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Using an 8K TV as a Monitor

• thelittleone 2y ago
  I'd love to do this but always worried (probably incorrectly) that the energy output wouldn't feel great and result in faster fatigue or require more rest breaks.
• Circlecrypto2 2y ago
  I'm sure a few have tried this before, but no one has given me a good argument for convincing the partner.
  • outsomnia 2y ago
    Since a couple of years ago, I spent a year or so like this, with the TV resting on the desk directly. It looked pretty nice, but it had some problems. - The only actual 8K modes reported on the HDMI were some variant of YUV, it means you could not select what your OS considered an RGB mode - Even using it at 4K, with the 55" TV a couple of feet from the back of the desk, my eyes could not keep all of it perfectly in focus. - The power consumption was much higher than a typical ~30" monitor, and the amount of heat created was also significant. This became hard to deal with in summer. Eventually I gave up on it and returned to a ~30" monitor.
    • porphyra 2y ago
      FYI nowadays 8K TVs support true RGB 8K 60 Hz over HDMI 2.1 with no chroma subsampling.
  • theredsix 2y ago
    You get the partner something shiny too!
  • settsu 2y ago
    Buy once, cry once. All else being equal, a TV (i.e., TV-sized) unit generally has a broader set of use cases and longer useful lifecycle than a computer monitor for the original purchaser†, which could be argued makes good economical sense. † in my experience, computer monitors can have a long useful life when factoring in the potentially long tail of "donor/hand-me-down" cases...
    • thfuran 2y ago
      But the other potential uses of a TV assume it's not tossed on a desk in my office.
• iamacyborg 2y ago
  At least he has proper speakers to go with that ridiculous screen!
• qntmfred 2y ago
  I use dual 43" 4k TVs as monitors. It's fantastic.
  • declan_roberts 2y ago
    ...why?
    • ziddoap 2y ago
      Why not?
  • RajT88 2y ago
    My wife asked me how much "huge monitors" cost. I told her 100 bucks on Craigslist. Indeed, we got her an old dumb 1080p LCD and she has been super happy with it. It mostly fills the wall of her little cubby hole in our office. For my money, I have 2x 1080p 24” displays, and a third curved 32" 1080p display which is hooked to a KVM so I can game on it. I like the 3 monitor setup because they are all at angles from each other, approximating a huge curved display. Plus, this was a cheap setup off woot.com parts.
    • gwbas1c 2y ago
      1080p is a tiny monitor in today's standards. It's also very similar to the old SXGA resolution that was very common in the late 1990s / 2000s.
      • bluedino 2y ago
        Ahhh....1280x1024 on a 19" LCD in 2001, it felt like a 4K monitor does today. 1600x1200 on a 21" CRT was king. though.
      • RajT88 2y ago
        1080p is good enough for me. I'm not sure buying 3 4k monitors is going to improve my life any, what with my middle-aged eyes and all. Also, old stuff lacks shady smart features. Bonus!
• codingdave 2y ago
  I already use a 4K TV for a monitor. 8K would just push a need for a more expensive video card, while decreasing how well people can see when I share my screen. Even on a 4K, I need to blow it up to ridiculous zoom levels to make a screen-share readable to others. I'm sure not everyone would run into that problem, but it is a fairly strong con to be aware of.
  • atahanacar 2y ago
    If you are on Linux, you can divide the entire screen into multiple virtual monitors and share only one of them. This has the benefit of giving you "private" monitors what won't be shared. Another option could be to temporarily lower the resolution.
  • throwaway48476 2y ago
    I run an 8K monitor on a 240$ GPU.
• E39M5S62 2y ago
  The list of issues / caveats seems pretty significant compared to "I have a small bezel between my screens".
  • lostlogin 2y ago
    The issue with the text rendering would frustrate me a lot. And if the solution is to sit further away, why not just get a smaller screen and sit closer?
    • makeitdouble 2y ago
      There seems to be very few options for HiDPI smaller 8k displays. I only know of the DELL Ultrasharp and it costs way more than 8K TVs
      • throwaway48476 2y ago
        The dell hasn't been updated for dp 2.0.
    • porphyra 2y ago
      What's wrong with text rendering? > TVs may have a different subpixel layout than monitors, so small text may suffer fringing. As of writing the Samsung VA and LG IPS panels such as the QN800A have a conventional RGB or BGR subpixel structure. One may also increase the font size or use hidpi scaling which will eliminate all pixel-level concerns.
    • jerf 2y ago
      I believe the discussion about text rendering is referring only to a line of very cheap TVs that do not in fact have RGB pixels. They have half RG and half GB. For "normal" video content, this is a surprisingly low quality drop. For high-contrast text it's total murder. You can see the stippling pattern as clear as day and it can easily render 8-10pt text literally illegible. IT once accidentally bought such a TV and had it in a conference room. Took us a while to convince the relevant people that, yes, it is nominally working fine, it's not "broken" in the sense that it doesn't turn on or half the screen won't light up, but it was intolerable for Zoom screen shares. But you need to be scraping the bottom of the barrel to end up with those screens. I doubt you could find something labelled a "monitor" that has that, and, well, if you're putting a $150 40" TV on to your computer... I mean... what did you expect? (There are also low-end TVs that are still using some crappy LCD techs with bad viewing angles that may make them difficult to use up close, but I wouldn't call that a text rendering problem... those issues just wreck everything. I once had a laptop that when used on a lap, had zero viewing angles; if the vertical middle of the screen was correct, the top and bottom was extremely visibly color shifted. Even the cheapest store brand TVs don't seem to be that bad anymore, though.)
• 0points 2y ago
  That's simply too big a screen to be sitting right in front of. I do agree on the basic idea of not running two monitors tho. I used to, and I got neck pains eventually. My current setup is a single 32" curved QHD monitor and I wouldn't change it for the world. It's just the right size so you can see the whole screen at once, yet large enough to run 3 browsers side by side. Also, I want to suggest people to learn about virtual desktops rather than wasting money on bizarrely huge screens or multi monitor setups.
  • leptons 2y ago
    55" is not too big. Maybe it's too big for you, but I've been using three 32" 4k screens in portrait for many years, combined they are essentially about the size of a 55" screen. I love it and anything less kind of sucks. No, virtual desktops are no substitute for having more screen size. I use virtual desktops on my massive screen(s) and I love that too.
    • AnotherGoodName 2y ago
      The 3 32” screens are probably angled around you and the total aspect ratio is extreme widescreen (side to side panning, not vertical neck up down panning). The 3 screens are likely much much better ergonomically.
    • cerved 2y ago
      55" was fine but I'm happy I downsized to 48"
    • zxvkhkxvdvbdxz 2y ago
      Sounds like a recipe for neck pain.
      • leptons 2y ago
        I'll never understand why some people think multi-monitors involves neck pain. It's a complete non-issue. I have a chair with a headrest, my neck never has to move at all, I can see all parts of the screen just by scanning my eyes. Very rarely does my neck ever move and it's usually to see the 65" Tv a few feet over - and even then my chair has a swivel and if I'm watching the Tv more than the computer, my chair will swivel over, not my neck. My neck is just fine, thanks.
• egypturnash 2y ago
  That's a hell of a desk. And counter to the argument that "you could just have the one huge screen for entertainment AND work" because this is not a desk you can easily clear out from in front of the sofa when you stop working. This is making me want to get some blackout curtains for my living room so I can go back to occasionally working with my laptop hooked to the projector, though. It's about the same resolution as my laptop but it's really nice to be focusing on something across the room for a change.
  • atahanacar 2y ago
    I use a 50" 4K TV as my monitor. It's mounted on a long TV mount that can bend at 3 points, one near the wall, one near the TV and one in the middle. Gives me great freedom. One warning to people who want to do the same: make sure your mount has a way to rotate (around the screen's surface normal) the TV as the weight of it will make it sag.
• Helithumper 2y ago
  Reminds me of Michael Stapelberg's 8k Monitor Setup: https://michael.stapelberg.ch/posts/2017-12-11-dell-up3218k https://michael.stapelberg.ch/posts/2017-12-11-dell-up3218k https://michael.stapelberg.ch/posts/2020-05-23-desk-setup https://michael.stapelberg.ch/posts/2020-05-23-desk-setup
• PaulRobinson 2y ago
  I upgraded recently, by buying a friends old Samsung Odyssey G9 49" curved monitor off him (he was emigrating). Before that I had 2 x 27" monitors, a setup I had used for ~10 years. I honestly think the curve is essential when dealing with such a wide display. The alternative would be - as article states - to set it back a little and have a deeper desk so you can actually see the edge of the screen properly. I don't see the point in having a large screen with high pixel density if the edges are not actually easily visible to me without moving my head or body laterally. The lack of bezels is great though - I'd definitely agree on that front, having 3 web browsers or editors open side by side suits me really well.
  • colechristensen 2y ago
    32" Odyssey G7 is the pick for me, I wouldn't mind an upgrade to the 4k version, but the 1440p version is more than good enough. I also don't see the point in having a screen so big I have to move my head, or contrarily a screen so big that I have to push it back so the pixel density matters much less.
