Got this to use as a WIN 7 PC monitor at full resolution with a PNY GTX 660 bought for this purpose. I am a programmer and wanted a monitor that would display the max amount of text in several windows at once.
Purchased as a 'used - very good' for $372, but it clearly had never been out of the box when it arrived so was in new condition.
Followed the advice of the other reviewers - updated firmware to the latest version (39") from the SEIKI site, turned sharpness down to 0, noise reduction off, automatic power off to OFF, and adjusted backlight and colors to get a pleasing image. Once that is all done, the image displayed is pin sharp and looks great. Note that you must use a HDMI connection to get 3840x2160.
Monitor does not support waking up after PC goes to sleep - it will turn off, and you will have to turn back on manually, not a huge problem, but depending on your graphics card, you may find Windows (or NVIDIA) has moved all your windows to the top left of the display if you let the PC go to sleep (a pain), so I disabled turning off monitors in 'power settings' in Windows. Hope they can implement 'wake up' in firmware in the future like other monitors.
Font size - regular windows fonts at the default size are about as small as you probably want on the 39". Since the SEIKI display is almost exactly equal to 4x20" 1080p monitors, the text you get at 4K resolution will look the same size as text at 1080p on a 20" monitor. If you are used to a 24" 1080p monitor, the text on the 39" SEIKI will be a little smaller - the 50" model would be approx the same as 4x24" 1080p monitors.
Monitor placement - since font sizes at max resolution are comparable to a 20" monintor at 1080p, you need to be as close to the 39" as you would a 20" in order to get the same legibility. This was OK for me. The 50" version would give slightly larger characters, but the 'front row at the movies' effect would be more evident I think. You will have to move your head to view from one side to the other in either case.
30HZ refresh rate (a limitation of HDMI 1.4) - works fine for me, but I'm only editing text, not gaming.
All in all, monitor works great for me, and there is nothing else comparable in the price range. Other companies are coming out with 4K monitors in the 28-32" size range at the moment, but quite frankly, for my purposes of viewing the most text possible, a 4K monitor that *small* would display *tiny* fonts by default (same size as you would get with a 14"-16" 1080p - there isn't such a thing), and increasing the font size using the Windows control panel just gives you less text, so my opinion is you need the physical large size as well as the 4K resolution for text editing purposes.
(Update 2/25/2014 - purchased a Accell (B086B-008B-2) UltraAV Mini DisplayPort 1.1 to HDMI 1.4 Active Adapter and can now run my mid 2011 Mac Mini (AMD Radeon HD 6630M) at 4K / 30hz using a HDMI 1.4 cable, as with the PC its Excellent!)
Your needs may be different to mine!
| Brand Name | SEIKI |
|---|---|
| Item Weight | 35.6 pounds |
| Product Dimensions | 35.16 x 7.87 x 23.33 inches |
| Item model number | SE39UY04 |
| Batteries | 2 AA batteries required. (included) |
| Is Discontinued By Manufacturer | No |
| Color Name | Black |
| Speaker Type | Built-in |
