What are the best 4K TVs to use as a computer monitor?

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18

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265

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Oct 15, 2018

Last
Updated

Here’s the Deal

The Best 2 of 5 OptionsWhy?

Best 4K TVs to use as a computer monitor	Price	Ethernet	USB
92 TCL S405 49" (49S405)	$350	Yes	1x USB 2.0
91 Sony X720E 43" (KD43X720E)	$548.00	Yes	3x USB 2.0
-- VIZIO E-Series 43" (E43-F1)	$349.99	–	–
-- TCL S517 43" (43S517)	379.99	–	–
-- Philips PFL405605/98	-	–	–

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Sony X720E 43" (KD43X720E)

Top Pro

Makes an excellent computer monitor

The Sony X720E makes an excellent computer monitor because of the TV’s short input lag, full 4:4:4 color support, and well-handled motion blur. The TV has enough processing power to keep its input lag and response time to a bare minimum. Its input lag is 19.7 ms, which ensures that it takes less than 1/50th of a second for the X720E to process an input signal generated by, let's say, a click of a button and display a corresponding image change. Furthermore, the X720E is a very responsive TV. It takes only 7.5 ms for its pixels to switch 80% to the next color; As a result, fast-moving objects don’t leave long trails on a screen which almost cancels out all the motion blur effects. The full 4:4:4 color support allows the X720E to process native computer-generated video input. As a result, the TV can display sharp and crisp image, without any detail loss. This is especially noticeable while viewing vector graphics such as text. See More

Top Con

Can’t unleash full potential of HDR content

Even though this TV does support HDR10 media, the low HDR peak brightness, poor native contrast, lack of local dimming, and lack of wide color gamut severely limit the quality of HDR playback. Even some lower tier TVs will produce higher quality HDR images. See More

Specs

Ethernet: Yes

USB:3x USB 2.0

HDMI:2x HDMI 2.0, 1x HDMI 1.4, HDCP 2.2

Size:43"

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Top Pro

Great for bright rooms

The combination of reasonably high peak brightness and semi-gloss screen finish allows this TV to deal with reflections and glare efficiently. Its 340 nits of brightness are almost double than what its direct competitor, the TCL S405, offers. Furthermore, the X720E diffuses up to 97.6% of ambient light; thus the TV does not suffer from reflections. See More

Top Con

Not compatible with Dolby Vision

When it comes to HDR content, the X720E cannot display Dolby Vision-compliant content as it is only limited to HDR10 content. Even though HDR10 has more available content, multiple services require Dolby Vision for HDR playback. See More

Top Pro

Excellent for console gaming

The Sony X720E is a great companion to latest gen consoles, like the Xbox One X, PS4 Pro, and Wii U because of its 4K60 support, low input lag, and motion blur candling capabilities. Furthermore, the TV’s full HDR support allows you to fully experience HDR-enhanced games such as World of Tanks, FIFA 18, etc. See More

Top Con

Built-in speakers don’t sound right

The X720E comes with an integrated 20W 2.0 stereo speaker system. While it can get pretty loud (around 100 dB), the quality of sound is very weak, especially when it comes to bass. The speakers sound unclear and muddy. See More

Top Pro

Excellent for upscaling content

This TV does a fantastic job when it comes to upscaling low-resolution content. In a nutshell, it can upscale 480p, 720p, and 1080p content to 4K resolution while preserving details and sharp edges. Great for those with a collection of old DVDs or Blu-ray disks. See More

Top Con

Dark scenes look shallow

Because of the really low native contrast ratio of 907:1, dark scenes look washed out if the TV is placed in a dark environment. See More

Top Pro

Ads-free main interface

The main interface of the smart OS does not feature advertisements or sponsored content. See More

Top Con

Not suitable for competitive gaming

While the TV's input lag of 19.7 ms is noticeably smaller than the overwhelming majority of TVs on the market, it still can not compete with rapid TN gaming monitors when it comes to fast and competitive gaming. The input lag of such panels can go all the way down to 3 ms. See More

Top Pro

Well-rounded inputs

Regarding connectivity, this TV is has everything you'd currently want. It has three HDCP 2.2 compliant HDMI 2.0 ports, digital and analog audio output ports, and an Ethernet port. Additionally, as the TV has a composite input interface, you can enjoy playing your retro consoles, such as the Nintendo and Sega without having to go through the hassle of signal conversion. HDMI, USB, and analog coaxial ports are situated on the side of the TV so you won’t have any problem accessing them even if it’s mounted on a wall. See More

Top Con

Requires an external power brick

Both the 43-inch and 49-inch models of the Sony X720E have large and bulky external power bricks. Bulky PSUs can be a hassle to deal with especially if you’re mounting your TV on a wall. See More