  • AnthonBerg 2y ago
    It’s different from person to person!, whether the curve is good or not. I have a ruler flat 55” OLED TV as main monitor. It’s perfect for me. I’m like… 1-1.5 meters from it where I’m closest to it, haha. The edges are further away. It’s fine! – imo / ime. (The need for the curve is also subtly different depending on how the panel was made. I tried a flat 43” IPS 4K monitor, expecting IPS to be good. And it wasn’t very good. The IPS features in that panel were large enough to affect viewing angle.)
    • jsheard 2y ago
      > It’s different from person to person!, whether the curve is good or not. The amount of curve also varies a lot between models so there's some nuance even within that. The curve might be as strong as 800R or as weak as 2300R depending on the monitor, where the number corresponds to the radius of the circle the panel follows in millimeters.
  • 2y ago
• unglaublich 2y ago
  I dislike TVs for their high input lag; bad image uniformity; unwanted post-processing and a high energy use (hot rooms).
  • porphyra 2y ago
    Modern TVs have decent input lag around 10 ms which is on par with professional monitors, but of course it will still be worse than gaming monitors. Lots of people game on their TVs. And most TVs have settings that disable postprocessing.
• ForHackernews 2y ago
  > Having seven evenly-spaced columns would be impossible on a dual 4K display setup due to bezels in the middle. I know I'm getting into old man yells at cloud territory here, but nobody needs this. Code on a 1024×600 netbook display, it will build character.
  • anthk 2y ago
    Either SICP or PAIP, but these with cwm, uxterm and an editor it's mind-changing.
  • tonyedgecombe 2y ago
    Like Joey Hess: https://usesthis.com/interviews/joey.hess/ https://usesthis.com/interviews/joey.hess/
  • NoGravitas 2y ago
    I actually kind of agree with this. For me, the more pixels the better (I'm sensitive to fuzzy text, and subpixel rendering makes it worse), but I'd really prefer just one monitor, not too big. 15-19" is fine, especially if it's 4:3. 1600x1200 on a 17" monitor would be really nice.
  • lynguist 2y ago
    In the mid 90s professional video game programmers used typically a 1920x1080 display, just to have a larger code canvas and display sharper text. From the 90s on 1600x1200, 1920x1080, 2048x1536 were resolutions one could find on professional displays. From the 2010s on resolutions increased tremendously and 3840x2160 became the norm for consumer and professional displays. When working with code you essentially work with text. You just want a big canvas and crisp text, thus high resolution.
    • ForHackernews 2y ago
      I guess. I think the important thing is getting the program in your head, not on the screen. If the code is too complicated to hold it all in your mind then more columns of crisp text will not save you.
• Zaskoda 2y ago
  I'm not a fan. Large ultra-wide curved screens are fantastic. With large flat screens that are meant to be viewed across the room, you get a distorted image when you sit up close. Your eyes have to focus further away as you look at things closer to the edge of your screen and the viewing angle for that part of the screen is different from the center of the screen. It also requires more effort for your eyes to look up and down rather than left and right. We're hard wired for that horizontal plane. This makes ultrawide screens a really comfortable option.
  • leptons 2y ago
    I almost bought an 8k 55" screen for use as a monitor, but I tested a 55" 4k screen for a week and the flatness is what turned me off to it. I've been using three 32" 4k screens in portrait, arranged in a "curved" config on my desk (2 monitors on each side are mounted at an angle), which I really like. But switching to a large single flat screen was not fun. For me the holy grail of monitors is a 55" 8k curved screen. Not "ultrawide", I want the full width and height and I want it curved, with full 8k resolution. Maybe someday, but I'm not getting my hopes up too high.
    • thfuran 2y ago
      Spherical or cylindrical?
      • hatthew 2y ago
        I'm not the guy you asked but I have a similar opinion on flat screens. Personally I'd want spherical. ~15" tall and ~25" wide is about my limit for flat screens, anything beyond that I find that the corners/edges are too distant/distorted. My home setup is multiple independent 27" screens, which I like. My work setup is a single flat ultrawide (34" probably?), and I find myself physically leaning my head/body from side to side when I have two windows open next to each other. I have eye level a few inches from the top of the screen, and the lowest couple inches also seem distant/distorted.
• exitb 2y ago
  After 15 years of having a desk job I find that I’m more sensitive to the position I sit in. My back feels a lot better if I have a single, regular sized screen right in front of me, instead of having additional screen estate on the sides or below (as with a laptop). At the same time I use virtual desktops that I can switch with both keyboard and mouse.
  • appleiigs 2y ago
    The general advice is to have top of monitor at eye level, but it's been wrong advice for me personally. I now put the middle of the monitor at eye level. Keeps my head up and posture better. Leaning back instead of stooping.
    • switch007 2y ago
      Indeed. AIUI your head needs to be back, chin tucked in, which means looking down a bit. If you're looking level or up you're going to be sticking your head out a bit
    • coretx 2y ago
      The general advice provided to me, and relayed by me is eyes centered @ 2/3th of the screen. The best advice received and relayed by me regarding posture might surprise you. If you struggle with posture, stop caring about what other people might think about your posture. Changing/Tweaking posture all the time might look bad, but it also tends to mitigate the effects of being frozen in bad posture(!) The health impact is too significant to ignore.
      • bee_rider 2y ago
        Yeah I think the only ergonomic advice I believe anymore is that there does not exist a position that is ergonomic to sustain for more than a couple hours. Humans are not evolved to stay stationary, few mammals are really.
      • wruza 2y ago
        Also use a chair with at least “multi block” (changes seat/back angle when swaying).
• jnsaff2 2y ago
  I used a 32" non-curved 4k monitor for a few months once. At some point I realized that I was moving my head around a lot as the corners were at an awkward place. On 28" I don't have this. So anything above 30-ish inches I would consider either curved (expensive for hidpi resolutions) or two/three 27" screens angled a bit. I can't imagine how bad it would be on a 65" flat screen.
  • bradfa 2y ago
    30” flat screen at normal desktop viewing distance seems to be my personal limit, too.
    • skirmish 2y ago
      How close are you to the screen? With my face about 1 foot away, I can easily scan all corners on the 32" 4k flat screen just by moving my eyes.
• SirMaster 2y ago
  How about a projector? There are no 8K projectors Well that's not technically true... https://www.jvc.com/usa/pro/projectors/dla-vs8000g/ https://www.jvc.com/usa/pro/projectors/dla-vs8000g/ But obviously not affordable.
  • js2 2y ago
    Discontinued: https://www.projectorcentral.com/JVC-DLA-VS8000G.htm https://www.projectorcentral.com/JVC-DLA-VS8000G.htm I'm not sure if they ever shipped it to any retail customers. I'm a JVC projector owner so I kinda follow JVC projector news. The higher end JVC PJs are used by Boeing for flight sims: https://www.boeing.com/defense/support/training/constant-resolution-visual-system https://www.boeing.com/defense/support/training/constant-res... JVC accommodates that use case with things like extra chassis mounting points to allow the projector to be mounted securely in a dynamic environment. This looks like it may have been an early POC in native 8K for Boeing.
    • Sephr 1y ago
      I reached out to JVC's simulation projector sales department directly and confirmed that this projector is not discontinued. It appears that Projector Central has incorrect information. Note that it took a few weeks for JVC to get back to me.
• mdrzn 2y ago
  "8K TVs tend to start at around $1500 to $2000 for a 65” one. This is about the same as getting four 32” 4K monitors." Getting 3 32" 4k monitors is still better than having a single point of failure. But also I'm extremely happy with my single Odyssey G9 55".
  • imaginarypedro 2y ago
    You're so right about the single point of failure. I bought a 30" monitor back in 2008 when that constituted a large monitor. It had a 12 month warranty and died after 13 months. :-( I switched to 2 24-inch monitors which cost less, had more total pixels, and most importantly I no longer had that single point of failure.
• asadm 2y ago
  Is there a plugin for mac to make tiled windowing easier. All the current ones are a bit too hacky. I really liked tiling in PopOS.
  • thelittleone 2y ago
    The linked article suggests yabai.
  • jamalaramala 2y ago
    Rectangle is pretty good.
  • bananadonkey 2y ago
    I've been using AeroSpace with AutoRaise since coming back to a Mac after years on i3/sway.
• anoncow 2y ago
  I think the questions to ask are: 1. At what size and resolution are flat screen monitors most useful? 2. At what size do curved screens start becoming useful? 3. What is the upper limit for useful screen sizes? 4. Is there an upper likit for useful resolutions?
  • atahanacar 2y ago
    For 1 and 2, I would say it totally boils down to personal preference an distance/size ratio. For 3, again, distance to the screen matters a lot. The 4th one I've seen the most heated discussions about. In my opinion, highest you can afford (both money-wise and computational power-wise) is the most useful resolution. Even if you can't distinguish the individual pixels (aka screen door effect) aliasing is still an issue.
