Vizio D40u-D1 good for 4K gaming?

[sgs83]

I am contemplating making a transition into 4K gaming by upgrading to a GTX 1080. I already have a very solid 1080p system, and I get that the upgrade would be somewhat uneconomical given the video cards that are likely to come out next year (I got some nice feedback on this issue on this thread).

However, since I am very intrigued at the prospect of playing upcoming games like Deus Ex: Mankind Divided at 4K, I am still mulling over the upgrade. And either way, I might go ahead and get a 4K display to see how much of a difference the increased resolution will actually make. I currently play on a 40" 1080p TV and want to stay around 40 inches. I play mostly single player games and am fine with a 60hz refresh rate.

The Vizio D40u-D1 looks like the best option given my desired price range. However, I've heard mixed things as to whether entry level 4K TVs provide "true" 4K experiences.

Has anyone had the experience of upgrading from 1080p to 4K using either the Vizio D40u-D1 or another 4K TV in this size/price range? Would this be dumbed-down 4K compared to what I would get on a monitor? Some things I've read suggest that the 40" 4K TV would be better than a monitor since the increased resolution makes less of a difference at smaller screen sizes. It's hard to get a clear answer from reading around elsewhere.

Thanks.

 

[ERIC J]

I am contemplating making a transition into 4K gaming by upgrading to a GTX 1080. I already have a very solid 1080p system, and I get that the upgrade would be somewhat uneconomical given the video cards that are likely to come out next year (I got some nice feedback on this issue on this thread).

However, since I am very intrigued at the prospect of playing upcoming games like Deus Ex: Mankind Divided at 4K, I am still mulling over the upgrade. And either way, I might go ahead and get a 4K display to see how much of a difference the increased resolution will actually make. I currently play on a 40" 1080p TV and want to stay around 40 inches. I play mostly single player games and am fine with a 60hz refresh rate.

The Vizio D40u-D1 looks like the best option given my desired price range. However, I've heard mixed things as to whether entry level 4K TVs provide "true" 4K experiences.

Has anyone had the experience of upgrading from 1080p to 4K using either the Vizio D40u-D1 or another 4K TV in this size/price range? Would this be dumbed-down 4K compared to what I would get on a monitor? Some things I've read suggest that the 40" 4K TV would be better than a monitor since the increased resolution makes less of a difference at smaller screen sizes. It's hard to get a clear answer from reading around elsewhere.

Thanks.

To be honest for the cost of those they are very good and make a great gaming monitor
http://www.rtings.com/tv/reviews/vizio/d-series-4k-2016
I bought a SONY 55" XBR900C a few weeks back and gaming at 4K on it is a incredible experience! Trust me it is NOT just hype when they say how great it is!
My SONY is a 120hz monitor and has 4:4:4: chroma, HDR and a wide color gamut but it also cost almost twice what the D series sell for.
I would get the Vizio and try it out, if you don't like it just return it

 

[sgs83]

Sorry for the belated response. I'm still mulling over whether to pull the trigger on this, but it sounds like the Vizio will be the way to go if I do.

 

[ERIC J]

Sorry for the belated response. I'm still mulling over whether to pull the trigger on this, but it sounds like the Vizio will be the way to go if I do.

Did you get the set? Was wondering what you thought of it?

 

[sgs83]

Thanks for asking, cause I would have appreciated a follow up to a thread like this while I was exploring the TV/video card purchases. About a week and a half ago, I splurged and got the 40" Vizio and the GTX 1080 FTW Edition (they were out of Strixes but fortunately had one last FTW).

The TV looks great and I've been happy with the response time. I don't have a frame of reference to know how well it compares with other 4K tvs and monitors, but the picture is very good and I haven't been disappointed in 4K. If some games have looked better than others, my sense has been that it's due to limitations of the games themselves or the 1080, as opposed to the display being deficient, as the best stuff looks remarkable indeed.

As for 4K, while not totally transformative, it makes a big difference, albeit in some games more than others. One of the coolest things is that it lends this 3D-ish quality to the imagery that makes the various levels of distance in front of you seem much more defined. Once the shooting begins in The Division, for example, explosions and particle effects seem to pop out in front of the enemies, and when you aim at them, they seem to stand out in a physical space that recedes behind them in a way that makes 1080p seem comparatively paper-flat.