Top Pro

No problems with image retention

Unlike the majority of OLED panels, this LED TV does not suffer from image retention problems. You can leave the TV on for long periods without having to worry about pixel damage. See More

Top Con

Non-intuitive smart OS

Unlike other Sony TVs, the X720E has a custom, Linux based operating system which runs the Opera TV application store. OS is unintuitive and confusing to use. See More

Top Pro

Suitable for viewing up-front

The reasonably small panel size of 43-inch means you can still be comfortable looking at the screen up close. You can conveniently use this TV as a computer monitor and sit as close as 2.2 feet away from it. See More

Top Pro

The stand does not take up too much space

The 43-inch model of Sony X720E does not take up too much space on a work desk as the TV comes with a compact, 9.4-inch by 21.9-inch stand. In comparison, the TCL S405 takes up almost 30% more table space. See More

Top Pro

Excellent viewing angles

The X720E has excellent viewing angles because of its IPS panel, which gives you greater freedom than VA panels when it comes to finding a good viewing spot. In fact, you will only notice a minor color shift if your viewing angle is greater than 41 degrees. See More

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3 Other Options Considered

VIZIO E-Series 43" (E43-F1)

Top Pro

Can work as a computer monitor

The VIZIO E-Series TV is an excellent choice for those looking for a large panel to hook up with a computer thanks to the TV's excellent responsiveness and its ability to work with the non-compressed video signal received from a computer. When connected to a computer, the TV doesn't feel laggy because of its low input lag that measures at around 20 milliseconds - on par with the best TVs in its price range. Text appears sharp and free of artifacts thanks to the TV's full chroma 4:4:4 support. Motion looks smooth and free of the artificial effects of motion blur thanks to the TV's low pixel response time. Measuring at 12 milliseconds, the TV's full pixel response time ensures that each pixel needs only 12 milliseconds to change its color fully. See More

Top Con

Poor viewing angles

Those who view the TV at an angle will see a degraded picture because of the TV's bad overall viewing angles. For example, the image's black levels will start to shift once the viewing angle gets larger than 13 degrees. See More

Top Pro

Good performance in a dark room

The VIZIO E-Series is a good home theater TV because it offers good picture quality when placed in a dark environment where it can reproduce beautiful images that have inky blacks and bright and colorful highlights. The blacks look good thanks to the TV's high native contrast ratio that measures at 5900:1 which is a decent result for a TV in this price range. Additionally, the blacks don't look cloudy thanks to their high uniformity. See More

Top Pro

Requires no calibration

You'll not need to spend time calibrating this TV because its out-of-the-box color accuracy is quite high. The color inaccuracies cannot be spotted by a human eye because of the TV's average color inaccuracy measures at the dE of 1.97. See More

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TCL S517 43" (43S517)

Top Pro

Decent for use as a PC monitor

The S517 offers a pleasant PC monitor experience not only due to the good responsiveness but also because of the video signal's compression. The TV won't make text appear blurry while connected to a PC because the signal has no compression and transports color data and luminance fully. This is also known as chroma 4:4:4, and the “Computer” and “Game” modes display it properly at 60Hz. See More

Top Con

Bad viewing angle

The S517 is a bad choice for a wide room because colors and blacks shift when viewed even slightly off center. Leaning sideward just a little bit will drastically alter what you see. Colors shift at 18 degrees, brightness shifts at 28 degrees, but the blacks shift at the incredibly tiny angle of 9 degrees. See More

Specs

Size:43"

Top Pro

Impressive picture quality

In terms of picture quality, the S517 is comparable to high-end TVs. It displays remarkably deep blacks due to its great contrast and reproduces details in color very well due to its good color gradient. The 6000:1 native contrast ratio allows the TV to reproduce dark scenes particularly well. It is easily one of the best in this price range – it’s often compared to high-end counterparts. The S517 has superb black uniformity and contrast that create pleasant, deep blacks. They are much better than those of the similarly-priced competitors. The maximum deviation sits at around 1.02% . The TV is good at capturing small differences in color such as skin tones, green colors in nature, details in shadows, etc. This is because of the color gradient, which is on par with other options of the same price. There is almost no banding and the standard deviation of color doesn't go past 0,11%. See More

Top Con

Struggles with reflections

While the S517 is okay for dimmer environments, the weakness shows in bright rooms and especially rooms with the light source facing the TV. The reflection handling of the TV is a bit worse than that of its competitors. It reflects approximately 6% of light off the screen. See More

Top Pro

Well calibrated out-of-the-box

The picture quality when you first open the TV up is quite decent. The only settings that could potentially require tweaking are grey inaccuracy and color inaccuracy. Either way, these are things that most people won't even notice. See More