• vunderba 2y ago
  I use dual 27" 144kHz 4K monitors and am mostly pretty happy with my setup though I have considered moving to an Ultra Wide curved monitor, I'm just not sure if the OCD side of me would be bothered by the curvature. Unless I'm misunderstanding, one of the advantages of using physically distinct monitors is that it's easier to send things into a full screen mode without affecting the other displays - I guess apps that support "borderless windows" are less of an issue. Maybe there's some type of cross platform (Mac, Lennox, Windows) virtual display driver software that can allow you to create "picture in picture" virtualized monitors though?
  • bradfa 2y ago
    My Dell monitor has a picture-by-picture mode which works very well to simulate 2 distinct displays. Each side uses its own video input. Many higher end monitors can do this, unsure how many TVs can.
    • hinkley 2y ago
      I haven’t figured out the trick to make OSX use the entire screen on PBP mode. I just get two little screens.
  • Suppafly 2y ago
    >Unless I'm misunderstanding, one of the advantages of using physically distinct monitors is that it's easier to send things into a full screen mode without affecting the other displays - I guess apps that support "borderless windows" are less of an issue. This is one of the reasons I stuck with two monitors instead of one long one when I upgraded a while back. I know there are workarounds and helper programs you can install and whatnot, but I like being able to drag something to the side and full screen it without any additional hoops. Plus the long monitor crowd tend to have things centered on the screen and then have small accessory areas to either side instead of two distinctly large screens. Plus resolution wise, unless you're going with a really wide monitor, you probably have more overall resolution with two screens, especially if price is a factor at all. Standalone 27" monitors are basically the standard and are priced accordingly.
• appleiigs 2y ago
  Does any one else have mouse lag with giant high pixel density monitors?
  • gwbas1c 2y ago
    Check your refresh rate. With my 4k TV, the mouse gets laggy if it falls back to 30hz. I plug my TV directly into my laptop with a USBC -> HDMI cable. Docking stations often fall back to lower refresh rates.
  • abhinavk 2y ago
    It might be your port or cable that doesn't support the required bandwidth to drive your hi-dpi display at the selected refresh-rate.
  • AnotherGoodName 2y ago
    That’s typical of tvs. The signal is delayed by a few seconds because for passive entertainment why not. You will likely have a mode for your tv that does no post processing and has minimal delay Often called pc or gaming mode. Look up “[your tv model] gaming mode”.
  • throwaway48476 2y ago
    Usually TVs now come with a game mode that doesn't do post processing and lowers latency.
• zavertnik 2y ago
  This is something I've wanted to do for a while! I wish Samsung still produced their 55" 8K displays-- 8k @ 55" gives you effectively the same PPI as a 27" 4K display. Maybe someday.
  • deleted 2y ago
    [deleted]
• jamalaramala 2y ago
  The biggest problem I see is ergonomics. The proper monitor height is when the top third of the screen is at or slightly below your eye level when seated or standing upright. This positioning helps prevent neck strain and allows for a comfortable viewing angle. The top third of a large TV will be much higher than that, which will cause long term discomfort. That's why large monitors have much wider aspect than TVs.
  • AnotherGoodName 2y ago
    Yep a huge monitor sounds good in theory but you end up with neck and eye strain from panning your head constantly unless you place it so far away that it’s effectively a regular monitor at a regular distance.
  • k4rli 2y ago
    Would recommend a black background Vscode theme for an OLED. The black background with red accents looks beautiful, at least on my smaller XPS 15 4k OLED. I use Dobri Next Black with some customizations but it looks good by default as well.
    • satvikpendem 2y ago
      Nice, I use Hyper Term Theme. I'll have to check out the one you mentioned.
    • yard2010 2y ago
      Correct me if I'm wrong - in OLED monitors, a black pixel actually means a powered off pixel. So it's a good idea to use as much as black in static areas to prolong the monitor life.
  • kraftman 2y ago
    Maybe if you put what your working on at the top of the screen and only looked at that one thing it would be a problem, but realistically you use a bigger screen the same way you'd use a bigger desk: you dont put what you're working on out of reach, you just have more room for the tools for what you're working on.
• m_ke 2y ago
  I've been using 42" 4K TVs as my monitor for like 10 years now. 2 years ago I upgraded to an OLED LG A1 and it has been amazing. https://www.rtings.com/tv/reviews/lg/a1-oled https://www.rtings.com/tv/reviews/lg/a1-oled For anyone using a TV I recommend using https://github.com/waydabber/BetterDisplay https://github.com/waydabber/BetterDisplay to properly scale the display.
  • matt3210 2y ago
    [flagged]
  • steelbrain 2y ago
    Looks great, thank you for sharing. I've been looking for something similar (OLED, for work/gaming) so looked into the one you're using. > Doesn't support variable refresh rates or HDMI 2.1. Unfortunately that makes it a deal breaker. The search continues
    • kayg04 2y ago
      The C1/C2/C3/C4 do support HDMI 2.1 and VRR.
      • jajko 2y ago
        LG CX series are literally #1 recommendation on almost any article about getting TV for PC gaming and maybe some work, for many years. I don't think OP is honestly looking around.
  • bluedino 2y ago
    I have a 43" LG 4K TV as my main screen for the last two years, it's great. I'd actually like something just a little bit bigger, 50" maybe? The trick for me was to wall-mount it and get a deep desk. I prefer to be at least 36" away from it.
  • tetraodonpuffer 2y ago
    Have you had issues with image retention? I also like the 43” 4K setup for some things, but these days it seems IPS screens in that size are not as easy to find, I’ve always been wary of OLED due to burn-in
• dekhn 2y ago
  Am I the only person who wants a monitor that's curved in both axes (left/right and up/down) so I can surround myself with a sphere of monitors, and then pivot on a gimbal?
  • xnx 2y ago
    Apple Vision Pro would probably accomplish this
    • amelius 2y ago
      What are its viewing angles?
      • dekhn 2y ago
        it's around 100 degrees while humans can see more like 180 degrees (more if you move your eyes; I don't want to move my eyes, I want to gimbal my body to focus on a specific monitor) although outside the center of your vision, you don't have good "resolution". The Vision Pro would be like being inside the sphere, but with a big aperture blocking all the side monitors
• jfb 2y ago
  I'd be happy to, but there aren't any 8K TVs at 55" or smaller. I want the pixels, but I'm not going to put a 65" TV on my damn desk -- I have two 27" 4k now, and it's ... fine, I guess? but I want a 42" 8k running at 2x.
• wing-_-nuts 2y ago
  I am excited for 8k monitors in the future, because they give you a lot more options for integer scaling than current 4k displays. I know this a nerdish hill to die on, but I hate fractional scaling with the blazing fury of a thousand suns. To get a 1440p sized UI on a 27" 4k display, you can't just divide by 1.5x the OS has to 3x/2 for every frame. OS X does this best as they've had retina displays for a while, but no OS does this well, and it leads to all sorts of performance issues especially when dealing with view ports. Linux is especially bad. Having said all that, I absolutely will not be using an 8k tv as a display. I'm currently using a 27" 1440p monitor, and while I could probably handle a 32" 8k display that is the absolute max size I'd tolerate. You start to get into all sorts of issues with viewing distance and angle going larger. My 27" 1440p is fine for now. I sit far enough away from it that I don't really 'see the pixels' unless I go looking for them. It was also a crazy good deal as it's a 144hz monitor that also has a built in KVM switch that's very useful for WFH.
  • zokier 2y ago
    That's why we have so-called 5k monitors in 27" size class? Being exactly 2x pixel density of conventional 1440p
    • layer8 2y ago
      27” 1440p at 100% is too small for me, so 5K at 200% has the same problem. More generally, the available PPIs combined with integer scaling only yield relatively few options at a given viewing distance. More choice would be nice.
    • wing-_-nuts 2y ago
      Yep pretty much, and 6k 32" monitors. Both are fringe monitors mainly used by mac people.
  • wilsonnb3 2y ago
    I am curious as to what OS's you've tried. Fractional scaling is flawless on Windows and KDE6 with wayland in my experience.
• itomato 2y ago
  10 years ago it was the 30" Seiki 4K TV https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=seiki+4k https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=seiki+4k Niche no more.
• xnx 2y ago
  Televisions continue to be the best deal going: https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/price-changes-consumer-goods-services-united-states https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/price-changes-consumer-go... That chart doesn't even fully account for the increased size, pixel density, color accuracy, contrast, and refresh rates.
• ballerburg9006 2y ago
  TL;DR: You can't really replace a monitor wall with a single screen because it does not curve to create the right viewing angle, which makes text seriously unreadable at the edges, which forces you to seriously upscale the font size, which steals the largest amount of real estate possible. Of all the compromises to make, reducing the number of screens is one of the worst ones. 4k screens are already somewhat questionable for productivity for this reason alone. The only serious argument that can be made is 1440p vs 1080p (personally I would argue for 1080p, if using bitmap fonts and having perfect eyesight). A 4k monitor wall is a rather fringe setup, that only works out to an advantage for day traders and weird surveillance applications. And it requires that you constantly do very energetic body gymnastics to change your perspective's location and be able to see all the details. With a single 8k screen without upscaling font size (hence preserving all technical real-estate), the body gymnastics required would be so much worse than a 4k wall, it would be absolutely ridiculous and clown-alike and almost impossible to use while typing. Otherwise people mainly want big 4k/8k screens for dual use as a TV set. But this is just wrong in itself, it creates a paradox for no good reason, like using screwdrivers as chisels. Some things are not meant to be. The only arrangement where 4k makes some sense for common use cases, is maybe above a curved ultra widescreen.