In general, 4K adds a real sense of density and presence to the environment that is quite cool. Things also look a lot smoother and less pixel-ey and shinier. It's like a filter being taken off. I was having a hard time engaging with Assassin's Creed Syndicate, for example, but its version of London in 4K is astonishing, particularly in daylight, and I've spent a lot of time with the game mostly to take in the sights. From what I've seen, visually lavish environments (Syndicate, Bioshock Infinite even though it's older, Doom to an extent) particularly benefit from the extra resolution and density.

The big thing I was looking forward to was playing Deus Ex: Mankind Divided in 4K, and I’ve been satisfied. Despite all of the garment-rending over the game's optimization, I'm able to play at the High preset with a couple of effects turned off at around 30-40 fps (judging by benchmarks; in practice, it feels closer to 40).
I expect performance to improve with patches down the line, but as is I’m OK with it. I find the game totally playable and satisfying, and I could tell a big difference visually when I switched to 1080p as an experiment.

In general, with the 1080, I am getting about the level of performance I was expecting. I can turn settings up to reasonably high levels and get reasonable framerates. It's not a 4K Ultra/60fps killer, but I wasn't expecting that.

While 4K is cool, and I am happy with my decision on both the TV and the video card, it isn't necessarily the best call for most people. I was -

a. itching to get a new toy;
b. facing a bunch of highly anticipated games coming out in the next few months;
c. fortunate enough to have enough disposable income to make the purchases; and
d. wanting, almost for the heck of it, to see the upper levels of what PC graphics can be these days.

For me under these circumstances, upgrading to 4K was worth it. However, I can see where this card will likely be underpowered for 4K in a couple of years or less. And cool as it is, 4K doesn't change what the games fundamentally are. You get the core, important experience at 1080p.

If you're on a tight entertainment budget, making the leap now probably isn't the thing to do. But if you understand what you're getting into and recognize that you'll be paying a fairly severe premium to get 4K today, I can say that it's worth exploring, and I'm glad I did it.

 

[ERIC J]

Thanks for the reply, I am holding out for the EVGA 1080ti Classified to go with my SONY 900C 4K set
Right now my EVGA 980ti classified even extremely overclocked does not get great fps at 4K in games like metal gear the phantom pain.rise of the tomb raider, the division,Deus ex Mankind divided they are playable but i want more fps than i am getting.
I want the most fps in 4K as possible without going SLI with another 980ti and don't want to wait for the 1100 series which will be a ways off from now.

 

[sgs83]

Have you thought about buying another 980 ti and doing SLI? I've never tried the multi gpu thing (I foolishly purchased a motherboard with only one slot) but from what I've seen you'd get markedly better performance than you'd get with a single 1080. Might even be comparable to what the 1080 ti would give you.

I might consider going SLI once a single 1080 gets long in the tooth.

 

[ERIC J]

Have you thought about buying another 980 ti and doing SLI? I've never tried the multi gpu thing (I foolishly purchased a motherboard with only one slot) but from what I've seen you'd get markedly better performance than you'd get with a single 1080. Might even be comparable to what the 1080 ti would give you.

I might consider going SLI once a single 1080 gets long in the tooth.

I wanted to avoid SLI due to the many issues it can cause.
The 1080ti classified should be about 35% faster/better than the best 1080(going by past TI's like the 780ti,980ti)
so that will get me where i want to be in Fps @4K for a while.

 

[sgs83]

I feel you. I've avoided SLI for those reasons, but now that I've purchased a card this expensive, I plan to rethink when upgrading time comes, depending on how things are looking.

 

[nathanlaird]

I also just picked up the Vizio D40u-D1 and have been using it for several days. I didn't even get the GTX 1080 yet. I'm using an AMD Radeon R9 380 with an Active DisplayPort to HDMI adapter to achieve 4k at 60Hz.

I agree the change in games is not mind blowing. But I have enjoyed games such as Fallout 4 with many 4K mods. The game is gorgeous. I mainly notice it in outdoor settings, seeing a great distance, detail in trees, grass, sky, etc.

It is hardly noticeable for games such as League of Legends, and Hearthstone.

I will likely get a better video card next year, when VR matures a bit, as my current mid-level card suits my needs.

One last motivation for me in getting a 4K TV that I haven't heard anyone else mention, is text clarity. I went from 40" 1080p TV to 40" 4K TV. It has made a HUGE difference in clarity reading magazines, PDF's, text, comics. That was really what I was going for. I feel like I have a computer monitor again, in terms of sharpness, whereas with a 1080p TV I definitely felt like I was on a TV. Small text was so pixelated before. I use some DPI scaling but 100% is still usable as well.

