Seiki Aims For Monitor Market

[roadtonowhere08]

http://www.pcper.com/news/Displays/Seiki-Announces-28-32-and-40-4K-Ultra-HD-Monitors-HDMI-20-and-DisplayPort-13

 

Quick Rundown:

 

Seiki will introduce three different sizes including a 28-in (28U4SEP-G02), 32-in (32U4SEP-G02) and 40-in (40U4SEP-G02) offering with the following specs:

• Vertical Alignment (VA) LED panel technology with 3,840 by 2,160 4K Ultra HD
  resolution
• 12-bit color processing and 14-bit gamma mode
• HDMI 2.0, DisplayPort 1.3(!), MHL 3.0, DVI and VGA standards display connections
• Picture-by-picture (x4) and daisy chain mode
• USB 3.0 hub (1 upstream and 2 downstream)
• VESA-compliant adjustable monitor stand with quick release

 

 

 

 

Probably not going to be NEC quality, but for the prices they will probably ask, they'll be bang for the buck.  40" 4K?  S'il vous plaît!

Edited June 25, 2014 by roadtonowhere08

[postjack]

There are already large and cheap 4k monitors/tvs available. They tend to have poor color fidelity, poor gamut, poor contrast, hefty input lag, and bad refresh rates. Maybe this will be different, but I wouldn't bet on it.

But its 4K. Fuck yeah.

[roadtonowhere08]

There are already large and cheap 4k monitors/tvs available. They tend to have poor color fidelity, poor gamut, poor contrast, hefty input lag, and bad refresh rates.  Maybe this will be different, but I wouldn't bet on it.

 

Yes, there are those, but they suck.  They were TN pieces of crap aimed at the people who only see the 4k aspect and nothing else.  They were also limited by their input chipsets via HDMI and DP, and that's why they had 30hz refreshes.

 

The computer monitor market has been beyond stagnant for years.  Displays have been left in the dust compared to other computer parts as far as development.  It's pathetic.  My refurb 3007wfp-hc is still very relevant all these years later.  

 

So this announcement will not be a silver bullet, but it is very much a step in the right direction.  I hope Seiki does this right and drags everyone along with them, like Apple has done with mobile screens.

Edited June 26, 2014 by roadtonowhere08

[grawk]

except the desktop market to drive it is very small.  So good monitors aren't cheap.  1080p is good enough for almost everyone, until 4K movies are the standard

[roadtonowhere08]

From a movies perspective, Dan, I agree, but from a productivity or gaming perspective, I think there is a larger market for 40 inch 4k monitors than you give credit.  People who have been splashing out on Titans and high end CPUs have been screaming for something like this for years.  If Seiki can make this series comparable to a Dell Ultrasharp (middle of the road quality) and make the 40" under $1,500-$2,000, they will have a huge hit.

 

Whatever the outcome, I am thrilled to see DP 1.3 being mentioned.  It truly is the future of high resolution displays.  HDMI can eat it.

Edited June 26, 2014 by roadtonowhere08

[Dusty Chalk]

I definitely think there's a market for gamers. Those guys are nuts.

[grawk]

Sure, there's a market for them, but there's not enough of them to bring economies of scale into effect.  You can't overclock an lcd panel into twice the resolution or quality, so they can't wink at the gamers and let them do the quality testing for the manufacturers like they can with cpus.  And the GPUs are trickling down from places like my employer, so there's a market to leverage that gets the price into reach.

[Dusty Chalk]

"not enough of them"?  Dude, there are whole magazines like maximum PC whose entire existence is based on guys like that.  

 

There's also what I'll call the Bose set -- people who want something better just because they can afford it, without doing the research.  It's the same thing that makes HDTracks successful selling 24-bit, 44.1 kHz "high res" files.

[grawk]

the barrier to entry for inexpensive digital downloads is significantly different than for inexpensive high quality 4k panels.  I'd love to see great huge 4k panels cheap, I'm just not sure market pressures are there yet.

[Dusty Chalk]

We're talking market, not personal experience. The only question is whether they will evolve to have been the early adopters, or stagnate as a niche market.

[roadtonowhere08]

I really do think these panels will tip the scales and get other companies on board.  Who knows what they have planned (perhaps the same specs with a higher price - and perhaps better panel), but Seiki has them beat in the marketing portion.  Every computer forum I frequent, many people have bought the 39 or 50 inch 4k Seiki TVs.  The discriminating ones gripe about the refresh and panel quality, but a sale is a sale, and that's what we are talking about here, right?

[grawk]

Not generally no. What sells in volume to idiots isn't generally a topic of conversation.

[roadtonowhere08]

*Sigh*  I am seeing where you are coming from, and yes, those existing panels from Seiki are pretty bad, but you have to start somewhere.  That's all I am saying.

Edited June 26, 2014 by roadtonowhere08