Duel Purpose Display?

[cjbeech]

So I have a dell XPS 15 with the 4k display and an Xbox One, and I’m looking to get a monitor to serve both of them.

With use for the Xbox, I would be playing first person shooter games online. Nothing to competitive, just casual. Although I would like a fairly quick response time, and anything else that it useful for online gaming. For example, built in speakers would be a significant bonus.

When hooked up to my laptop, it will really just work as a screen extension. It would typically be used as a second monitor for Netflix, Youtube, Microsoft Office and Adobe programs, as well as some PC gaming. No serious video/photo editing.

Firstly, I’m not sure what resolution to get, with my laptop being 4k but my Xbox outputting 1080p. If I get a 4k display, will be Xbox be able to upscale the games Ok? If I get a 1080p display, how will this impact my laptop display when it is hooked up? Will my laptop have to be downscaled to a 1080p display?

I’ve not purchased a display for a long time, so I have no idea what ports and other technical standards to look out for!

Can someone please help!

Thanks!

 

[Hlsgsz]

(a) Your laptop will output native 1080p.
(b) Conversly, a 4k display can show a 1080p picture perfectly by just displaying each incming pixel as 4x4 physical pixels, with no need for the xbox to upscale.

So, Windows DPI settings beeing what they are, i would reccomend getting a display with a proper resolution for it's size. SO either something under 27" @ 1080p or something over 27" @ 4k. The best resolution for 27" would be 1440p, but stay away from that as point(b) will not apply and you will get blurry visuals from your Xbox.

All that beeing said, the bigger the better, as long as you can afford it.

 

[cjbeech]

(a) Your laptop will output native 1080p.
(b) Conversly, a 4k display can show a 1080p picture perfectly by just displaying each incming pixel as 4x4 physical pixels, with no need for the xbox to upscale.

So, Windows DPI settings beeing what they are, i would reccomend getting a display with a proper resolution for it's size. SO either something under 27" @ 1080p or something over 27" @ 4k. The best resolution for 27" would be 1440p, but stay away from that as point(b) will not apply and you will get blurry visuals from your Xbox.

All that beeing said, the bigger the better, as long as you can afford it.

Thanks, that's interesting. Just to confirm, if my laptop is linked to a 1080p display, will the laptop screen its self be down scaled to 1080p to match the resolution of the external monitor? Or could it remain at a 4k resolution on the laptop screen, and output a 1080p resolution to the external monitor? I guess it would have to be down scaled to 1080p?

 

[photonboy]

1) The laptop may or may not output 4K (The GTX1050 dGPU supports 4K@60Hz) as there are different models.

There's no guarantee you support 4K@60Hz via the HDMI output though. You need to confirm that somehow. Either it says in the manual, or you connect it to a 4K HDTV or monitor to find out.

And the HDMI cable must support 4K@60Hz (it may even if it's not rated for it).


2) Which XBOX ONE do you have?
The original doesn't support 4K (or if it does, only up to 30Hz which you would not), whereas the "S" version supports 4K@60Hz.

3) Response time:
Don't confuse "response time" (i.e. 4ms) vs input lag. On an HDTV you often have a lot of input lag due to the video processor, whereas monitors tend to have more simple scalers.

Response time (pixel change time) is more about ghosting/blur. Not about input lag. Most monitors should be fine for input lag.

4) AUDIO:
You want a monitor that has AUDIO PASSTHROUGH so you can add desktop speakers. Either RCA (red + white) or stereo headphone output would suffice.

It may ALSO have speakers but they are often crappy so I'd ensure it had the audio passthrough at minimum.

5) PCPARTPICKER has monitors you can filter down to choose from.. I'll check there soon.

6) Recommend these specs likely:
IPS (not TN),
60Hz,
4K
4ms response (or lower)
Freesync? (XBOX ONE X may support Freesync though even if it does it's not certain what models will work)

 

[photonboy]

(a) Your laptop will output native 1080p.
(b) Conversly, a 4k display can show a 1080p picture perfectly by just displaying each incming pixel as 4x4 physical pixels, with no need for the xbox to upscale.

So, Windows DPI settings beeing what they are, i would reccomend getting a display with a proper resolution for it's size. SO either something under 27" @ 1080p or something over 27" @ 4k. The best resolution for 27" would be 1440p, but stay away from that as point(b) will not apply and you will get blurry visuals from your Xbox.

All that beeing said, the bigger the better, as long as you can afford it.

Thanks, that's interesting. Just to confirm, if my laptop is linked to a 1080p display, will the laptop screen its self be down scaled to 1080p to match the resolution of the external monitor? Or could it remain at a 4k resolution on the laptop screen, and output a 1080p resolution to the external monitor? I guess it would have to be down scaled to 1080p?

