Should you Buy THIS Monitor.. or a TV?
Linus Tech Tips
·Linus Tech Tips
·2018-05-06
·
1,392 words · ~6 min read
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traditionally computer monitors have been much smaller than tvs you know to
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fit on your desk and with much higher pixel density to make them suitable for
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up-close viewing of fine details like text
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but thanks to 4k ultra hd resolution
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a 43-inch tv would actually have the same detail
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level at an equal distance as a 21.5
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inch 1080p monitor which seems to be exactly what lg was
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thinking when they created the 43 ud-79
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a product they're calling a monitor
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that's the size of a tv for a price that's somewhere in between
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check out ibuypower's gaming desktops featuring Intel 7th generation core i7
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7700k processor on newegg at the link below
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the 43 ud 79 or ud as i'll be calling it
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is the biggest monitor ever to grace our
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lab beating the previous champ phil who you can meet over here by three whole
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inches the idea here is that the giant factory
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calibrated ips panel will give you wide viewing angles and accurate though not
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professional grade colors making tasks like heavy multitasking system
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monitoring and wolf of wall street style stock trading super immersive without
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the head turning or disruptive bezels that a multi-screen setup would require
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okay then with you so far
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this giant uncurved monitor then rests
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on a 13 pound stand that gets an extra bonus by the way for being super hefty
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but and this won't be the last tv-like thing about it like most tvs has very
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limited mobility we get a nice amount of tilt but no height adjust or swivel
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which might actually be a bigger deal than normal if you want to quickly turn
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ud from your office chair to your bed for movie time
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around the back io is unusually well labeled a really nice touch for anyone
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who doesn't have the resolution support chart memorized for every revision of
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HDMI not to mention super comprehensive
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the extra type c port for displayport is particularly forward thinking and here's
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something interesting it's got an rs232c
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port this was the standard for connecting modems and other peripherals to your pc
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before usb came along and more importantly in the home theater world
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it's used to connect your home automation and control systems so you
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can do things like automatically mute the tv when the doorbell rings cool
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right but wait a minute it's almost as if lg
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wants you to use ud like you would a tv
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he even comes with a freaking remote that you can use instead of the nipple
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interface to turn the brightness
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up and down and control the volume
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volume that's right like again many of lg's tvs
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ud is equipped with two 10 watt speakers
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and unlike most monitor speakers they're surprisingly not bad
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okay Linus so what's the hecking difference between a monitor with
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speakers and a tv then well if you're my
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grandparents and you still have a coax cable plugged into the back of your tv
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instead of a digital set-top box that connects via HDMI i guess there's that
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but otherwise not much
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so let's talk then about what it's like to use a tv-like monitor
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frankly at normal desk distance it is not my
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favorite personally yes you can use lg's included screen
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splitting software to have four 21-inch Windows open at a time
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but most of the content we create around
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here and consume like word documents and just
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about anything on the web is better when your window is taller
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than it is wide so even though ud is six
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inches taller than the 38 inch ultra wide on my desk
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the whole ultra wide pitch also from lg
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was that it fits your field of view so then depending on your personal
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preference that might end up being six inches of not very useful space because
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you need to move your mouse not to mention your eyes a long way between the
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bottom and the top of the screen which combined with the stand's immobility can
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make for a fatiguing experience and finally there's pixel density
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everyone agrees 4k tvs look amazing from
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the couch but we're sitting really close here at
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this size neither james nor i was that impressed and with high-end displays
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shipping with retina-like sharpness
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this really felt like a step backwards to me and in response to your comment
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jeff no i'm not gonna move the screen back
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because if i was gonna do that wouldn't i just save a buck and get a smaller
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screen all of that said not everyone will agree
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some of you will really want a ginormous
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display but this one at 43 inches and 700 costs
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about what a 4k 55 inch tv would
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so why not just buy the tv then
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well pixel density at that size is even more
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of an issue but other than that there used to be some additional and serious
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concerns when using a tv as a monitor like high color compression that made
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text look blurry and brutal input lag
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that made gaming nearly impossible but these are non-issues on many modern
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tv sets where 444 chroma sub sampling
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keeps the text readable and features like game mode lower the input lag to
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more workable levels though it must be said that not every
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new tv's game mode actually turns all image processing off displaylag.com is a
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great resource for finding one that doesn't suck bottom line then
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a lot of tvs have pretty much caught up to monitor performance except for
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special features like ultra high refresh rates that are demanded by hardcore
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gamers so back to ud then if beauty had
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cutting-edge monitor-only features like freesync or g-sync for gamers as well as
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higher refresh rate and super low input lag
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then it would be able to clearly differentiate itself from both a tv and
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a monitor as it is though it's an in-between size with mostly tv-like
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performance and features at a reasonable price
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making it a solid product and one that lots of people will like especially
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given the matte panel when most tvs are glossy
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but it's not for me personally so i'm going with the official
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meh it's up to you i guess stamp of approval i mean that is what you guys
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pay me for right if you know i fix it you know that they
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really like taking stuff apart and teaching people how to fix their stuff
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they're constantly posting tear downs and repair videos for popular devices
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like the galaxy s8 iphone and nintendo switch and they are also leading the
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charge in electronics repair tools with
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their iconic black and blue protac tool kit and it's now only 60 bucks this
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thing is freaking awesome i use it for everything tearing down conventional
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things like phones if i need to change out a battery
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all the way to rando things like monitors they've got all the bits you
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need for just about any diy electronics repair they've got a protective case the
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lid is held in place by magnets the case is held onto the the cover by magnets
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it's got a flex extension it's got a bunch of plastic opening tools so you
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don't scratch up your stuff while you're opening it up suction cups you name it
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it's got it and it's esd safe as well
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not to mention backed by a lifetime warranty so go check out the 25 000 free
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repair guides over at ifixit.com Linus to snag the fully loaded protect
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toolkit for 60 bucks so thanks for watching guys if this
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video sucked you know what to do but if it was awesome hit the like button get
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subscribed check out where to buy your own ud at the link in the video description
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uh oh right we have a merch store and also join our community forum five
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things to do hey there's your next 20 minutes