Question about 4K monitors

Back in 2020 I bought 2 28" 4K monitors to replace my 2 24" monitors and ran into all kinds of issues with my desktop not fitting the whole monitor, the icons were tiny and every work around didn't work I sold the 2 28" 4K monitors and loss a lot of $$$$

the original thread is below if anyone wants to see what all happened.

Anyone else having problems after upgrading to 4K Monitors


Just wondering if there has been any improvement or is this still an issue??

Compumind said:

Hello -

I would not have sold them.

You might have needed a new graphics card, cables and appropriate drivers.
There are also other software setting in Windows to optimize the displays.

I know you don't have time to read my old thread but for weeks we tried everythhing and nobody had any suggestions that worked. Don't want to go down the 4K monitor street again with same results

Compumind said:

I actually read the thread. I have my own thoughts and procedures, but I guess the case is moot now.

Was I the only one who has this display issues when I went to 4K monitors? I would think not but back then nobody seem to have the same issues. My goal was to have desltops with larger icons and fonts as well as the 4K for video. tried every adjustments in Windows 10 and nothing worked...

When I built my W11 machine, I used a 43" 4k (tcl) TV. Video cards were outrageous at the time (perhaps still are) so bought a $69.00 MSI GeForce 710 (gaming??) and it works super @ 3840 x 2160 using HDMI1. As far as 2 monitors, I can put up 2 windows and achieve nearly the same result?? W10 machine using 2x 24" normal monitors. Quite a bit of difference when on W11. YMMV

meebers said:

When I built my W11 machine, I used a 43" 4k (tcl) TV. Video cards were outrageous at the time (perhaps still are) so bought a $69.00 MSI GeForce 710 (gaming??) and it works super @ 3840 x 2160 using HDMI1. As far as 2 monitors, I can put up 2 windows and achieve nearly the same result?? W10 machine using 2x 24" normal monitors. Quite a bit of difference when on W11. YMMV

Thanks for your reply, I'm not using W11, I use window 10 wonder if that makes a difference. I will look into a 4K TV but with my setup it might be a bit too much. Any chance you could post a pic of your TV with 2 windows to give an idea what it would look like? my problem with all the icons and fonts being tiny on the 4K monitors it'd be nice to see how things look on a 43" 4K TV

Thanks again

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meebers said:

When I built my W11 machine, I used a 43" 4k (tcl) TV. Video cards were outrageous at the time (perhaps still are) so bought a $69.00 MSI GeForce 710 (gaming??) and it works super @ 3840 x 2160 using HDMI1. As far as 2 monitors, I can put up 2 windows and achieve nearly the same result?? W10 machine using 2x 24" normal monitors. Quite a bit of difference when on W11. YMMV

Another question your reply made me think of is this.
How long have you had this TV as a monitor and any issues with burn in?

Do you use it as a desktop,by this I mean are there icons on your TV as they would be on a monitor? how long do you keep it on? for example I ahve had my 2 24" Samsung monitors on 24/7 for years and I have no issues of anything wrong like burn in or anything at all as a issue. My thoughts that TV's are not built for static use. I saw a Youtube Video
aboutt he TCL 43" Class 4-Series 4K UHD HDR Roku Smart TV it even has a setting to tell the TV you are using it for a computer monitor. wondering is your TCL is that same Roku and do you know what I am talking about when I say the option to tell the TV you are using it for a computer monitor?

Looking forward to hearing back when you have time. I am going tomorrow to buy one at Walmart to test it out and see my first thoughts and if it isn't for me WalMart is easy return.

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Compumind said:

I actually read the thread. I have my own thoughts and procedures, but I guess the case is moot now.

Compumind,
What are your thoughts about using a 43" 4K TV as a computer monitor? if anyone else has converted to a TV instead of a monitor please feel free to reply with your experiences I am looking for all the info I can get on this new thought.

I have read your previous thread again and nothing has really changed. Windows 11 has improved things slightly for high DPI displays.
e.g. my new laptop has a panel that is 200 DPI (scale factor 150%) rather than the old one with 100 DPI (scale factor 100%).

"My goal was to have desltops with larger icons and fonts as well as the 4K for video. tried every adjustments in Windows 10 and nothing worked..."

It is not a display issue but largely an individuals eyesight. i.e. how well they focus on a display at a given distance. That is factor for your optician, we know nothing of such factors.

Basically you need to look for screens with a DPI of around 100 DPI which is what I said before. If you want 4K then that will be a large size of screen again as I said before around 48" monitor.

The DPI number you have to calculate as they are never given in Monitor data.

Helmut said:

I have read your previous thread again and nothing has really changed. Windows 11 has improved things slightly for high DPI displays.
e.g. my new laptop has a panel that is 200 DPI (scale factor 150%) rather than the old one with 100 DPI (scale factor 100%).

"My goal was to have desltops with larger icons and fonts as well as the 4K for video. tried every adjustments in Windows 10 and nothing worked..."

It is not a display issue but largely an individuals eyesight. i.e. how well they focus on a display at a given distance. That is factor for your optician, we know nothing of such factors.

Basically you need to look for screens with a DPI of around 100 DPI which is what I said before. If you want 4K then that will be a large size of screen again as I said before around 48" monitor.

The DPI number you have to calculate as they are never given in Monitor data.

Windows 10 should have the ability to make fonts and icons adustable so when someone wants a 4K monitor and do not have perfect vision would have a way to adjust things so they can enjoy the 4K and see the fonts and icons. If you adjust the font size then you run into the problem of file explorer folder names being cut off.. seem that Microsoft should at least fix this in Win 11. Ill stick with Win 10 until 2025 anyways so I am back to my regular monitors and see everything fine..

Sometime funny........lol I was going to try a 43" 4K TV as a monitor, read many people do it. So this morning I went to Walmart bought a 43"4K TV got home hooked it up and wow M my eyes were going crazy trying to focus on things. as I started to resize things I realize that one of my most favorite programs and most used "Clipmate" doesn't adjust in size when you get in higher resilousions... so I packed the TV up and brought it back for a refund....

Update your graphics drivers. If for some reason instead of your actual hardware you see Microsoft Basic Display Adapter in Device Manager, this means that you have zero hardware acceleration (all visuals are rendered by CPU) and also that only standard resolutions are supported (800x600, 1024x768, 1280x1024, 1280x800 etc). This could explain why the image doesn't fit exactly your monitor. Also if you have 3840x2160 (4K) resolution you can then change scaling to 150% or 200% or even 300% until you see the icons and text comfortably. In Intel and other graphics cards settings, you may set the image to keep aspect ratio or use full screen without margin etc. I always select the full screen option so any resolution always fills the screen. If it is a TV rather than a monitor you may have to try the available aspect ratio settings from the remote control until you make the image fill the screen without cropping (overscan).