y ago
  Same here. I tend to tile my windows and use the different displays for the different 'flavours' of my work.
suprfnk 9y ago
Same here. Give me one good big monitor with multiple software desktops. (Windows 10 finally implemented them too, though half-heartedly) No distractions from another screen, just focus on one single task. Also, no turning my head all the time.
beavis2 9y ago
You shouldn't treat multiple monitors as a single display.
criddell 9y ago

larzang 9y ago

I've had a UM95 for several years and just bought a cheap 4K 40" tv (Samsung MU7000) to replace it as my primary. They have equivalent pixel density and the tv has nicer colors and contrast with less backlight bleed (VA panel instead of IPS) and more real estate. The only advantages the UM95 has are the displayport input and the screen being more matte.

deleted 9y ago

[deleted]

stephenr 9y ago

> If you are going to be sat in front of displays for 10,000 hours a year working/focusing Presumably on a time machine so you can go back and repeat 52 of those days. Or put another way: there's only ~8760 hours in a year total. Most people (~ 40 hours a week types) work around 2000 hours a year.