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Do any of the new, inexpensive Vizio 4k's work as Monitors?

691 views 12 replies 3 participants last post by  HeadRusch 
#1 ·
And by work I mean mouse-lag, is there a game mode or is the native refresh of the display acceptable enough to use as a monitor with a mouse/keyboard.

On my current 39" Panasonic from about 5 years ago, the display is left in game mode and other than some chroma sampling issues on the rarest of websites (ironically, this one being one of them) I'd not be able to tell you it was a TV first, it has no perceptible lag that I can notice.

I'd like to move to a 4K display just to have more real-estate (rather than do multi-monitor) and the new vizios without tuners are almost affordable. Anyone use one as a monitor and could recommend/refute? Or a suggestion on another brand would also be cool.
 
#2 ·
Not sure on the brand new models but I bought my Vizio m70-c3 specifically because it has such low input lag for a 4k display, one of the lowest out there (~18ms on HDMI 5 in game mode).


Check www.rtings.com for all the specifics.


- Jason
 
#3 · (Edited)
Anyone use one as a monitor and could recommend/refute? Or a suggestion on another brand would also be cool.
I just picked up a Vizio P50-C1 4K (with HDR) to use a PC computer and console monitor, replacing my old Samsung.

Lots of various things to talk about, but short story - I find using it simply as a 1080p monitor suits my needs as a PC gaming monitor nicely. The Vizio speakers aren't great, so finally hooked up my old Sony soundbar which sounds much better. But the soundbar's pass-through is only HDMI 1.4, so no 4K while using it. The monitor's low lag HDMI port #5 works with the older 1.4 standard.

Pluses:

  • The 1080p upscale to the monitor's 4k rez in games is pretty breathtaking
  • Nice color
  • Sharp details
  • Excellent black level (FALD FTW!)
  • very bright back-lighting
  • Amazingly low input lag
  • Price (sub-$1000)

Minuses:

  • Speakers serviceable at best
  • Setup and calibration* through the included Android tablet is interesting tech, but fairly clumsy and/or frustrating to use at times
  • Same as above with Casting, if using as a TV/movie monitor
  • Application text (e.g. web browsing) using YCbCr444 not quite as razor sharp as hoped
  • The 50" is only a 60hz panel, the bigger P-series models are 120hz and allow for 1080p/120 input from PC or other sources
  • Possibly related to the above, the display's "Game" motion setting w/ Clear Action on (strobing backlights) causes a lot of flicker with solid white, maybe because mine is the 60Hz model? Not sure if this is noticeable on the bigger 120Hz P-series panels

*I found the OOTB mode called "Calibrated" to be pretty spot-on for my needs, just had to turn the backlight down a bit to avoid blinding whites, and pinch the Blue offset up a bit to correct for for a slightly too warm appearance IMO.

I haven't tried HDR stuff yet, but looking forward to experiencing that tech unfold. Vizio seemed to make an extra effort to please gamers with the affordable P-series monitors.

Any questions, please post!
 
#4 ·
My m70-c3 does 1080p @ 120 Hz and does not have any flicker with solid white.
I play mostly at 4K but 1080p @ 120 is so smooth that it's often tempting to switch (depending on the game).
I seem to recall reading that 58" or larger 4K Vizio's could do 1080/120 but not sure if that is 100% accurate or if it holds true for the new models.


- Jason
 
#6 ·
Thanks guys, since this would be on my desktop anything more than 40" or so and I go blind from the light output.....I may have a need for my current 1080p TV and moving up to a low-end 4K seemed the smart move because the prices had dropped comically low. I don't really want a $800+ set for what this is going to do (be left on, probably for years at a time, and used daily). 120hz is nice but I'm one of those people that hates...let me re-state this properly...*HATES* the new Doom, so I'm less concerned with 120hz performance as I am at, say, 90FPS to each eye performance. But I need a display with minimal lag for the mouse, so.....I'm probably ok with a low-end Vizio.

I may give it a shot and report back.

Thanks again everyone.
 
#9 ·
So just in case anyone cares, while you can use one of the low-end Vizios as a 4K monitor, there are some annoyances that caused me to unscrew the legs and get it ready to drop back off at Best Buy, and I'm referring to the E43U-D2 model (43" currently under $400): Every time a game launched, it would launch in 1080p mode (understandable)....and every single time this set would go to blackscreen.

I think the culprit has to do with the 980 Ti trying to send a 120hz signal to the set when its outputting 1080p, which this set seems to hate (I've tried 2 of the 4 HDMI's), which causes the set to simply shut down (assuming its Out of Range). So how many games have I tried at 4K? None. I got Doom running at the menu, with really bad input lag on the mouse, but the game never launched. Tried openGL, tried Vulkan, I could get to the menu and then things would go wonky, and there was (what felt like) VSYNC issues at play resulting in my mouse-lag on the menu screens.

But the whole "go to black screen when sending a 1080p signal" is the deal-breaker. There is also an issue with this set and its 4:2:2 output but that, to me, is neither here nor there (I've used a set that can't do 4:4:4 on 1080p for some time and I can tell you the 2 times it was a noticeable issue for my eyes). I don't think this problem plagues the higher-cost vizios, I THINK it's limited to this entry-level series.

Also, at 43", I'm too close to the screen and I get light dropoff at the edges (if I scoot back another foot in my chair, problem goes away)....but the pixel density of 4K makes even sitting on top of the set (125% font scaling worked great for me) a pleasure. Samsung makes a 40" better 4K set to use as a monitor...do they have one that does 120Hz input? Or, hell, what Vizio will accept a 120hz input, which I firmly believe is whats going on here.
(until I'm proven wrong, that is).
 
#10 ·
Or, hell, what Vizio will accept a 120hz input, which I firmly believe is whats going on here.
The P-series (and maybe M-series?) at 55" and beyond does 1080/120. I wish my 50" panel did, but hell - 1080/60 upscaled to 4k with under 20ms input lag (HDMI port 5) including FALD has me jazzed, so I'm not really complaining.

I think your best solution is a true computer monitor.
 
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