• catchmeifyoucan 2y ago
  On most monitors I've been using these days, I keep scaling the resolution down. I've noticed that the bigger the text, the more comfortable my eyes feel. I still prefer a good high-res monitor because it scales down with less blur
  • deedub 2y ago
    This is what I do too, then I can sit even further away. Feels good on the ole' eyeballs.
• preisschild 2y ago
  I use a single curved 57" 32:9 DUHD monitor (Samsung Odyssey NEO G95NC) for work and gaming. Previously I used 3 24" monitors, but I like this setup a lot more. I split it into 3 sections (browser for docs, and rest terminal/nvim), but i can easily change this if I want to show slack for example. For gaming I go fullscreen (and use overlays for stuff like VOIP or browsing) because it is a lot more immersive.
• jbverschoor 2y ago
  Nope.. I want to be able to properly split the screen in different inputs because of the lack of proper window / workspace management if you're not using separate monitors
  • cerved 2y ago
    I'd suggest getting a better window manager
• vid 2y ago
  I wanted to go down this path some months ago, but couldn't find any options on the market. I ended up with a 42" 4k LG C3, but it's just "ok" because I can easily see pixels. I wanted to use the room as dual use work/watch movies, but without the need to watch movies I'd probably go back to a wide screen curved display.
• bdcravens 2y ago
  > The bezels and gaps in between the monitors introduce distractions and one is limited in how one may arrange terminals and windows across multiple displays. To me, the segmentation is a feature. It lets me offload information density and focus. For example, I commonly have an editor on one screen, a browser on the second, and something like a chat app, terminal, etc on the laptop screen.
  • Arrath 2y ago
    Same, I've never liked spanning a window across multiple monitors. The discontinuity of the bezel is a handy mental break. Often I'll have email and teams on one screen and my main item of work on the central screen.
  • dmd 2y ago
    Nobody's stopping you from segmenting one big monitor into different regions; and you get to choose how big those regions are from day to day rather than being forced into it.
    • kevin_thibedeau 2y ago
      That's too much extra work. With multiple monitors you can maximize primary apps while still having manual management of smaller supporting apps on another monitor. You also get more edges for rapid snap to the sides of a monitor.
      • r00fus 2y ago
        You're not using the best window managers - most have customizable drag points or keybindings to get exactly what you want.
        • __MatrixMan__ 2y ago
          Since you seem to know about the best window managers, can you recommend one for MacOS which will let me direct focus to whichever window is left/right/down/up of the currently selected one? i3/sway does this just fine, but my impression is that MacOS's api doesn't allow third party developers to pull it off, but I'd love to be wrong about that.
• qwertox 2y ago
  > You can even use the same TV for 4K 120 Hz gaming or watching movies as a bonus! But you can't use the computer at the same time then. With a 3 monitor setup I can add an HDMI switch to one of them, and when I want to play, then I can switch that monitor to connect to the PS. This way I have still 2 monitors to use. Then one can be used for TV in the browser and the other one for other stuff.
• lofaszvanitt 2y ago
  A sure sign that someone doesn't know what they're doing is if they use 3 or more monitors for programming. And also interested in their neck related issues 10+ years later.
  • recursive 2y ago
    A sure sign that someone doesn't know what they're doing is if they can judge someone's competence by how many monitors they use for programming.
  • hathawsh 2y ago
    I like to think Jeff Atwood has some idea of what he's doing. https://blog.codinghorror.com/three-monitors-for-every-user/ https://blog.codinghorror.com/three-monitors-for-every-user/
    • lofaszvanitt 2y ago
      People and their need for a "leader". No matter the quality. We had enough "truth tellers" and "follow me men" kinda shills. Time to realize that not everyone is your friend in the internet. They feed you bullshit all the time and laugh how gullible people are and question nothing, just follow based on perceived merits of an individual.
  • tetraodonpuffer 2y ago
    Huh? One screen for email/slack/.. main screen for the ide, other screen for logs etc. a lot less context switch to glance left/right than to go to another virtual desktop
  • bhouston 2y ago
    I've had two monitors since the mid-2000s, and only recently gave them up for one 48". I haven't had neck problems yet in any way.
  • Msurrow 2y ago
    One screen for IDE (center) One screen for documentation/browser One screen for running the application (being developed). Please, go ahead a explain to me how I don’t know what I’m doing.
• nickreese 2y ago
  I just bought the EU version of this in 55inch and candidly wish I got the 65. The 55 I have to run it scaled and my mac crashes daily to it.
• throwaway48476 2y ago
  The checkerboard pattern is from not using VRR. You need to enable game mode and select VRR as the refresh rate in the OS settings.
• jrflowers 2y ago
  I love this blog post. “It can display seven equally spaced vertical columns of text (critical importance), has driver issues (minimal importance), wake issues (who cares), it costs as much as four smaller monitors (this is good), I need a huge desk (hell yeah), there are multiple image quality issues (well it’s not like I have to look at it all day)…” It is like “I spent fifteen hundred dollars on a multitude of hassles due to purchasing the wrong type of display, but due to the lack of bezel this is a prime efficiency move “
  • dingnuts 2y ago
    yeah but I kind of get it..
    • jrflowers 2y ago
      Absolutely. I remember watching Swordfish and wanting Stanley’s setup
  • throwaway48476 2y ago
    Once you no longer see pixels you'll never want to go back.
    • stephenr 2y ago
      I think you'd have to sit further back than is otherwise natural (and then have the issue of legibility/lost workspace) to achieve "can't see the pixels" on this. Sure it's 8K but it's 65", it's only got a PPI of 135. For comparison Apple (computer) displays and a handful of third parties that target Mac use are generally 200-220 PPI. That is can't see the pixels density, even if you smash your face against it.
      • throwaway48476 2y ago
        I have a 55" 8K and I can't see the pixels while sitting 2ft away. Everything is crisp and I have a huge workspace. For mac I use 4k native so 2x integer scaling.
• bhouston 2y ago
  I use a 48" OLED with my MacBook Air M3 and for me that is a near ultimate web development experience both on desktop and when travelling: https://bsky.app/profile/benhouston3d.bsky.social/post/3l7linb6nzi2j https://bsky.app/profile/benhouston3d.bsky.social/post/3l7li... I mentioned this here on Hacker News just yesterday, but most respondents were appalled that it was only a 4K monitor: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41988340 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41988340
  • cerved 2y ago
    Same. I used to have a 56" OLED but it was a tad large. 48 is perfect. The hardest part was buying a good desk mount. It doesn't work great with an all white screen but I use dark mode for most things
  • porphyra 2y ago
    You might have posted a wrong link for the second link, which is the same as this HN post.
    • bhouston 2y ago
      Thx. Fixed it!
  • wilsonnb3 2y ago
    48 inches at 4K is such a low pixel density, are you not bothered by how bad text looks compared to high DPI screens?
    • hollandheese 2y ago
      It's fine. Not as nice as a retina display but it's exactly the same as a 24" 1080p display (4 of them technically) for text.
• prmoustache 2y ago
  I didn't even knew 8K TV and monitors existed. I am still on dual fullhd display and was considering a single 4K or 5K display vetween 27 and 32".
• thefz 2y ago
  > 8K TVs may be driven at 8K 60 Hz with no chroma subsampling by using HDMI 2.1, which is available on all current (Nvidia RTX 4000 series and AMD 7000 series) and previous gen (Nvidia RTX 3000 series, AMD 6000 series) graphics cards. Older computers with GPUs outputting DisplayPort 1.4 may use adapters such as the Club3D one to achieve 8K 60 Hz. Isn't "plain" DP 1.4 confined to HBR3 - thus its maximum refresh rate is 8K-30Hz? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DisplayPort#Resolution_and_refresh_frequency_limits https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DisplayPort#Resolution_and_ref...
  • vbernat 2y ago
    He mentions this adapter: https://www.amazon.fr/Club3D-CAC-1087-DisplayPort-4K120Hz-8K60Hz/dp/B0B6BYL5N7 https://www.amazon.fr/Club3D-CAC-1087-DisplayPort-4K120Hz-8K.... With DSC 1.2, you should get 8K at 60Hz.
• RecycledEle 2y ago
  I am using a pair of 43", 4k TVs. The 2x43" configuration has been my working setup for about a decade. I love it. Anything bigger than 43" diagonal causes neck pain because it is too tall. I understand three 32" TVs also work.
  • mciancia 2y ago
    Seems pretty wide. no problem there?
• okasaki 2y ago
  I use a 4k TV. I've wanted upgrade to 8k for a while, but according to this post AMD on Linux can't do 8k so I guess I'm sticking with my current setup. My 780M already struggles running GNOME at 4k, so maybe that's for the best.
• physhster 2y ago
  Ultrawide 5K2K is a great sweet spot, at least for what I do, which includes a bit of everything. I never liked dual monitors with a split in the middle. Ultrawides solve that.
