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Well, that's made my mind up. I'm actually about to upgrade my monitor setup, and I've been considering the merits of one large 4k monitor vs 3 27" monitors at

Well, that's made my mind up. I'm actually about to upgrade my monitor setup, and I've been considering the merits of one large 4k monitor vs 3 27" monitors at 1440p. 4k would be lovely. A 4k 39" monitor with decent refresh rate for All Of The Screen Real Estate would be awesome. But it looks like that ain't happening at a reasonable price, and there are just too many bugs with the early iterations of the hardware. Time to give it a year and then reconsider. Plus, all the 4k hype should drive the price of smaller monitors down...

zanny 13y ago
I think Dell also released a TN $700 4k monitor alongside the Ultrasharp. Might want to look at that. Not sure how many 1440p monitors on the budget side are IPS. Though it might be 30hz, which is right out. If it were between 2 28" TN 2160p 60hz screens and 3 27" TN 1440p 60hz screens, I'd go with the UHD ones just because of pixel density. The only stipulation seems to be you need to be using displayport 1.3 because any of these gerryrigged hdmi implementations suck.
- rosser 13y ago
  Well, sure; if both displays are TN screens, the pixel count wins. What about 2x4K/2160p TN vs 3x1440p IPS? The latter is what I'm considering right now (3x 2560x1440 in portrait).
  - zanny 13y ago
    I guess if they are $500 or less it would work. Otherwise you are spending a lot for lower pixel density, and I'd probably just use some commodity $120 1080p IPS panels until 4k ones came into a reasonable price range with IPS 60hz 2160p panels between 24 - 28".
    - rosser 13y ago
      The panels I'm specifically looking at are < $400/per on Monoprice, so yeah.
- tempestn 13y ago
  The problem is Dell's cheap 4k monitor is also 30Hz, so you're not much better off than the Seikis there.
  - zanny 13y ago
    That sucks, I'd def go 1440p screens then. Though if all you are doing is development, does framerate matter?
    - tempestn 13y ago
      Some people don't mind it, but others (myself included) find it annoying even for things like scrolling, moving the mouse, etc. Also I suspect many (most?) of us at least occasionally game on our development machines...
bhauer 13y ago
That is a sensible choice if you're in a position to wait. The desktop display industry is finally awakening from a decade-long slumber. This is a very good thing. We picked up a bunch of the 30Hz Seikis and they are a massive upgrade for us (I blogged about this a few days ago). But the 30Hz lag is the most significant weakness. If you're not at wit's end with your current monitor and can wait for a 60Hz version that's the right price, I think you will be happy. I am optimistic the industry will not go back to sleep after meeting this demand. I remain optimistic that I will eventually have a ~50-inch high-DPI, high-speed, high-quality display that is within my budget. Maybe in 5 years' time.
- thenomad 13y ago
  I read your post - which was very interesting, thanks. I'm probably going to avoid the Seikis - I'm a reasonably keen gamer on the same machine I work on, and more significantly, I work on 25fps video as a significant part of my job. I suspect the clash between a 25fps video source and a 30fps monitor would cause me to become homicidal in time... (Also, I recall reading on a video forum that the Seikis are never really capable of perfect colour reproduction, which would be another reason to avoid them.) I too am hoping that we're at the edge of a renaissance in display tech. With any luck, in two years I'll be choosing between multiple 50" displays or multiple arbitrary-sized displays simulated in a virtual workspace with an Oculus Rift...
  - bhauer 13y ago
    You're making the right choice for certain then. Even a casual gamer should not consider the current batch of Seiki 4Ks unless you're okay not using the 4K resolution for gaming. But as you point out, even the colors are not as good as the name brands. They are solid for text editing. :) I see your optimism is even greater than my own! I hope you're right!
- rschmitty 13y ago
  Curious why you would want a 50" over 3+ monitors that can "wrap" around your field of vision so more of the screen area is equidistant to your eyes? You can move the monitor further back so more area remains in your FOV but then you are having to increase sizing so it remains readable This is my biggest problem with extra large monitors
tempestn 13y ago
I think the effect on lower resolution monitors is already being seen. I just picked up three Benq BL2710PTs, which are fantastic monitors, for $600 each in Canada. (And that's only around $550 in USD.) A month ago they were $750 up here. Personally I prefer the large horizontal span of multiple monitors to a single large one, so I'm pretty happy with the choice. Plus, $1800 for three monitors vs $3500+ for one, even if it is an awesome one. If you do decide to go with the 27s, I can't recommend the Benq strongly enough. I tried the Dell U3014 and the Asus PB278Q before this one, and it wasn't even close. (Brutal overshoot on the U3014, plus I found 3x30" a bit much, and I definitely found the PWM of the Asus fatiguing - although apparently many don't notice it.)
- thenomad 13y ago
  Eeeeexcelllent... That's great to know, thanks. My gf has just aquired a lower-res BenQ 27", and it's a great monitor - good to know that their 1440p models are as good.

