FEATURED Seiki Mini-Review

PREFACE:
I've already done the 3 screen portrait mode Eyefinity thing. After the novelty wore off, I was left with 3x the energy usage of a single monitor, bezels that broke up the image, and compatibility issues related to crossfire in apps (mostly games).

One More Note: I offered to help test font color readability differences between the light and dark themes but was told the issue was moot because someone is working on correcting the code to display a readable color no matter which theme you choose to use. I don't know if that happened yet so Due to the Light/Dark Theme issue, you may not like the font color I chose.

Seiki Digital SE50UY04 Mini-Review
I've been using a Dell U3011 for a few years now, having bought it to replace 3 Dell U2410s in Portrait Mode Eyefinity. The 30" seemed a great compromise and, in fact, I've been quite pleased with it; to the point that I have mentioned, on more than one occasion, that it was among the best purchases I've ever made.
Fast forward two years and I find that I spend as much time yearning for a new, higher resolution monitor as I do gaming. Gaming isn't even the issue, either...I just want more real estate for productivity apps.
As I was surfing on one of the hardware forums I frequent, I came across a thread about a person who purchased a Sharp 4k2k Monitor capable of 60Hz and was waiting for it to arrive. While reading the thread I decided to do a Google search to read up a bit on the Sharp monitor.
I came across a link to the Seiki 50” QuadHD TV (advertised as 4k2k) capable of 3840x2160 resolution. At the time, no one seemed to know if it was capable of only 30Hz, whether it took two HDMI cables to create a picture, or much of anything else about it, except that it was being offered for $1299 + free shipping and no tax. After I linked to it in the thread, people started looking at it and discussing its weak points and strengths someone posted a link to the PCPer pod cast where that site had ordered one to see if it was acceptable for gaming.
Based on that review some people decided to take the plunge and order it. I was one of those who decided to order but, when I tried to get it from Tiger Direct, it was out of stock. I went to ShopNBC instead and ordered it. The only negative about using the ShopNBC site was the shipping was slower than everyone else’s’ so I didn’t receive my TV until well after others started receiving theirs.


Reasons Why I Took a Chance

• Abnormally Low Price
• No bells & Whistles (Since I am going to use it as a monitor, I don’t need all the options available in my Samsung TV
• The Possibility (unknown, untested, and ultimately un-doable 60Hz refresh using (2) HDMI cables as input)
• 1yr Replacement Warranty

Initial Impression

Mine arrived two weeks and 2 days after I ordered it. It arrived using fully adequate shipping packing. It actually came better packed than my Samsun Smart TV so I was pleasantly surprised.
My first impressions of the unit itself matched those of the PCPer podcast in that the unit has a somewhat flimsy base plate stand on which it rests. The screws holding the plate in place did not look much bigger than some case screws I have seen before so I was initially worried about it just snapping and falling over on its own.
Setup was completed without any hassles though so I moved on to connecting it to my computer, using the included HDMI 1.4a cable. (Very nice to see they didn’t skimp on the cable)




Test Setup

Test setup consists of two almost identical systems, both of which used Enhanced Turbo mode for on-the-fly overclocking of all 4 cores, and the only major differences were the Video Cards used and the CPU Used:

Sys #1
MSI Z77A-GD65
Intel Core i7 2600K
Corsair H-100i
(2) Gigabyte W3 Radeon 7970s
180GB SSD, (2) M4 512GB SSDs
Corsair AX-850
Kingston HyperX Beast 2400MHz
Win7 Pro 64/Win8 Pro 64 (Dual Boot)

Sys #2
MSI Z77A-GD65
Intel Core i7 3770K
Corsair H-100i
(2) Asus GeForce GTX Titans
180GB SSD, (2) M4 512GB SSDs
Corsair AX1200i
Kingston HyperX Beast 2400MHz
Win7 Pro 64/Win8 Pro 64 (Dual Boot)

Setup in the OS was painless. I adjusted the Resolution to the panel’s native res and that was it. I did not attempt to do anything differently than the PCPer podcast as far as settings were concerned. I used the HDMI out from my Radeons in Crossfire and it seemed fine. Over the next few days, however, I noticed a problem where the resolution would suddenly “reset” itself.



Initial reports seemed to be related to Radeons so I created a ticket with Seiki and with AMD in an effort to get them to coordinate with each other and research/resolve the problem. Turns out that it was a TV-related issue entirely and Seiki had an updated firmware available the day after I reported the problem. It actually took me longer to get documentation from them on how to flash the Firmware to the latest version than it took them to create the firmware. I believe this is due to a couple factors.