  • sam1r 2y ago
    Which brands/model consist of your setup? Did this turn out to be more affordable or less than expected. Thanks upfront.
    • physhster 2y ago
      I have a 34" from LG, but I absolutely CANNOT recommend the brand. It's been unreliable, and is currently being repaired after the panel died on me. However, when it worked, it was an absolute game changer. I have a feeling they might not be able to repair it, in which case I am getting a Lenovo P40w-20 which is currently on sale for $1099 at Walmart for some reason. But yeah, we're talking $1k+, if you want both high-resolution (5K) and ultrawide. If you're ok with good old 16:10 aspect ratio, then a 5K monitor is much more affordable.
• bsimpson 2y ago
  According to https://tools.rodrigopolo.com/display_calc/ https://tools.rodrigopolo.com/display_calc/, a 65" 8K like the one in the article is retina at a 26" viewing distance (136 PPI). For reference, a 27" 4K screen has 163 PPI, and is retina at 21" by the same math. A 27" 5K (like the Apple Studio Display) has 218 PPI and is retina at 16".
  • mixmastamyk 2y ago
    The DPI of this screen is too low for all the drawbacks. Would rather have crisper text (150+ DPI, 200 preferable) and/or be able to carry it myself. Needs to be about 42" for that.
• linsomniac 2y ago
  Beware of backlight offsets. TV panels can have smaller backlights, because they're meant to be viewed from further away, and my LG 46 monitor didn't have backlight behind the lower 2-3 rows of pixels and a couple pixels on the left and right, when viewed at my desk. This may not impact some people, but I often go full screen text and missing some of the left and bottom pixels was annoying. I ended up able to configure i3-gaps so that it never displayed anything in those areas, solving the problem. It worked great as a huge monitor otherwise.
• valval 2y ago
  I went through a phase of wanting the most possible screen estate to do sick multi tasking gimmicks like having chats, documentation, code editor, and prototype open at once. It was glorious, a 5k2k ultrawide monitor filled to the brim with a mishmash of sometimes related, sometimes unrelated windows. Then it hit me that I can only focus on one thing at a time since I’m a human being, and having multiple attention grabbing things in front of me is never good. I now run a single Studio Display and have a code editor in full screen, switching to other content through virtual desktops. I’m WAY more productive this way. Now I might just have a short attention span and that’s that, but using a TV as a monitor sounds like hell to me now.
• aftbit 2y ago
  I sorta tried this, using a single one of those large 4k curved monitors at my desk in San Francisco before the pandemic. It was alright, but I always liked having two 2k monitors more. At this point, as an Awesome WM user (there are dozens of us!), I really depend on having two different monitors so I can have two different sets of tiling window tags.
• gosub100 2y ago
  I'm embarking on a similar geek journey. Just today I bought a used radiology PACS display (barco mdcc-6430) just to see if there is anything novel or cool about the picture or any clinical features. I'm not expecting much but stuff like this is how you find out. This display is color, however I have considered getting a grayscale only rads display for "ADHD purposes" i.e. the same reason people are interested in e-ink displays (well, one reason). It will probably be a huge waste of time and money but I'm just a masochist for tech pain I guess...
  • markhahn 2y ago
    No, I miss monochrome displays too. Yes, sure, color can provide some benefit in syntax highlighting, but that's a pretty weak argument. I wonder if there's an interesting reseach opportunity: how complex does a syntax need to be before highlighting is beneficial - and is it ever really? I don't think highlighting ever helps me understand code or even more quickly grasp it - it's mainly just a way to cue a syntax problem.
• aftbit 2y ago
  >The AMD on Linux fiasco is because the HDMI Forum has prohibited AMD from implementing HDMI 2.1 in their open source Linux drivers. I wonder why this didn't stop nvidia. https://www.reddit.com/r/linux_gaming/comments/uoxtsx/the_nvidia_open_source_kernel_driver_seems_to/ https://www.reddit.com/r/linux_gaming/comments/uoxtsx/the_nv...
• matheusmoreira 2y ago
  I've always wondered why everybody would buy "monitors" for computer use. Isn't it the same thing as a television screen? Back then TVs used to take different inputs but everything is digital now. That checkerboard effect is certainly interesting. Someone somewhere is going to be nostalgic about this artifact someday, maybe they'll even make a shader to emulate it. I wonder what causes it and why it disappears in game mode. > on Linux it took about two years for 8K 60 Hz support to work, spawning a salty thread on GitHub All I see is paying customers asking for support. > The AMD on Linux fiasco is because the HDMI Forum has prohibited AMD from implementing HDMI 2.1 in their open source Linux drivers. That's weird since nvidia's open source driver has an implementation.
  • throwaway48476 2y ago
    There is nothing nostalgic about the checkerboard. It's simply a foot gun for those unfamiliar with using Samsung tvs as monitors.
  • clark_dent 2y ago
    TVs generally have more input lag, poorer color fidelity, and except at the high end like 8k the pixel size is often inappropriate for viewing close up. There's less of a gulf now than in the past, but TVs are generally made for media watching at a distance.
• bastard_op 2y ago
  I've been using 50" 4K/60 TV's (3x actually) as monitors since 2015, and I love them. Prior from about 2007 on I used 6x 24" LCD's, and in wanting to upgrade, didn't make sense to bother with small LCD's to go vertical with another row for 12x displays. I found Samsung curved 4k LCD's at the time for around $650 each shipped around black friday, so it was a no-brainer. I've never looked back really, or would consider anything smaller now. I am wondering how 8k displays would look replacing my current samsung 4k's as these are pre-HDR, but I'll probably use these until they start dying with no complaint. Plus no one does curved displays now, which I'll miss from my current TV monitors.
  • ponty_rick 2y ago
    If its not too much of an intrusion, can you share a picture of your setup?
    • bastard_op 2y ago
      Here's a shot of them showing a game spread across them. https://imgur.com/a/wv6Wdx7 https://imgur.com/a/wv6Wdx7
• dllu 2y ago
  Author here, ask me anything! Apart from programming, one of the motivations for getting the 8K display is to look at lidar point clouds. For example the desktop background in my post is a lidar map of Bernal Hill in San Francisco, which I've here downsampled to only 13006 x 7991 px for your convenience [1]. Admittedly, when I bought it at first, I didn't realize there would be so many random issues, as manufacturers all advertised their gear as "8K Ready" even in 2021. As I incrementally fixed the problems, I decided to document my journey in this blog post. btw I posted this in the past but it got caught by the spam filter and disappeared [2], not sure how to appeal that when it happens. Thanks ingve for posting it again! [1] https://pics.dllu.net/file/dllu-lidar/tldr_707_all_c_fine_50.png https://pics.dllu.net/file/dllu-lidar/tldr_707_all_c_fine_50... (13006 x 7991 px) [2] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41102135 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41102135
  • srid 2y ago
    To get retina quality display, you need to match the PPI right? For 5K, 27" is the sweet spot. For 8k, what would be the optimal size of TV?
    • dllu 2y ago
      What you really need to match is the angular resolution in microradians from your eye. You can make any screen smaller by sitting farther back. That said, I do wish my TV was only 42". I guess if you really want the ppi to be exactly the same as a 27" 5K screen, then 27 * 7680 / 5120 = 40.5".
      • JoshTriplett 2y ago
        This is exactly the reason I intend to stick with 4k for now: I don't want a display that large. I currently have a 48" 4k display, and I'd prefer to have a 42" or 36" one. (Good choices are hard to find, though, particularly if you actually want 4k rather than ultrawide, want OLED, and don't want to just use a TV.)
        • 2y ago
• solarkraft 2y ago
  My 4K 55” monitor mostly serves me quite well, but I’ve been a bit annoyed by the low pixel density. Wonder if my Macbook can drive an 8K one.
• ashepp 2y ago
  I love my 65" LG GX OLED as daily driver for work and gaming. See https://www.theshepreport.com/p/the-shep-report-holiday-tech-gift https://www.theshepreport.com/p/the-shep-report-holiday-tech... I came from an ubutto revolution cockpit setup with 4 monitors, the ergonomics were awful. With the LG I'm about a meter or less away from screen and use window management tools to pull focus to the center lower section for any focused work. I run Win 11 from an RTX3080 card with a 2.1 HDMI cable. 3840x2160 120Hz. For gaming I just use windowed mode and use the full width of the 65" but just the lower half usually for COD or FPS games. I don't notice any eye strain or other issues but do run everything I can in dark mode including using the browser with the Dark Reader extension.
  • ashepp 2y ago
    Direct Link with photos https://www.theshepreport.com/i/139215541/lg-gx-oled-monitor-screen https://www.theshepreport.com/i/139215541/lg-gx-oled-monitor...
  • canuckintime 2y ago
    Do you foresee any AR/VR headset/glasses replacing your monitor within the next year?
    • ashepp 2y ago
      Not for my use case. Even as someone who's been active in the AR/VR industry for 10 years plus, it's more comfortable for me to look at a screen than it is to wear glasses. I've tried working in xreals, quest 3, with virtual desktop, etc. They're pretty good - just not as good as a monitor or in this case TV. I'm confident over time things will improve and eventually might be on par but there's plenty of use cases where you might want a screen and that will likely persist. Thanks for the question!