zanny 13y ago

I think Dell also released a TN $700 4k monitor alongside the Ultrasharp. Might want to look at that. Not sure how many 1440p monitors on the budget side are IPS. Though it might be 30hz, which is right out. If it were between 2 28" TN 2160p 60hz screens and 3 27" TN 1440p 60hz screens, I'd go with the UHD ones just because of pixel density. The only stipulation seems to be you need to be using displayport 1.3 because any of these gerryrigged hdmi implementations suck.

rosser 13y ago
Well, sure; if both displays are TN screens, the pixel count wins. What about 2x4K/2160p TN vs 3x1440p IPS? The latter is what I'm considering right now (3x 2560x1440 in portrait).
- zanny 13y ago
  I guess if they are $500 or less it would work. Otherwise you are spending a lot for lower pixel density, and I'd probably just use some commodity $120 1080p IPS panels until 4k ones came into a reasonable price range with IPS 60hz 2160p panels between 24 - 28".
  - rosser 13y ago
    The panels I'm specifically looking at are < $400/per on Monoprice, so yeah.
tempestn 13y ago
The problem is Dell's cheap 4k monitor is also 30Hz, so you're not much better off than the Seikis there.
- zanny 13y ago
  That sucks, I'd def go 1440p screens then. Though if all you are doing is development, does framerate matter?
  - tempestn 13y ago
    Some people don't mind it, but others (myself included) find it annoying even for things like scrolling, moving the mouse, etc. Also I suspect many (most?) of us at least occasionally game on our development machines...

bhauer 13y ago

That is a sensible choice if you're in a position to wait. The desktop display industry is finally awakening from a decade-long slumber. This is a very good thing. We picked up a bunch of the 30Hz Seikis and they are a massive upgrade for us (I blogged about this a few days ago). But the 30Hz lag is the most significant weakness. If you're not at wit's end with your current monitor and can wait for a 60Hz version that's the right price, I think you will be happy. I am optimistic the industry will not go back to sleep after meeting this demand. I remain optimistic that I will eventually have a ~50-inch high-DPI, high-speed, high-quality display that is within my budget. Maybe in 5 years' time.

thenomad 13y ago
I read your post - which was very interesting, thanks. I'm probably going to avoid the Seikis - I'm a reasonably keen gamer on the same machine I work on, and more significantly, I work on 25fps video as a significant part of my job. I suspect the clash between a 25fps video source and a 30fps monitor would cause me to become homicidal in time... (Also, I recall reading on a video forum that the Seikis are never really capable of perfect colour reproduction, which would be another reason to avoid them.) I too am hoping that we're at the edge of a renaissance in display tech. With any luck, in two years I'll be choosing between multiple 50" displays or multiple arbitrary-sized displays simulated in a virtual workspace with an Oculus Rift...
- bhauer 13y ago
  You're making the right choice for certain then. Even a casual gamer should not consider the current batch of Seiki 4Ks unless you're okay not using the 4K resolution for gaming. But as you point out, even the colors are not as good as the name brands. They are solid for text editing. :) I see your optimism is even greater than my own! I hope you're right!
rschmitty 13y ago
Curious why you would want a 50" over 3+ monitors that can "wrap" around your field of vision so more of the screen area is equidistant to your eyes? You can move the monitor further back so more area remains in your FOV but then you are having to increase sizing so it remains readable This is my biggest problem with extra large monitors

tempestn 13y ago

I think the effect on lower resolution monitors is already being seen. I just picked up three Benq BL2710PTs, which are fantastic monitors, for $600 each in Canada. (And that's only around $550 in USD.) A month ago they were $750 up here. Personally I prefer the large horizontal span of multiple monitors to a single large one, so I'm pretty happy with the choice. Plus, $1800 for three monitors vs $3500+ for one, even if it is an awesome one. If you do decide to go with the 27s, I can't recommend the Benq strongly enough. I tried the Dell U3014 and the Asus PB278Q before this one, and it wasn't even close. (Brutal overshoot on the U3014, plus I found 3x30" a bit much, and I definitely found the PWM of the Asus fatiguing - although apparently many don't notice it.)

thenomad 13y ago
Eeeeexcelllent... That's great to know, thanks. My gf has just aquired a lower-res BenQ 27", and it's a great monitor - good to know that their 1440p models are as good.