Back when I first started as an analyst 14-inch monitors were common and we’d thought we’d died and gone to heaven when we got a 17-inch model. I recall the day Sony came by and showed me a flat screen 25-inch monitor and when they told me I could keep it (because they didn’t want to carry the 120-pound thing anymore) I thought I’d died and gone to heaven–and actually almost did when the desk supports wouldn’t hold the weight and it almost dropped on my head while I was setting it up.
Over the years bigger has always been better and I had been using a selection for 34-inch monitors from LG and Dell until this latest Dell 43 Ultra HD 4K multi-client monitor showed up. Honestly I thought it was initially too big, then I started using it and now they’ll have to take it out of my dead hands. I’m actually in love with a monitor and starting to wonder if a 55-inch might just be a tad better. So much for the idea that a monitor can be too big.
Let’s talk about my experience.
Gaming
This is not by any means a gaming monitor but it actually is rather impressive—given its size—for gaming. Now my current game of choice is Ashes of the Singularity and for a strategy game this thing is amazing. You do need a decent gaming card and currently I’m running an older AMD R9 Lightning card. Surprisingly, for a monitor not designed for gaming, this one isn’t bad. Granted at 4K it is only refreshing at 60Hz and its response time is 8ms—it would be towards the bottom of an acceptable range. But for $1,349, given the size, this thing is actually a decent value.
Work
The monitor is actually designed for people who have to run multiple systems at the same time. Say a financial analyst, video editor, or systems administrator. You can separate the screen into up to 4 segments and have a different PC or video feed on each one saving a ton of aggravation and wasted space with the more typical 4 monitor setup. Weight is lower as well and if you’ve ever moved a 4 headed monitor setup you know what a pain that can be. This is more like moving a relatively small TV. Mounting can be an issue and given this is heavier than any monitor you are likely to have had you’ll either need the desk mount that was designed for it or a wall mount for a 43–inch TV.
Monitor Envy
One of the most fun aspects of this monitor is watching someone’s face when they see this puppy. It simply elicits lust. It can dominate the room and if you use a video conferencing camera it tends to put the camera up so high that folks will be looking at the top of your head suggesting you might want to explore more creative places to put that camera or to finally decide the folks at the other end don’t really need to see your face anyway. By the way, another benefit, this monitor is so large that if it is between you and the office you likely could work naked as it works like a privacy wall between you and everyone else (but don’t try this, some things can’t be unseen).
Wrapping Up: Lust In My Heart For A Monitor
I may be channeling ex-US President Jimmy Carter but this is the first monitor since I was lusting after that 25-inch CRT years ago with an extra plus in that this one won’t kill me if it falls over. In monitors size does matter and I wonder if we’ll ever get to a size that is too big. Given eventually we’ll all be using something like Microsoft’s Hololens which would eliminate any size limitations there may never actually be one of these that is too big. In any case if you ever get a chance to try out one of the Dell 43 Ultra HD 4K multi-client monitors give it a shot—even for some games it is amazing. And a true gaming monitor at this scale would be a heart breaker.
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Oh man this is soo funny. I’ve got a Sony KD-30SX955 (1080i HD Tube) that I still game (for select titles) b/c LCD’s don’t cut it for some games and it weighs 160 LBS and almost killed a relative of mine moving it. Where is the OLED revolution!?
LED gaming monitors are actually pretty good. OLED panels are still very expensive typically over 2x what a comparable LCD panel is and the market hasn’t been willing to accept that big a price difference. They are likely out 2 years in terms of being at an acceptable price.
Why would anyone pay these prices for something that can only be described as a “monitor”. I use a 50″ 4K Samsung smart TV as my computer monitor, which only cost $389 at Costco. This is fed by an 8GB NVidia GeForce GTX 1070 graphics card. It has perfect resolution at that size. I use AutoCAD and am able to view and work on an entire drawing without the need to zoom in and out constantly to see details. All CAD stations should have this setup. Windows 10 automatically breaks your applications into a split screen or 4 equal 1080p screens when you drag them to the appropriate edges, or by using simple keyboard shortcuts. The Samsung TV is also connected via Ethernet direct to my router for any direct online content. My video card has the capacity to attach several of these if I wish to go totally nuts with monitors, but it’s 4K, 60Hz output is enough for now. Simple HDMI connection, but this setup allows other options that I simply don’t need.
The price of both the graphics card and the TV are almost half the price of just this Dell monitor, so why buy this monitor only, when you could buy one graphics card and three of these Samsung TV’s, and drive all of them?
Generally because if you are working on it, using it for word processing etc., you’ll get less eye strain. This monitor is really designed for trading floor applications and to replace 4 stand alone monitors (takes up less space). It just turned out to work reasonable well with strategy games. I have a 64″ Vizio that I game on from time to time and its great, but when I’m working I’m back to using a monitor (not a fan of eye strain headaches). Now a gaming monitor will generally have far faster refresh rates and support one of the graphic card sync features but this monitor isn’t that. (I’m not aware of a 42″ gaming monitor yet, but I have a 34″ LG that is just wonderful). Hope that helps.
Why does a TV create eyestrain, but monitors won’t?