• mococa 2y ago
  I want a 8K 27". Density is important to me.
  • vundercind 2y ago
    I want 4k/5k and an 18"-21" diagonal, but all the hi-dpi smaller screens go to laptops and tablets, I guess. No monitors like that. Hell, under 27" and 4k can be tricky to find these days. 24" models exist but are a shrinking category. I don't want or need my monitor to take up a huge amount of space. But I do want high pixel density. Looks like I'm in too small a market to serve.
• satvikpendem 2y ago
  Heh, I do something similar as well, with a 48" LG 4k OLED, which seems popular with other users as well. I got this over another 4k or 8k TV because 1) OLED simply looks better and 2) 120 hz is nice for gaming, but I do want to get the same type of TV but with 240 hz instead for some of the higher twitch games. I use Windows and the PowerToys utility which might arguably be the best window manager I've used, even about tiling window managers on Linux, simply because I can specify exactly the layouts I want for every single virtual desktop and every single app. Overall it works well but for the first little while I did get a headache from sitting too close, but it went away soon after.
• aappleby 2y ago
  11 years ago, "4K is for Programmers" - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7035030 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7035030
• dman 2y ago
  Does a 8K 42 inch option exist?
  • throwaway48476 2y ago
    No.
• prettyStandard 2y ago
  Just got a 32" 4k. I had a 49" 4k in the past, but it broke. My issue with monitors above 49" is it strains the eyes and head looking around. I always had to partition the screen or manually resize, it got annoying. Gonna try 1 4k for landscape and 1 for portrait now.
• sampo 2y ago
  "4K is for programmers" from 10 and half years ago: https://tiamat.tsotech.com/4k-is-for-programmers https://tiamat.tsotech.com/4k-is-for-programmers https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7035030 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7035030
• WalterBright 2y ago
  Back in my daze at Boeing, I had a full size drafting table in addition to the usual desk. I've always wanted a display that big. In fact, I want my entire desk surface to be such a display! The 8k monitors are progress!
  • gpm 2y ago
    This clearly calls for dual 8k displays! One as the desk (under a solid layer of glass), and one as the monitor.
    • throwaway48476 2y ago
      The under glass display should have Wacom and touch support too.
    • WalterBright 2y ago
      I like the cut of your jib!
• AtlasBarfed 2y ago
  Main use of 8k is really high pixel density. In a perfect world I'd have smart glasses that would display arbitrary resolutions that you could move, minimize and expand at will.
• MentallyRetired 2y ago
  Recently tried it. Couldn't find one with a high enough PPI for my liking. Ended up with two vertical 4k monitors. Side bonus: I can put my web cam dead center in front of me.
• mxfh 2y ago
  Pretty wild that the only reasonably sized 8k Monitor is going to be 8 years old next spring. Nothing coming close was ever released after that. The Dell UltraSharp UP3218K That's XBox Scorpio old. Just hoping for some 32 inch 8k OLEDs driveable @120hz before my eyesight detoriates.
• ChrisMarshallNY 2y ago
  Good show. The one issue that I have with using TVs as "monitors," is that they are too damn "smart." They play with the images, and it can be a devil to find all the settings, to turn them off. On my Samsung, there's a couple of things that I can't turn off.
  • wongogue 2y ago
    Is there a Game mode? That would turn off almost everything.
    • ChrisMarshallNY 2y ago
      That’s a good point.
• TrevorJ 2y ago
  Coatings that don't cut down on reflections is the biggest issue I've had the various times I have used this route.
• happyraul 2y ago
  For me, the best monitors by far for programming are LG's 28in DualUp, due to the aspect ratio. I have a pair side by side, and it's effectively four 1440p screens in a 2x2 layout, giving lots of vertical space without a bezel as well as horizonal on each screen.
• deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
• Kon5ole 2y ago
  I got my 8k 55" tv for under 1000 usd several years ago. Brand new, from a brick and mortar electronics store. So it is definitely possible to make 8k monitors for less than 1000 usd. A mere 55" with 8K resolution makes no sense as a TV, but it's glorious as a productivity monitor. But instead of becoming commonplace as monitors, the panels seem to just be disappearing even as TV's. At the moment I can't find anything at any price that can replace my current setup. The market isn't working for monitors. Everything available now is either crap, or costs 10x more than it clearly could. Millions of people are spending years of their lives in front of bad screens because monitor makers don't want to make good ones.
  • locusofself 2y ago
    I feel like Apple's 30 inch 6k display would be the sweet spot for me, but its 60 hz and cost what.. $6,000 ? I just use 27" 4k monitors for work. It's fine but I'd definitely like something a bit bigger and even crisper. I have to use windows for work though.
• MaulingMonkey 2y ago
  > TLDR: If your job is to write code all day [...], buy an 8K TV instead of a multi-monitor setup. Counterpoints: • All my keyboard muscle memory is setup for multi-monitor setups. Theoretically fixable with the right tiling window manager... which I would presumably have to install, since I do too much Windows stuff to go full time Linux. Or perhaps develop. Buying more monitors is a better use of my time. • I curve my monitors inwards, intentionally, for better viewing angles. Also lets me hide a tower in one of the corners behind the curve on a straighter desk. • I do too much multi-machine development (e.g. testing refactoring of multi-platform abstractions.) HDMI switches are super convenient, your TV's picture-in-picture functionality... may or may not be. Dual Windows PCs for testing on nVidia and AMD simultaniously, or remaining unblocked when busy reformatting/reinstalling/compiling/linking/syncing 100GB+ on one? Yes please. It's often interactive enough to want to keep open, yet passive enough to need something else to do. OS X for iOS and Linux for debugging server code? Sure. iOS and Android? Well... those have their own monitors. Consoles don't though, and I've targeted those too.. For an entertainment setup, I can usually scrape by with 2 or 3 monitors (1 landscape for fullscreen game, others typically portrait for chat/wiki/etc). Right now, I'm on a 75" 4K chonker. I have good eyes, but 8K would be a waste of pixels, and I'm already close enough that the viewing angles are noticable. Yet, I still hauled out a second monitor: an old 2.5K to exile junk I want to monitor off the main screen. For a development setup, I've bought or brought a 4 x 27" 4K setup if one isn't provided. A 5th monitor has occasionally been useful (1 landscape for console, 4 portrait for console IDE, devtools, devtools IDE, and docs/wiki/jira/chat/notes. Replacing the 4x portrait with 2x 8K landscape... would probably work, at least, although I'm not convinced it'd feel like much of an upgrade, if any.)
• omnibrain 2y ago
  At home I use 2 28" 3:2 4k displays and in the office I use the same setup and 2 additional 24" WQXGA-Displays and I like the ability to spatial arrange windows and corresponding tasks. My mind just doesn't work the same with one huge display. I even noticed this back in the day when multiple displays meant 2 17"-19" 4:3 or 5:4 displays and the first colleagues started to use the first 30" displays with 2560x1600.
• Sophistifunk 2y ago
  I'm much more interested in going the other direction, in order to get a TV without all the crapware.
• mastazi 2y ago
  Assuming that those audio speakers are at ear height (I assume they are since those IsoAcoustics stands allow tilting but there is no tilt in the picture) then IMHO the display is placed too high, ideally you want your eyes level just below the upper edge of the screen. I don't blame OP though, I just think with this type of screen size, it is challenging to achieve that.
• Arubis 2y ago
  If you’re looking for a monitor with high pixel density and a ton of real estate, you can also buy a monitor. 5k2k’s are pretty sweet. I’m driving one of these nowadays and it’s fabulous, without all the quirks of adapting a huge TV for computer use: https://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/dell-ultrasharp-40-curved-thunderbolt-hub-monitor-u4025qw/apd/210-bmdp/monitors-monitor-accessories https://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/dell-ultrasharp-40-curved-th... HiDPI, two 4k monitors without a bezel, 120Hz, and no need for a separate thunderbolt hub.
• jmull 2y ago
  It feels like VR is the future of work that benefits from lots of display space.
• ccheney 2y ago
  Have been sporting a 4K LG CX48 OLED since ~Sept, 2020 best monitor decision ever. I've got two HDMI out cables, 1 going to my gaming rig and the other for my Macbook where I do my work as a developer. I haven't noticed any burn-in or dead pixels. You need to set it up for success, enable all the burn-in prevention settings the monitor provides (static image darkening, pixel shifting&cleaning). It's also a great idea to do other things such as sleeping the monitor after 1min if inactivity, no screensaver (or just black), black desktop background, hide taskbars, etc edit: to add, i have the monitor mounted to the wall and about 1" above the height of my desk[1] - this puts the center of the screen directly at eye level [1] - https://i.postimg.cc/nhqvM4Yz/62395566614-66-C9-BCAA-367-C-4-DC4-B3-DD-888-EE8-A362-A8.jpg https://i.postimg.cc/nhqvM4Yz/62395566614-66-C9-BCAA-367-C-4...
