Should I Buy A 4K TV For Gaming Or Should I Wait?

[Cassius101]

I currently have a 32 inch LED tv and a secondary monitor that I use right now. Going to buy an Xbox One at christmas since I really like Halo Games, I can't use my 32 inch LED tv because it has horrible sound, I have a corsair 2500 speaker set hooked up to it, I could possibly use that for a new gaming console but even if it did work, it would be too much moving around and I don't wanna buy another set.

All this has lead me to buy a new TV. I might buy a 4k tv next Christmas if the technology is better (support at 120hz and 4k).

I have a 680GTX 4gb so I still plan on gaming in 1080p. I was looking at this TV. It would do 1080p at 120hz right?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16889005953

The review is a concern for me, I did wanna use it at 4k resolution when I wasn't in game.

Cons: For 3840x2160 @ 60 Hz, it only supports YCbCr 4:2:0. For the full color space (4:4:4), you have to run it at 30Hz. This shows up mostly when used as a PC monitor where 4:2:0 causes artifacts on text rendering.

Other Thoughts: If you are planning to use it as a TV, or with a media PC from across the room, I'd give it 4 stars pretty easily. It looks great, has great features, etc.

But we can be pretty sure that in 6-9 months there will be a bunch of 4K TVs that support the full color space of HDMI 2.0 at the same price point.

So I took off one egg for not supporting the full color space at 60Hz, and a second egg because I felt a bit misled by LG labeling the HDMI ports as 4K@60Hz in the first place.

My graphics card isn't HDMI 2.0 and I am not buying another graphics card until next year, so is it impossible for me to experience 4k at 60hz? (just on desktop/watching media player files)

Should I just buy a 1080p TV for a cheaper price?

 

[AnandThenMan]

I don't think you should buy anything. I'm personally waiting until the state of 4K displays is more mature as I generally keep my televisions and monitors for many years.

 

[Annisman*]

It's probably going to have terrible response time to go along with the low hz, I wouldn't.

 

[Cassius101]

So if you don't have HDMI 2.0 , 4k at 60hz is impossible right? I still think I should get a cheaper 1080p set since 1 year is still a long time.

 

[Attic]

I like the idea of 4k HDTV for computer gaming given a few considerations.

Get one of the top line new Samsung 4k units with HDMI 2.0 input.

2x970gtx minimum


I would dream for a setup like this, if that is within reach for you i'd say go grab it. You will have to go pretty big now to really enjoy gaming at 4k.


Otherwise get a very nice 1080p or 1440p screen and 2nd GTX680.


Anyways, all this is mostly predicated on wanting 60fps as much as possible and consistently as possible. 4k really ruins this possiblity unless you are willing to pour a lot of money into GPU system.

 

[Cassius101]

I am gonna get this set instead.

http://www.lg.com/ca_en/tvs/lg-42LB6300-ips-led-tv

 

[Cassius101]

I like the idea of 4k HDTV for computer gaming given a few considerations.

Get one of the top line new Samsung 4k units with HDMI 2.0 input.

2x970gtx minimum


I would dream for a setup like this, if that is within reach for you i'd say go grab it. You will have to go pretty big now to really enjoy gaming at 4k.


Otherwise get a very nice 1080p or 1440p screen and 2nd GTX680.


Anyways, all this is mostly predicated on wanting 60fps as much as possible and consistently as possible. 4k really ruins this possiblity unless you are willing to pour a lot of money into GPU system.

I won't be upgrading a lot until next Christmas, only upgrading ram and getting a new TV to use as a monitor and for Xbox one.

 

[Cassius101]

So if you don't have HDMI 2.0 , 4k at 60hz is impossible right? I still think I should get a cheaper 1080p set since 1 year is still a long time.

Can someone please answer this? I mean't if you don't have a HDMI 2.0 compatible graphics card.

 

[alcoholbob]

There arent many games your GTX 680 can drive above 30 fps at any settings at 4k...


Does your GTX680 have displayport ports? If you do you can connect and run 4k60 with a Panasonic 4k TV or a 4k monitor. Acer b326hk is available now a 32" IPS 4k monitor and its about $950-1100 depending on the metchant. benq bl3201ph should come out mid december and you can preorder $899 on amazon, it uses the same 32" panel.

 

[Cassius101]

There arent many games your GTX 680 can drive above 30 fps at any settings at 4k...


Does your GTX680 have displayport ports? If you do you can connect and run 4k60 with a Panasonic 4k TV or a 4k monitor. Acer b326hk is available now a 32" IPS 4k monitor and its about $950-1100 depending on the metchant. benq bl3201ph should come out mid december and you can preorder $899 on amazon, it uses the same 32" panel.

I don't plan on gaming in 4k until next christmas, I am going to buy a new 1080p TV for now. I just wanted to know if having a HDMI 2.0 card is a requirement for 4k at 60hz? Also, would you need something better than HDMI 2.0 once technology is better and it can support 120hz at 4k?

 

[alcoholbob]

I don't plan on gaming in 4k until next christmas, I am going to buy a new 1080p TV for now. I just wanted to know if having a HDMI 2.0 card is a requirement for 4k at 60hz? Also, would you need something better than HDMI 2.0 once technology is better and it can support 120hz at 4k?

