I'm looking to finally buy a 4K monitor. Now I have been looking at some of the Korean 4K monitors, and while I'd love to have one of those, I don't want to buy a $500 product from a korean retailer with sketchy warranty. I have also looked at some of the 40" 4K monitors that are availabe in Europe. Those however have one problem as well: they're missing freesync. Now I've got three questions:
1. Is Windows Display scaling still too awful to use a 27 inch 4K monitor, or is it fine?
2. If it's fine, do you guys think it's worth it trade the size for freesync?
3. If the answer to both of the questions above is yes, what would be the best monitor that meets the following requirements?
Requirements:
at least 27 inches in size (rocking a 27 inch 1080p monitor right now, and I'm not going lower than that
An IPS panel, though a good VA/MVA/whatever-the-fuck panel should be fine as well, it just shouldnt be TN because I fucking hate TN
Freesync
A DisplayPort connection, as my Fury X does not support HDMI 2.0 and I'm not going to buy an adapter
I think Wendell himself said anything below 32 inches is stupid for 4K.So i would suggest you go 32.
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My opinion is that it's a waste to go denser than 1440p at 27" in all but the most niche of scenarios. Gaming, coding, and general productivity - it's a waste (even harmful for gaming).
What's your use case?
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Mainly gaming and programming.
Also I've found a nice samsung monitor that fulfills my requirements at 31.5 inches. Unfortunately its like 900€ so Im gonna hope I can get a refurbished monitor off ebay
I have the asus 28 inch 4k and it does well for gaming and content production
Does that one support freesync? And what type of panel does it have?
no freesync. It would cost an arm and a leg for a 4k freesync in canada :P
It's this one
https://www.asus.com/ca-en/Commercial-Monitors/PB278Q/
https://stari.co/tv-monitor-viewing-distance-calculator
Visual Acuity distance[3]
0.52 m (1.7 ft)
The Ideal Viewing Distance based on Visual Acuity. This distance is calculated based on the reference resolving power of the eyes. The human eye with 20/20 vision can detect or resolve details as small as 1/60th of a degree of arc. This distance represents the point beyond which some details in the picture are no longer able to be resolved, so pixels begin to blend together. Closer to the screen than this may result in the need for higher resolution display. This value should be lowered if visual acuity is worst then 20/20, raised if visual acuity is better. ⬆
So if you are sitting any further than 1.7 ft from the monitor screen (I assume most people would be), then a 1440p monitor would be a better choice. Unless you get a 32 inch monitor, the 4k wouldn't be worth it.
I have a 27 inch 1440p acer and a 4K 27 inch 1440p acer. The difference is huge.
in PPI terms yes. I had a 28" 4k TN "gaming" monitor returned it in under two days for a 31.5" 1440p AHVA(ips-type) monitor, much happier for photo editing & strategy games. The color accuracy, black level & contrast is way more important that ultimate pixel count for that use case but both would be nice.
If i went 4k again it would have to be 32" and only for certain games & editing as scaling still isn't there. Steam fonts are uber tiny @28" so it will be the same until the new UI change for a 27". But for competitive gaming no bigger than 24" will do. Ideally you need two monitors, one for games that require immersion & one for competitive / arcade twitch games.
Wouldn't you get more screen real estate on a 27 inch 4k monitor for coding?
Yes. But If your having to use 150 - 200% scaling then you do lose some desktop space. Thankfully 4k is a large enough resolution for that not to matter as much as it sounds.
if your doing coding @ 4k again i don't think anything less than 32" is wise. 40" 4k screens still have the exact same PPI as a 27" 1440p monitor but you have that huge space to get 4 fullscreen easily readable browsers side by side, great for productivity ( not great for twitch gaming ). Also you have to factor in your eyes natural resting position, perhaps you are short sighted or long sighted etc.. Getting the right distance between you and the monitor but still being able to read stuff clearly is better for your eyes is important.
Honestly I don't get much eye strain at 27inch but if you sit farther then 5 feet from the screen I could see that happening
So would it be worth it to drop freesync in favor of a bigger monitor (unless of course I am able to get that Samsung monitor off ebay, which would be sweet!)? I have no experience with the size + resolution or with freesync, so if I have to compromise on one, which should I drop?
Well I sit between 1.7 and 2.1 ft (depending on the size and monitor stand) from my monitor, so around 31-32 inches would be optimal, while 27-28 inches would probably be possible. I dont know how much I'm gonna move the monitor though, to get the right distance
I have a 32" and honestly its great for photo editing, browsing and watching streams. But for gaming im on the look out for a fast response 24". I don't think one monitor on the market suits all purposes, never has done.
Very true. But while a lot of people value a low response time and a smaller size for gaming, I'm not one of them, as I dont play a lot of really competitive multiplayer games. So I personally just prefer something big and pretty, thats at least good enough in terms of refresh rate and response time
And theres your problem. Larger screens especially AHVA / VA don't tend to handle motion well, and it is exasperated on the bigger screen, but you may not be too sensitive. GTG time:
32" VA 1440p.
vs
24" 1080p TN 144hz screen.
Thats a very noticeable difference.
LG 27MU67 - revision what ever the ruck
i Have one, its fucking great. Also freesync on a Fury X is broken Fyi