  • post_break 2y ago
    I stole one of these from Best Buy for $500 in march. It’s just so good. I haven’t turned off the local dimming thing with the service remote so that’s still a thing but damn is it such a great monitor. And for gaming cyberpunk at 120hz with hdr melts your face.
    • ccheney 2y ago
      crazy how cheap these got, I paid ~$1500 USD in 2020
  • jpgvm 2y ago
    Have you managed to get good text rendering? I still can't find how to get good sub-pixel anti-aliasing working for the text sizes I want to use on my LG 42" OLED. It's otherwise awesome though, for the type of gaming I do (non-competitive, so stuff like D4 and Cyberpunk) it's completely unmatched. I just wish it was a little bit better for smashing out code without annoying text fringing that distracts me.
• sgarland 2y ago
  I love my Acer Predator 43” 4K. It’s small enough that I don’t feel like I need to extend my desk to sit far enough away, and it also just squeaks under the max load for the Ergotron HX monitor arm. It’s extremely sharp for normal use, and doubles as a 4K 120Hz monitor for gaming.
• starkparker 2y ago
  I used a 43" 4k TV to replace a multi-monitor setup, and the neck and eye strain was brutal for me. Even with a really nice display with a high refresh rate, viewing the corners from that close up was worse than useless. The brightness was difficult to tune down enough to reduce eye strain and from that close up reducing blue light through software wasn't very helpful. I've since switched to a 32" 4k curved display (still 16:9, not ultrawide) and have been much happier. The curve makes more of the view useful from the periphery and the display has some quality-of-life features, like displaying multiple inputs as separated and ratio-configureable "monitors" in hardware. It's also nice to have controls on the display; the TV relied on the remote, and I kept losing track of it. The only thing I miss is being able to switch to watching sports at the end of the work day, and being able to cast video to it. Those were luxuries duplicated by other things already in the house. I'd like to say I miss gaming on it but I honestly don't, it's much nicer to not have to extend the keyboard and mouse back far enough to also see the entire display at once. I work mostly with text and code so the curve isn't an issue, and I could see designers preferring a flat panel to avoid distortion. Otherwise I'm not sure I could go back to having such a large display, much less a 65" display. EDIT: Per another comment, I have mild hyperopia diagnosed about a year into using this setup, which continued for another year after getting glasses to correct it. My prescription has not changed since getting the new display.
  • Nannooskeeska 2y ago
    I've been using a 34" 1440p curved ultrawide monitor (21:9) since 2020 and it's been amazing. Earlier this year I decided to try using a 42" LG OLED TV as my monitor and lasted about a day before deciding to go back. I 100% agree with you RE: viewing the corners of the flat screen. I'll never go back to a flat monitor/TV for my primary PC again. I think my ideal monitor is ultrawide, curved, 1440p, OLED, and 38" or so.
• ladzoppelin 2y ago
  Were do 5k monitors fit in the current 4k+ future?
• dbrower 2y ago
  Just looked and I'm not seeing ANY 55" 8k around right now. All the ones I'm seeing now are 65" at the smallest, and that seems way too big. I've found a 43" 4k is about the right pixel size for me; a 49" 4k was too big on a desk. Fortunately, it died and I could get a smaller replacement. I suspect a 49/50" 8k would be ideal, but I'm not going to hold my breath.
• rr808 2y ago
  I have a 32 inch 4k. Its good but even that feels a little big some time. I have a 55 at work and its just silly.
  • ivewonyoung 2y ago
    I have a 28" 4K 144hz monitor since two years now, its been great.
• ziofill 2y ago
  In my experience when a flat monitor gets too large the edges tend to be too much further than the center and as I glance around, my eyes need to refocus too much. That’s why I vastly prefer curved screens. I currently use a 4K 32in curved monitor by MSI and for me it’s just perfect
• aq9 2y ago
  I have used one of the original 4k TVs-as-a-monitor ( https://www.avsforum.com/threads/review-of-the-seiki-39-4k-display-se39uy04.1482611/ https://www.avsforum.com/threads/review-of-the-seiki-39-4k-d... ) as my central monitor (plus one on each side) for 10+ years now. Not feeling any need to upgrade (don't do graphics/games, just lots and lots of text terminals and browser windows)
• 9erdelta 2y ago
  I used a tv as a monitor for a while and it was great -- but there is one problem with single monitor setups -- screen sharing/recording. If the app you're using lets you select a portion of the screen to share, that's great. But something like Slack you either share an app window, or the entire screen. This is very annoying in a single monitor setup. It would be amazing if you could select a part of your screen and tell the OS "treat this area like a separate monitor".
  • bentcorner 2y ago
    There's a number of tools on MacOS and Windows that let you do this. Examples: Windows: https://github.com/tom-englert/RegionToShare https://github.com/tom-englert/RegionToShare Mac: https://github.com/Stengo/DeskPad https://github.com/Stengo/DeskPad
    • 9erdelta 2y ago
      Oh nice, I was just looking through for WIN32 apis to make something like RegionToShare. This saves me some time!
• markhahn 2y ago
  do some people find it pleasant to pan their head? maybe my eyeballs don't rotate far enough?
• necovek 2y ago
  I've long considered going this way myself, but 8k is tricky for a number of reasons: - I am very sensitive to glare, and all TVs are glossy - Smallest size you can get is 55" (up to 50" would be good for me as I keep my 32-incher on a custom 8" stand — I am pretty tall — so it would simply be a wider screen that goes to my desk with top being at the same point) - Connectivity sucks: I am so used to running only my laptop with a single USB-C connection: I had enough with early Dell MST 24" 4k screen that required 2 DP 1.1 connections IIRC (basically the same thing their 32" 8k has). - I've mostly use Linux (Mac for work though) So I am waiting for a monitor that can do 8k at 60Hz with an ultraportable that runs Linux and an iGPU that can drive it for productivity (software dev, browsing, video calls — yes, full screen video call is a hog at large resolutions, at least in Linux). I'll probably sacrifice on the resolution front next (4k at 32" is not enough either) and go with a 4k option at 42-43" people have mentioned elsewhere.
• geenat 2y ago
  As a developer who routinely experiments with large OLED panels for programming, a new big monitor has to be: * Curved (flat is eye strain above ~40 inches) * 8k. * Flicker free / PWM free. * Not glossy. Otherwise, I'm in! Ready to retire my fleet of 2560p x 1440p vertical mounts. Note: Combined these effectively form a curved 5760p x 2650p monitor with vertical bars, heh.
• sturgill 2y ago
  I’m doing something like this in my current home setup, but the thing I miss most about multi-monitor is screen sharing on Zoom. I used to be able to just share one entire monitor and could drag windows I wanted to make visible to that display. Now I tend to share single applications, and have to unshare and reshare to change the view. First world problems and all, but it would be nice if Zoon let you partition off a part of a display (instead of all or nothing). Would love to draw a bounding box of “share everything in this box.” I don’t think this annoyance is enough to make me go back, but there are times when I’ve considered it.
  • mlinhares 2y ago
    I can do that in zoom in a mac, you select a box and it shares that specific box.
  • sangnoir 2y ago
    If you're on Linux, xrandr can probably partition your monitor into an arbitrary number of displays (may not work with Wayland)
  • Benjaminsen 2y ago
    Zoom supports sharing only a part of the screen if you tab the advanced tab in the screen sharing dialogue.
  • ericskiff 2y ago
    Deskpad might be what you’re after! It’s a virtual display in a window, you can share that instead of your whole screen but still get multi-app flows captured https://github.com/Stengo/DeskPad https://github.com/Stengo/DeskPad
• feverzsj 2y ago
  You need 400% DPI scaling to make this usable.
• vegapulse 2y ago
  I tried using TV as monitor before, it's not designed for close use, terrible for the eye. It's better to get a monitor.
• xeonax 2y ago
  I also recommend this. Been using 43inch 4K TV since last 10 years. MY first TV (Vu 43inch Iconium) died this year, Got another 43inch 4K TV from LG (43UT8050) now. Ensure you get one that supports atleast 60hz refresh rate. My first one did not at 4K. It even starts faster than android TVs. I always keep on game mode, this setting ensure minimal input latency and no TV side post processing. The smart TVs don't need to be connected to internet, since I don't use the smartness of theirs. Finding dumb TVs is difficult here.
• prvc 2y ago
  >I don’t usually watch movies on this, but when I do, I set it to 4K 120 Hz mode. The 120 Hz is nice as it is divisible by both 24 fps and 30 fps, which are common framerates for movies, although The Hobbit running at 48 Hz would benefit from Variable Refresh Rate (which does work). This is naive speculation lacking empirical support. Most movies are released at 23.976 fps, which would necessitate at least one double frame being presented per minute at refresh rates which are multiples of 24 fps. Also there is no 48 fps version of The Hobbit currently available on home media.
• madmod 2y ago
  I built my own laptop that uses a framework 13 mainboard with dual 16” >4k 16:10 1000nit HDR panels. It is the ultimate portable battle station. It has a tripod mount that I use with a magic arm to hold it at eye height. I use dual trackpoint wireless keyboards for better ergonomics.