It's a requirement if you plan on purchasing a 4K TV that does not have displayport inputs, like I said.

 

[kasakka]

Can someone please answer this? I mean't if you don't have a HDMI 2.0 compatible graphics card.

4K @ 60 Hz requires Displayport or HDMI 2.0. No way around it.

4K @ 120 Hz will require next gen HDMI (2.0 is limited to 4K @ 60 Hz) or DP. But first we would need panels that actually have that refresh rate and even then it's unlikely they will be in any TV as afaik there are still no TVs with real 120/144 Hz panels.

At the moment I don't think 4K makes any sense for gaming. Wait a few years for better displays and above all faster GPUs so you can actually run comfortably at that res without needing 3-4 cards.

 

[nenforcer]

There is currently hardly any content even broadcast in 4K. (Netflix streamed?)

As for gaming your graphics card by itself is insufficient for 4K and even the very latest HDMI 2.0 graphics cards GTX 970 / 980 don't have the horsepower to push 60fps @ 4K.

I'd just get a new 1080P TV for now and wait on anything 4K. Prices will be even better a year from now and the new graphics cards will have a better chance of actually pushing 4K pixels at 60+ Hz.

 

[Termie]

4K @ 60 Hz requires Displayport or HDMI 2.0. No way around it.

4K @ 120 Hz will require next gen HDMI (2.0 is limited to 4K @ 60 Hz) or DP. But first we would need panels that actually have that refresh rate and even then it's unlikely they will be in any TV as afaik there are still no TVs with real 120/144 Hz panels.

At the moment I don't think 4K makes any sense for gaming. Wait a few years for better displays and above all faster GPUs so you can actually run comfortably at that res without needing 3-4 cards.

Just one thing that's wrong here. You can currently do 4K@60Hz over HDMI 1.4 using Nvidia cards, with reduced color space. It works just fine, and looks fine in gaming as well. It washes out the desktop somewhat.

And as mentioned above, good luck ever getting 120Hz 4K TVs. There's never been a single 120Hz TV of a any resolution produced. There's no market for it.

 

[cytg111]

Make sure to make input lag a part of the equation.

 

[Remobz]

I say wait.

 

[Gunbuster]

Get the Seiki 39" for half the price if you plan on dropping to 1080P 120Hz for gaming. At under $300 you can easily shuffle it off later when 4K 60 and 120Hz is mature.

 

[wilds]

When will 4k 120hz go mainstream? 2 years?

 

[tential]

4K Monitors with Freesync/Gsync will be available in 2015 at your size range so I'd wait.

 

[Remobz]

4K Monitors with Freesync/Gsync will be available in 2015 at your size range so I'd wait.

Me can't wait for next year to come quickly

 

[x3sphere]

Wait it out if you can. The price of LCD sets are going to be lowered drastically in 2015 and 2016, as OLED will likely be taking over the high end segment. LG recently announced 4x production capacity for its OLED TVs, there's going to be a big push starting in February - March I think.

Source: http://www.cnet.com/news/lg-to-quadruple-oled-panel-production-in-december/

 

[tential]

Wait it out if you can. The price of LCD sets are going to be lowered drastically in 2015 and 2016, as OLED will likely be taking over the high end segment. LG recently announced 4x production capacity for its OLED TVs, there's going to be a big push starting in February - March I think.

Source: http://www.cnet.com/news/lg-to-quadruple-oled-panel-production-in-december/

I just wish they'd put freesync in their HDTV oled! But that's my next purchase if they hit mass production. It's the reason I held off on 4k led from Vizio. Oled? Above 70 inches? Yes please!

 

[Cerb]

So I took off one egg for not supporting the full color space at 60Hz, and a second egg because I felt a bit misled by LG labeling the HDMI ports as 4K@60Hz in the first place.

I would not have been so kind. Return w/ no restocking fee, and 1 egg for bait & switch, would have been my response.

 

[Cassius101]

Just one thing that's wrong here. You can currently do 4K@60Hz over HDMI 1.4 using Nvidia cards, with reduced color space. It works just fine, and looks fine in gaming as well. It washes out the desktop somewhat.

And as mentioned above, good luck ever getting 120Hz 4K TVs. There's never been a single 120Hz TV of a any resolution produced. There's no market for it.

What are you talking about? I have seen plenty of TV's advertised at 120hz and some at 240. All I wanna do is play games at 1080p and 120hz if I am able to get at least 120fps in the game I am playing.

 

[Cerb]

What are you talking about? I have seen plenty of TV's advertised at 120hz and some at 240.

You have also seen LCD TVs advertised as LED TVs, have you not? Read the fine print. Just as an, "LED TV," is not a TV that uses LEDs for its pixels, despite that technology existing, a 120Hz TV is not taking 120 frames from its inputs, despite that technology existing.

All I wanna do is play games at 1080p and 120hz if I am able to get at least 120fps in the game I am playing.

A TV will get you 60, at best, aside from whatever that one Termie is talking about is.