Using Samsung 4K TV as PC Monitor & PS4/TV Display Questions

[Algus44]

Hi all. So I've just recently purchased a new TV to use as a jack of all trades display. I want to use it for my PC, PS4, PS3 and for watching TV.

So, after checking out RTings reviews, I ended up going with the Samsung 43' MU6300

http://www.rtings.com/tv/reviews/samsung/mu6300

So, after tinkering around with the settings, and also trying out 2 different calibrations suggested on different sites, I've found that I can use the TV for what I want.

The problem however, like I expected, comes from when I want to use my PC input. One of the first problems I run into is do I use Game Mode or PC mode? I can calibrate either one to look decent, but I'm not sure which I should stick with.

Now, the main problem I have comes to the resolution. Because it's a 4K TV, the PC recommends it to be set at 3840 x 2160. Problem with this however, is that it wants the DPI to be set at 300%, which according to what I've read online, is like it being at 720p.

I can accept that, since now I can actually read everything (trying to set it below 300% makes it too hard to read) and everything somehow still stays crisp.

The problem I run into though comes with certain programs. In VLC the UI at the bottom is so small it makes it almost impossible to click anything, but supposedly that's been an issue for years that looks like is never getting fixed.

When I open up a video in Media Player Classic, the UI is the same, super small. I can fix this by enabling the DPI override, but this affects the picture quality, so that's not really an option.

I've also had problems with other programs, where the text options will be merging with each other, and makes it look terrible and almost un-clickable. In one case, using the DPI override does nothing, so it's stuck like that so long as I'm in the 4K resolution @ 300% DPI.

The TV that I used to use is a 1080p TV, and everything is pretty nice on there. I just figured it was time to get into the 4K crowd, but it seems not even worth it so far.

i use a Nvidia 1060 so I know it should have no problems in this resolution. I just use a PS4 slim though, so it can;t even take advantage of the 4K, and my TV provider doesn't offer 4K yet, so it can't take advantage of it either.

If I can't even use the 4K properly when it comes to the PC, should I even bother keeping this TV?

Is there something I'm missing or not doing right when trying to figure this out?

Any advice or suggestions if I should buy something different would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

[atomicWAR]

You need a beast to run 4K. I am using a 55" Samsung JU7500. Personally I have my display scaling set to 200% and it works quite well.The further you sit back the more you'll need. In games if you have the resolution set to 3840x2160, you'll get the full resolution. It is true some appz will scale to fit and thus give you less resolution then native (video 4K works fine for me bu have seen complaints like yours) but gaming is not one of them...generally. Save some of the Windows Store crap appz you'd play on your cell phone like angry birds.

As for how you should set your image...whether PC or game mode. Depends on if you want to use HDR and 4:4:4 sub-sampling. If you don't then game mode has the least latency. If you do want to use them then you need to be in PC mode and enable YCbCr444 in nvidia control panel under resolution and output color format. However your GPU is pretty under powered for 4K. You really need a GTX 1080 for 60hz/fps gaming and even then you are going to be turning a lot of things down. A GTX 1080Ti is ideal for max setting in most games. I personally run 2 GTX 1080s (best card out when I bought them) for max to near max settings with heavy filtering 60hz/fps. An argument could be made for a GTX 1070 4K @30hz/fps but again turning down a lot of settings. You can see what kind of mileage you get from a GTX 1060 6GB but my guess is you'll need to turn down the resolution to 1440P for decent settings/frame rate.

 

[Algus44]

So really then:

PS3: No 4K.
PS4: No 4K.
TV: No 4K.
PC: 4K only on Desktop, but not games.

So really, aren't I better off to save $300~+ and just get a native 1080p TV, since I'm probably going to be scaling down to that anyway?

 

[James Mason]

So really then:

PS3: No 4K.
PS4: No 4K.
TV: No 4K.
PC: 4K only on Desktop, but not games.

So really, aren't I better off to save $300~+ and just get a native 1080p TV, since I'm probably going to be scaling down to that anyway?

Or a good 1080p monitor.

 

[atomicWAR]

So really then:

PS3: No 4K.
PS4: No 4K.
TV: No 4K.
PC: 4K only on Desktop, but not games.

So really, aren't I better off to save $300~+ and just get a native 1080p TV, since I'm probably going to be scaling down to that anyway?

Well when I stepped up to 4K I initially had to play some games at 1440P (via GTX 980s in SLI one of which is on par with your GTX 1060 6GB) and in some titles I could get 4K to work just fine...even when SLI was not supported. When I went to GTX 1080s then 4K became very doable in nearly every title. Point being you should find a handful of your older games do hit 4K ok with a GTX 1060. Just don't expect max settings. Yes newer games you will have to drop to 1440P but trust me when I say this looks better then 1080P even though your not at native screen resolution. AA/filtering will work fine though not as well as at a native resolution. If you drop to 1080P then AA pretty much doesn't work no matter how high you set it. That said with with AA off the image looks fairly close to a native 1080P image since the pixel scaling it 4 to 1. So no distortion or stretching.

So yeah you can drop back down to 1080P or see this as future proofing in your display. Your next GPU upgrade will put 4K firmly in reach for your PC. As for the consoles. They actually look pretty good because there is some upscaling the TV uses. My standard PS4 looks better on 4K then it did on 1080P. It is a question of what your willing to deal with and how patient you are waiting for the next gen GPUs to hit.