Depends on the mode you choose.
You can choose ONLY the monitor to be used, or ONLY the laptop screen, or you can CLONE (which I think uses the same resolution).

As per my above comment which you would not have read yet, there's no guarantee your HDMI output supports more than 1080p@60Hz either. You have to test that.

If you used the MONITOR as an "extended" monitor so the main screen is on the laptop then the resolutions are different. So it could be 4K (laptop) with 1080p or 4K (depending on what HDMI output supports) on the monitor.

 

[photonboy]

https://pcpartpicker.com/products/monitor/

Example (4K, IPS, 60Hz, 27", 4ms): https://pcpartpicker.com/product/Xtp323/benq-monitor-bl2711u

It has crappy speakers (2x3W) but it has a headphone jack so you could get some half decent, stereo, PC Speakers

$40 budget speakers: https://pcpartpicker.com/product/FbmLrH/creative-labs-speakers-51mf1601aa000

The sound would switch as you change the HDMI input on the monitor from laptop to XBOX ONE.

 

[cjbeech]

1) The laptop may or may not output 4K (The GTX1050 dGPU supports 4K@60Hz) as there are different models.

There's no guarantee you support 4K@60Hz via the HDMI output though. You need to confirm that somehow. Either it says in the manual, or you connect it to a 4K HDTV or monitor to find out.

And the HDMI cable must support 4K@60Hz (it may even if it's not rated for it).


2) Which XBOX ONE do you have?
The original doesn't support 4K (or if it does, only up to 30Hz which you would not), whereas the "S" version supports 4K@60Hz.

3) Response time:
Don't confuse "response time" (i.e. 4ms) vs input lag. On an HDTV you often have a lot of input lag due to the video processor, whereas monitors tend to have more simple scalers.

Response time (pixel change time) is more about ghosting/blur. Not about input lag. Most monitors should be fine for input lag.

4) AUDIO:
You want a monitor that has AUDIO PASSTHROUGH so you can add desktop speakers. Either RCA (red + white) or stereo headphone output would suffice.

It may ALSO have speakers but they are often crappy so I'd ensure it had the audio passthrough at minimum.

5) PCPARTPICKER has monitors you can filter down to choose from.. I'll check there soon.

6) Recommend these specs likely:
IPS (not TN),
60Hz,
4K
4ms response (or lower)
Freesync? (XBOX ONE X may support Freesync though even if it does it's not certain what models will work)

This is hugely helpful.

1) I have GTX1050. Will try and find out about the HDMI. Would it need to be HDMI 2.0? And what about display ports as an alternative?

2) I just have the original, so no 4K 60hz

3) Thanks! Hate these marketing terms. I've also learnt sales people in shops have no clue what they are talking about (mostly).

4) Thanks - will definitely look at external speakers/headphones

And I'll look at that website!

 

[cjbeech]

https://pcpartpicker.com/products/monitor/

Example (4K, IPS, 60Hz, 27", 4ms): https://pcpartpicker.com/product/Xtp323/benq-monitor-bl2711u

It has crappy speakers (2x3W) but it has a headphone jack so you could get some half decent, stereo, PC Speakers

$40 budget speakers: https://pcpartpicker.com/product/FbmLrH/creative-labs-speakers-51mf1601aa000

The sound would switch as you change the HDMI input on the monitor from laptop to XBOX ONE.

I'm in the UK - do you know if they ship there?

 

[Glenwing]

This is hugely helpful.

1) I have GTX1050. Will try and find out about the HDMI. Would it need to be HDMI 2.0? And what about display ports as an alternative?

2) I just have the original, so no 4K 60hz

3) Thanks! Hate these marketing terms. I've also learnt sales people in shops have no clue what they are talking about (mostly).

4) Thanks - will definitely look at external speakers/headphones

And I'll look at that website!

The display would need to have an HDMI 2.0 port to get 4K 60 Hz over HDMI.

If your laptop has DisplayPort output, then yes you can use that as an alternative, but TVs don't have DisplayPort, only monitors.

 

[Hlsgsz]

Having a Thundebolt 3 port, for your laptop support for 4k@60hz is a non issue. You can either use a TB dock that has multiple DP/LAN/USB ports(more expensive) or a simple TB to DP cable(cheaper). Alternatively, you can look for a monitor with a TB3 imput.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Thunderbolt-DisplayPort-Benfei-Display-Gold-Plated/dp/B06XFG1YKT/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&qid=1507303136&sr=8-10&keywords=Thunderbolt+to+DisplayPort

EDIT: As for your question, everything said above is on point.