From a technical standpoint this Sony 4K TV
is as good as it gets as a computer monitor
replacement.
It uses a glossy IPS panel for vibrate colors.
It supports 4K 4:4:4 chroma subsampling for
clear legible text.
Input lag is pretty much unnoticeable with
my mouse movements.
And the Screen Size, Resolution and PPI are
pretty much perfect for my comfort.
But is 43 inches really practical to use day
to day?
My short answer is yes.
For productivity purposes I’m really enjoying
all the extra screen real estate with a big
screen.
But designed as a TV, the lack of displayport
connections, the need to keep the remote close
by to turn on and off the display, and the
non-adjustable stand are the main weaknesses
versus a dedicated PC monitor.
Hi I’m David and these are my thoughts on
using a Sony 43” 4K TV as my computer monitor.
I’ve always been a big fan of 34 inch ultrawide
monitors and was always a little hesitant
to upgrade to anything bigger.
But from a resolution, size and pixel per
inch standpoint a 4K TV is pretty much the
same as an ultrawide plus some extra screen
real estate on the top and bottom.
This means I can still use it like an ultrawide
monitor for editing long video timelines.
And use the extra space for leaving other
reference material on the screen for quick
access as needed.
And for coders who really like their tall
portrait setups to display a lot of lines
of code.
The vertical size and resolution of this 4K
TV is almost like having a built in portrait
display.
If you want to kick back and just watch some
videos, you really can’t beat having a large
16:9 aspect ratio for the 99% of videos out
there.
Which always felt a little less than stellar
on my ultrawide monitors.
Though there are some downsides I found using
this large TV as a monitor.
I sit about 30 inches away from this TV for
my comfort and readability at 100% scaling
but at that distance you’re viewing the
edges of the screen at a bit off angle, that
can be hard to see without physically moving
your head around.
This is definitely a case where a slight curve
would have been helpful.
Also using a fully maximized window or web
browser is going to be pretty inefficient
with such a large screen leaving lots empty
areas on most websites and just feels a little
too big trying to constantly scan your eyes
across the entire screen.
The benefit for me having a large display
is still keeping my applications relatively
small but having the flexibility to lay them
all out at the same time like a multi monitor
setup just without any of the bezels.
Gaming on the 4K TV works okay with the low
input lag and feels nicely cinematic for casual
games especially when you can sit back with
a controller in hand.
But for shooters or face paced games I find
it a little too big and overwhelming, and
definitely prefer a higher refresh rate ultrawide
monitor instead.
Other considerations to think about if you
plan on using this 4K TV as a monitor is the
lack of DisplayPort connections.
Only 2 of the 3 HDMI ports on the TV will
support the 4K 4:4:4 chroma subsampling for
clear on screen text.
And also consider some of your devices like
my Dell XPS 15 laptop for example that won’t
support anything beyond 4K 30Hz over HDMI
Also with TVs, they won’t have a power saving
standby mode like most PC monitors.
It will automatically turn the TV off it doesn’t
detect a signal from a sleeping computer but
it takes about 15 minutes before this kicks
in.
And when you wake your computer you’ll need
to manually power it back on.
The power button on the back of the TV is
hard to reach so I just keep the remote close
by and turn it on and off manually with the
rest of my computer.
And finally the stand, like most TVs it doesn’t
have any adjustable features like tilt or
height but mounting it on a TV arm mount is
always an option.
So that’s a quick look at me using a Sony
43 inch 4K TV as my PC monitor.
And to my surprise, I think I’ll continue
to use as my main productivity monitor over
my usual ultrawide.
But those are just my thoughts on why I’ll
continue to be using this 4K TV as my monitor
until something bigger and better comes along.
But hope you guys enjoyed this one.
You know what to do.
And I’ll see you in the next video.