• npunt 2y ago
  The new Macs with M4 Pro/Max have Thunderbolt 5 which supports up to 120Gbps video bandwidth: 3x that of previous gen. That should cover 8k120 or multiple 8k60 displays! And the regular M4 now supports 8k60 displays I believe due to DSC. New ideal setup is 8k120hz TV placed about 3-4' away. Better for the eyes too.
• Tempest1981 2y ago
  What editor supports 7 equal-width columns, as mentioned/shown? I.e. show a single file in many columns? And how does it look when you press page-down or scroll? Or insert a line on the left? Any lag? Or is the only solution to clone the file into 7 different views? Seems hard to keep track of. Edit: ok, I guess Figure 3 is 7 separate files? But without tabs at the top?
• emsign 2y ago
  Be aware that TVs make screenshots every few milliseconds and send them away for advertising analytics. I wouldn't use them as a monitor while connecting them to the internet.
  • jkells 2y ago
    Source?
    • wasmitnetzen 2y ago
      https://www.heise.de/en/news/Modern-data-leeches-Smart-TVs-even-track-console-gamers-9994920.html https://www.heise.de/en/news/Modern-data-leeches-Smart-TVs-e...
  • pbmonster 2y ago
    Why would you connect it to the internet?
  • GaryNumanVevo 2y ago
    Not in Europe! the EU ruled against LG and Samsung for doing it in other regions.
• betimsl 2y ago
  It's also very good for keeping you warm during winter months.
• rho4 2y ago
  Reposting my experience from my comment on reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/buildapcmonitors/comments/163yjj8/comment/kemuyts https://www.reddit.com/r/buildapcmonitors/comments/163yjj8/c... I have been using a 55" 8K QE55QN700BT ($1400) at home since Jan. 2023 and a 55" 8K QE55QN700C ($1100 on sale) at the office since August 2023. I can tell you that I will never go back, but there is definitely room for improvement. Biggest negative: Sitting close (~12"), the far areas are probably at >45° angle (and TV colors are not great at angles) Eye strain is ok (lowest brightness & low contrast), but neck strain is a thing (which I never had before, but now I think my neck muscles start to be trained and it's getting better). Price is amazing, compared to 4x 4K Refresh rate 60Hz: not for ego shooters (but great for work) I didn't think it was possible, but at work I operate an 8k, 4k, and a full HD screen from the same graphics card (i need the other screens for UI testing) Glossy is not great (no matte TVs on the market) Even at 12", I operate Windows at 175% scaling, so I still have pixels to spare. Next TV will be 65" :) At the beginning I thought it was a failure, until I found the correct settings combination: TV Gaming Mode, disable all AI image gimmicks, set the correct refresh rate in the NVidia driver options (at first everything was extremely sluggish, until by chance I saw that the refresh rate was set to 30Hz by default). I also remember playing with the V-Sync settings until finally I didn't see visual pixel artifacts anymore. Now the quality is the same as my 4k monitor. Work colleagues just can't see it... (just like they laughed at the 2nd monitor, and then at the 3rd, and now most use 3 monitors). No hassle with monitor arms. Such set it on the table and done. Microsoft PowerToys FancyZones is amazing to divide the screen into areas Next: TCL unveiled the first curved 8k 65" TV, that's where I'm going :)
  • kraftman 2y ago
    I saw your reddit comment, but I couldn't find the source for the TCL 65 inch? For me im tempted to go from 43" 4k to 55" 8k, my only concern is the edges being too far away unless its curved.
    • rho4 2y ago
      I googled again, 120Hz even: https://www.gizmochina.com/2023/12/11/tcl-unveils-65-inch-8k-120hz-oled-curved-monitor-alongside-other-new-oled-products/ https://www.gizmochina.com/2023/12/11/tcl-unveils-65-inch-8k... Who knows how much it will cost... My theory for the low prices for the 55" 8k TVs is that most people in the TV market go for the 65" version.
• 01jonny01 2y ago
  Hey can you try my site freetvz.com on there and let me know how it functions?
• cfn 2y ago
  For anyone 50+ of age wider monitors are harder to use than multiple monitors specially if you don't use varifocal glasses. I bought a 47 inch monitor some time ago but had to go back to a multi monitor setup with smaller monitors because I can't see the sides and corners of the larger one without moving or standing up. Works better if you have a standing up desk though.
• mattgreenrocks 2y ago
  It's strange how Retina-level PPI has mostly been ignored by the market. There are some options, but not a lot, and certainly not much competition. Would like to upgrade from my 1440p 144hz Nixeus IPS display for awhile, but haven't found much. I'd be willing to give up >60hz refresh rates, which pulls in the Apple Studio Display, but it also only has one port, which means I'd be giving up my gaming PC. That was mostly on the way out anyway, but it's currently a psychological blocker. Has monitor tech stagnated, or is this another case of the tyranny of the majority (less-than-Retina PPI) crowding out everything else?
• __alias 2y ago
  I just bought a 32 inch monitor and can't stand it. 27 inch is the sweet spot for me. The further through my career the more i've effective with smaller screen space and I am. I actually prefer working on my 16 mbp nowadays.
  • seiferteric 2y ago
    I got a 4k 32" IPS monitor years ago and was never really happy with it for similar reasons. Scaling never felt right, 2x is like basically using 1080p and fractional never looked good or had issues (in linux). Now I have a giant curved samsung display which is like two 1440p monitors side by side. There is a new version that is like two 27" 4k monitors side by side and I am just worried I would have the same issue I had before... I kind like being able to see my pixels :)
• geocrasher 2y ago
  I moved from a 3x 24" 1080p monitor setup to a single 43" 4K display... and holy smokes what a difference. The only thing it's missing is some curvature. That's needed at larger sizes.
• jonferguy 2y ago
  One of my larger concerns about using TVs as monitors is security - its important to remember that these devices are not just displays. ACR / Automated Content recognition means that they are also capable network connected framegrabbers and analysers. If you connect the network to also use it as a TV, if you don't also tick all the right "I do not give you permission" boxes ( and the firmware actually respects these choices ), then your TV will be uploading signatures of everything you watch ( including HDMI inputs ) to the TV manufacturer for them to sell on to advertisers, political parties etc. While I believe the normal mode of operation is just to upload some kind of image signature / hash, I doubt there is anything that technically or legally stops screenshots being uploaded for "additional analysis". Note that this is incredibly lucrative for the manufacturers, so their incentives are minimally aligned with protecting our privacy or security here. https://boingboing.net/2021/11/18/tv-manufacturer-makes-more-money-selling-data-than-tvs.html https://boingboing.net/2021/11/18/tv-manufacturer-makes-more...
  • elaus 2y ago
    Also with the advances in local AI processing it seems realistic that the image analysis gets much more powerful and suddenly you have something like Microsoft's Recall but in your monitor/TV (and used _solely_ for profiling and not your benefit).
• c01nd01r 2y ago
  135.56 PPI. Not too bad, but less than 4K 27" (165 PPI)
• metalliqaz 2y ago
  As far as I can tell, you can't actually buy a 55" 8K TV anywhere.
• danans 2y ago
  I use a 55" TV as a primary monitor at my desk also (alas only 4k). I've found that as tempting as it may seem to use the entire 55", at normal eye-distance, it's too big an area to track and it requires 45 degree head-rotations to scan across it (i.e to shift my focus from one window to another). It's like sitting in the front row of a big movie theater. What I do instead is configure the desktop to only use the equivalent of about a 36" display. That way it works like a single large monitor that I can scan left to right with mostly just eye movement. Why have a big TV as a monitor only to use a smaller portion of the screen? The TV reverts to just being a TV during non-work hours (when we use its full dimensions), so it doesn't feel like wasted real-estate - in fact it frees up space for me in the office by doing double-duty as a monitor and a TV.
• clairegraham 2y ago
  I've tried all sorts of configurations and I settled on two 27" 5K monitors (in HiDPI mode) on a VESA mount so they can easily be rotated for different use cases. The biggest selling point was text clarity. I really like using my code editor in vertical mode. My previous setup was a 34" curved ultrawide and I didn't like it. Primarily due to the poor text quality and generally feeling it encouraged too much distraction. I like being able to have very separate concerns per-display -- code editor on one display and browser on the other, and then I use virtual desktops on each one where needed.
• y-c-o-m-b 2y ago
  I've been using TVs as my monitor for probably 10 years now. I've been on my current Vizio 50" 4k TV since before covid. I think I bought it for $280? I do everything from programming, watching or up-scaling videos, and playing FPS games on it. My only issue has been vsync related tearing in certain games like God of War for PC even though I have vysnc settings on, but other than that, no problems. I do well in fast-paced Fortnite games, so latency hasn't been an issue either. I'm near-sighted and hate wearing glasses, so having the larger fonts has been a blessing also.
• achalxyz 2y ago
  I have used a Samsung 43” 4k smart monitor with my mac mini for sometime as a replacement to multiple screens and it was a productive experience. However, I had to stop in 2-3 months as my eyes would get dry and itchy at the end of the day. Using such a large screen at such a short distance isn’t great for the eyes I think.
• Rendello 2y ago
  Very nice web design.