For $370 or so, a great deal. I paid more than that for the 1080p set just a year or two earlier!

I can also just run straight HDMI with no adapter from the PC to the TV, and achieve 1080p 120Hz and 4K 30Hz, so there is flexibility. Some games I prefer to run at 1080p at higher refreshes, and some games I like to be sharper 4K res, and can accept lower refresh rates.

Another great benefit moving from 1080p to 4k is increased screen real estate. I can now have several windows open at once on screen, very helpful. Financial, Excel, Word, Web browser, etc. Also, there are programs that benefit from higher resolution, such as Photoshop, and Digital Audio Workstation software for recording in a music recording studio. More tracks are visible. Anything that needs to fit more information on the screen. Far cheaper than four 20" 1080p monitors and a quad stand, and the additional benefit of no bezels between!

Mainly I was just really happy to get into 4K at <$400. I will not be going back to a 1080p TV. I read too much text on this PC!

 

[sgs83]

Great to hear that you're enjoying the TV. I've continued to be happy with the Vizio and the GTX 1080. I agree, one of the coolest things about 4K is the sense of fine detail you can see in the distance. 1080p environments look fairly blurry and indistinct in comparison. But then smaller scale environments will naturally benefit less from the resolution.

It's remarkable how affordable these amazing technologies are getting.

I also just picked up the Vizio D40u-D1 and have been using it for several days. I didn't even get the GTX 1080 yet. I'm using an AMD Radeon R9 380 with an Active DisplayPort to HDMI adapter to achieve 4k at 60Hz.

I agree the change in games is not mind blowing. But I have enjoyed games such as Fallout 4 with many 4K mods. The game is gorgeous. I mainly notice it in outdoor settings, seeing a great distance, detail in trees, grass, sky, etc.

It is hardly noticeable for games such as League of Legends, and Hearthstone.

I will likely get a better video card next year, when VR matures a bit, as my current mid-level card suits my needs.

One last motivation for me in getting a 4K TV that I haven't heard anyone else mention, is text clarity. I went from 40" 1080p TV to 40" 4K TV. It has made a HUGE difference in clarity reading magazines, PDF's, text, comics. That was really what I was going for. I feel like I have a computer monitor again, in terms of sharpness, whereas with a 1080p TV I definitely felt like I was on a TV. Small text was so pixelated before. I use some DPI scaling but 100% is still usable as well.

For $370 or so, a great deal. I paid more than that for the 1080p set just a year or two earlier!

I can also just run straight HDMI with no adapter from the PC to the TV, and achieve 1080p 120Hz and 4K 30Hz, so there is flexibility. Some games I prefer to run at 1080p at higher refreshes, and some games I like to be sharper 4K res, and can accept lower refresh rates.

Another great benefit moving from 1080p to 4k is increased screen real estate. I can now have several windows open at once on screen, very helpful. Financial, Excel, Word, Web browser, etc. Also, there are programs that benefit from higher resolution, such as Photoshop, and Digital Audio Workstation software for recording in a music recording studio. More tracks are visible. Anything that needs to fit more information on the screen. Far cheaper than four 20" 1080p monitors and a quad stand, and the additional benefit of no bezels between!

Mainly I was just really happy to get into 4K at <$400. I will not be going back to a 1080p TV. I read too much text on this PC!

 

[Spartan stryker]

I myself,just purchased the Vizio d50u series UHD 4k tv,and find the gaming amazing on it. The 4k to 1080p comparison,is like comparing regular DVD, to blue ray. Quite noticeable,I think all would agree. Although I did initially run into an issue with the Vizio not recognizing my PS pro in the 4k 60hz port. PS support guided me through the steps,and we got it working in all its glory. My consensus is the d50u 50" for 498$ at Wal-Mart is well worth it. Best bang for your buck,when you're balling on a budget,but like nice shit

 

[Th3pwn3r]

I thought the M-Series were the ones to get for gaming when it came to Vizio TVs? I'm pretty sure those have better refresh rates and do much better with lag. At least that's what I remember when I bought a 43'' Vizio M series for the bedroom. I could be wrong because I haven't kept up with them too much. Ultimately if you're happy then it's all good. Just make sure you have a good HDMI cable and it's VERY NICE.