Top Con

Some dirty screen effect is present

This might cause some discomfort to sports fans because the playing surface might look darker at points. The S517's gray uniformity is decent at best, which, unfortunately, is often the case for lower-end TVs. The image is a little darker around the edges and the middle of the TV. The standard deviation of sits at around 3.1% See More

Top Pro

Suitable for gaming

The S517 is fit for all gamers because it offers a clear, lag-free experience. The TV is very responsive - it has struck a good balance between decent refresh rate, solid input lag, and good response time. The TV is an ideal choice for console gaming in terms of its native refresh rate. It caps at 60Hz, which is perfect since most games won't benefit from anything higher than this. The S517 is fast. An action shows on the screen in around 18 milliseconds, which can make the difference between managing to get a frag or waiting for a respawn. The time doesn't substantially increase when gaming in HDR or 4K either - it goes up to roughly 20.5 milliseconds. The only thing to remember is to keep "Game" mode enabled for the lowest possible input lag. The TCL S517 also handles motion and fast-paced content quite well, it has a good response time. This makes sure you can keep up with fast-moving objects and a lot of action without it all appearing blurry. A full pixel color transition takes only 15.8 milliseconds. See More

Top Con

Can't overcome glare

The S517 is a better fit for dim environments or dark room viewing since the brightness can’t peak very high, only at 277 nits. This is common for TVs in this price range. See More

Top Pro

Accessible inputs

All of the inputs are conveniently placed on the side of the S517, so you won't have to worry about leaving space between a wall and the TV. See More

Top Con

Runs ads

The main interface page contains big advertisements that can’t be disabled. There’s also a “Featured” tab that promotes all kinds of apps and channels. See More

Top Pro

Good HDR playback

The S517 is a much better fit for HDR content and HDR gaming than its competitors due to the wide color gamut, decent color depth, and high contrast. The TV can display a lot more colors than its similarly-priced counterparts. The coverage of the Digital Cinema P3 color space is very good - 90%. The color depth is on par with competing options. The S517 has 10-bit color depth, which means that it can display approximately 1.07 billion colors in total. This is important for HDR content because HDR media takes advantage of 10-bit. The S517 can display deep blacks in the HDR mode because of its high native contrast ratio of 6000:1, which is easily one of the best in the given price range. The TV can also play all HDR content because it supports both standard formats of HDR - HDR10 and Dolby Vision. They enhance the viewing experience by editing the metadata, that is, the extra information that tells the TV how to display HDR. The formats differ in the way they deal with it, however - Dolby Vision edits the picture on a per scene basis, whereas HDR10 edits everything at the start of the video. See More

Top Con

HDR content lacks brightness

Small bright details in dark scenes won’t stand out. Unfortunately, this is usually the case with TVs in this price range. The TV's brightness for HDR media peaks at only 273 nits. Moreover, the TV doesn't support local dimming, which is also a big drawback for HDR content. See More

Top Pro

Handles 4K scaling well

The S517 does a reasonably good job with upscaling most content to 4K quality, be it 480p DVDs, HDTV or full HD Blu-rays. See More

Top Con

Inconvenient calibration access

The only way to access the calibration menu is via the mobile app. This might be uncomfortable for people without smartphones or for people who prefer all control on the real remote. See More

Top Pro

A well-rounded option

The TCL S517 is a decent option for pretty much everything, be it gaming, movies, sports, or HDR content. It has noteworthy picture quality, good all-around responsiveness, decent smart features, nice motion handling, and, most importantly, a great price. See More

Top Pro

Optional video smoothing feature

The S517 offers the possibility to represent motion in videos smoother, also known as the "soap opera effect". This is done by making the TV take two frames and try to guess what would a frame in between of those look like, also known as motion interpolation. The frame rate can interpolate up to 60 frames per second. See More

Top Pro

Great smart features

The S517 comes with the Roku TV smart platform, which provides a comfortable interface and a big app selection. The interface is quite basic and easy to overlook. It’s smooth and simple to swap to your favorite apps. Roku TV offers a vast app store with all the most popular apps – Netflix, YouTube, Hulu Plus, Amazon Instant, HBO Go, Vudu and much more. Some apps are even absent from other TV manufacturers Smart TV platforms and unique to Roku. See More

Top Pro

Functional mobile app

The mobile remote app for both iOS or Android can fully and comfortably substitute the real remote – launch apps, input text in apps, control most TV settings, etc. Also, colors can easily be adjusted close to perfection thanks to the app’s calibration menu. See More

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Philips PFL405605/98

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Samsung KU6300

Sony X800D

Samsung KU7500

Samsung KS9000

TCL 43UP130

Samsung KU7000

LG OLED65C6P

Vizio D40u-D1

Samsung KS8000

Vizio P-Series

Sony X850D

TCL 55P605

LG OLED B6P

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