It goes to the nature of their design. Monitors are designed to minimize glare and optimized for a viewer to be close. TVs have glossy screens which look better in stores and are optimized for a 6′ viewing distance. The end result is that viewing a monitor from a distance or a TV up close is sub-optimal and that anti-glare coating on the monitor screen, while it makes the monitor look less attractive, helps prevent eye strain. You can certainly game on a TV because you typically sit back from it, but doing work on it is far from ideal.
Thanks a lot!
P.S. How suitable would a projector be for a large monitor substitute? – say something that might be HD 1080p quality and assuming decent brightness such that it could be used for work.
Would it be decent enough to work at all day? Would it be way more expensive for bulbs and electricity vs a standard, large monitor?
Thanks for any insights you might be able to provide.
On your projector question. Remember you tend to game up pretty close to the screen, if TV’s are designed for a 6′ viewing range projectors, in general, are closer to 15′. The light source may also be an issue if it is a bulb and not an LED as their useful life is measured in hours not days or months and they can be wicked expensive. If you do get close you may find your head in between the projector and the screen and refresh might not be to your liking. However I’ve played Xbox and some computer games on projectors for audiences for the fun of it and enjoyed the experience and using a game console, which is generally designed to work with a TV anyway, isn’t bad. But if you use it for productivity work the eye strain should be worse than a TV would be.
I will second this, and my office is full of these Samsung 4K UHD TV’s being used as monitors. The image quality is better than on the Apple thunderbolt display next to it. We generally prefer the 43″ Samsung TVs. Anything with the UHD logo should be good enough (watch out for 4k RBGW TV’s without that logo).
You do have to spend 15 minutes setting up the TV correctly. But even at expensive engineering rates, you are saving plenty on the TV.
This story reminds me of about 1992 when the first large-format Apple CRTs arrived in our office for use by our graphic designers. They were awesome. They easily weighed 100 lbs or more and if I remember correctly sported a fantastic 1280×960 resolution. If you sat too close to them the static electricity would cause your hair stand up and your skin to vibrate.
Those big CRTs were sure nasty beasts. Forgot about the static electricity.
Last year I got two (2) 40″ 4K monitors for my own office.
Got them each for about $600.
As a software developer all I can say is: Max Productivity. Wow!
Unfortunately my client, even though I offered to bring in such on my own company’s dime, insists that I use the 2 small monitors that all their developers, both employee or contractors, get. Monitor envy or some other reason. One of my sites, listed below, could not have been done as fast as I did, except for the 2 monitors!
I believe that the preferred terminology is not “monitor lust”, but rather “screenus envy”.
The absurdity of increasing monitor size for a screen placed 20 to 30″ from your face should be impinging on your consciousness by now. Already, VR surround systems give you unlimited screen space and the most expensive is $800. Once the screen resolution is below your eye’s angular resolution at say 5″, and the computer can give you 3D stereo by processing each eye’s view, why do you want increasing monitor size that eventually may fall over on your desk? And monitors that large are not mobile. I just don’t get it.
It depends if you are used to using multiple monitors or not which likely has a lot to do with what you do on a computer. This thing was really designed to replace 4 monitors and I’ve used up to 6 and the gaps between the screens drive you nuts after a while. My favorite configuration was 3 monitors, one center, and two on the side for reference (and, admittedly, for when I was doing driving or flying simulations). But I love this thing only real downside is I can’t really see out of my window anymore.
The dot pitch of this monitor is the equivalent of ~4, 21″ – 1080P monitors. A 4 monitor setup is extremely common with code developers, CAD Engineers & Architects. I currently have such a 4 monitor arrangement (spread across horizontally) on my own desk and plan on replacing them with one of these multi-tenant monitors.
Printer wiring board layout on this monitor is going to be sweet! I do want to see ones of these monitors in person as the text needs to be as sharp as individual monitors provide.
I too considered this monitor but after seeing videos on youtube that showed it uses PWM for brightness control, I had to drop the idea. Instead went for Benq BL3200PT.
Does the Dell 43 inch monitor cause any eye strain at a low brightness setting? I ask this because I keep the brightness of any monitor at a very low setting. At low brightness PWM monitors flicker more and hence more eye strain.
I took it down to 0% and didn’t notice a flicker (you’d think 0% would be black-apparently not), I like it at 75% so haven’t used it at the lower setting for any length of time.
I am a day trader and was wondering what is your viewing distance from screen? Because on an office desk is where I do my trading and about 3 feet distance from my present screen s. Would that be a no no ( unhealthy) on this monitor? Thanks
I’m about 20″ from the monitor so pretty close, I have a custom desk with an articulated monitor stand so I could push it away farther but I like it where it is. I just swapped this monitor out for their new 49″ curved monitor (like twin 27″ panels rather than 4 15″ panels) and I like it a bit better because I don’t need to look up as much. I’m told traders often stack two of these 49″ panels on top of each other which, at $1,700 each wouldn’t be a cheap date but, for a trader, I can see would be useful. LCD monitors don’t throw off energy like an old CRT did so proximity has to do with eyesight, as long as you don’t just stare at the thing all day (look to distance so you aren’t working close in exclusively) it should be fine.