• Their firmware upgrade process is well defined on their site and this TV’s update process is completely different so their Tech writer probably was never informed of the change in update processes.
• It felt like the person I dealt with believed I was a little more technically astute than I actually am, so he thought I’d figure it out. (and I didn’t until he listed the steps for me)

Video Testing

Because it does not have expensive up-conversion hardware built-in, if you feed it crappy video, you’re going to get crappy video out. Just in a larger, blockier video.
Playback of 1080p content I downloaded from Youtube (mp4 versions of most recent music videos) is surprisingly well.
10bit 720p content in the form of mkv files is excellent
Make MKV rips of movies like Brave, Prometheus, Avengers, T2 (BluRay edition) are also excellent.
4k Content looks amazing, and that’s an accurate statement. If there are –any- questions regarding the picture quality feel free to look through the high definition video/photography forums like redforum to take their word for it.
Those guys and gals are professionals who spend 10s of thousands of dollars on 4k2k and 8k4k photography and video equipment. The majority opinion over there is that this is a surprisingly great panel for its price point. I am not the only person who replaced a high-end 30” with this and didn’t look back.

Gaming Testing

The first thing I did was run Valley at Ultra Extreme Custom(to choose 3840x2160) and by test 9/18 my Radeons were being crushed against their upper frame buffer limit of 3GB and cursing me while yelling, “Rape!”. In order to successfully complete a run I had to use the following settings:
3840x2160 Ultra DX11 2xAA
For comparison’s sake I used these same settings for the GeForce Titan testing.

Test Platform 1
Core i7 2600K 3.4GHz using Upper Multiplier limit of 47 with Radeon 7970s stock clocks on the Gigabyte W3 is 1100MHz/1500MHz
Score = 1611 points with 38.5fps average

Test Platform 2
Core i7 3770K 3.4GHz using Upper Multiplier limit of 47 with GeForce Titans at stock clocks
Score = 2384 with 57.0fps average




Next up was Bioshock 1. Why use an older game such as that when games like Bioshock Infinite are available?

• Because I like the look and feel of Bioshock 1 better
• Because I wanted to use a less taxing game since I already knew the TV is limited to a 30Hz refresh rate
• Because I’m the one doing the testing, lol.

Unfortunately, I can’t include a .png screenshot from the game at full size and resolution since it is far larger than the size limit allowed for attachments. Even Imgur does some sort of resizing that doesn’t let you see just how much bigger in scale the picture is. All I can say to describe it is, “Holy Mother of God! That’s FRIKKIN HUGE! And Beautiful!”.




Figure 3 - Radeon 7970s in Xfire Screenshot

RESERVED FOR Bioshock Infinite Generic Benchmark results later today

Each quarter of the screen is 1920x1080. If you’re reading this while using American Idol Resolution, you can plainly see you’re missing out on 75% of the big picture.
I bought this TV to use as a monitor mainly for the added desktop real estate it provides and, in this area, it is superior. I generally surf the net while having several apps open. My browser takes up roughly half of two of the 4 blocks on the right side. At this resolution, that leaves me with enough space left over to watch a movie in a 39” diagonal window in Windows Media Player.
When using productivity applications such as MS Access, Excel, Word, Power Point, etc. there is simply no comparison to my old setup, or even to my old Eyefinity setup. (Anyone recall the cursor glitch?)

30Hz Gaming

It’s “different”. I won’t try to say it’s not. I will say that it’s perfectly acceptable to me. However, it is eminently playable for me. I also tweaked my game’s ini files to remove the input lag entirely in some games and reduced it to levels that do not adversely affect my game play in others.
While my game library is small, it does have some of the most popular games. Skyrim, FONV, BioShock !, 2, and 3, Kerbal Space Program are the most recent games but I also loaded Total Annihilation Supreme Commander Pack from GOG and it is simply awesome.

Reliability/Service

Unknown. I’d never heard of Seiki before last month. I don’t even know if they’ll be around next month. However, I can’t imagine them going out of business when they respond to a customer’s request within 24h while Samsung has not responded in 9 months to a simple question I had about rearranging the icons in my Smart TV Menu…

Final Impressions

Increasing my desktop real estate to footprint ratio what I've been waiting for, and hoping for, and dreaming of for over a year now.
During that time I have searched high and low for a way to go beyond 2560x1600 without going back to using Eyefinity/NV Surround.
For a “cheap”, no-frills TV to succeed where a monitor behemoth has fallen short says something very good about Seiki’s latest product release. For me, it can best be summarized in 3 words; Worth. Every. Penny.

Preface:

Nice display! I want one for my home cinema...

I just had to laugh with joy when I saw your screen in relation to the 30". I remember the feeling when I first put a 30" on my desk... and this thing just makes it look like a toy.

I think it looks great, but I just couldn't do it for the following reasons:

• 30Hz refresh rate is borderline for me. I still occasionally get annoyed with panning shots in movies at 24Hz, so my eyesight would likely not be happy with 30Hz (especially gaming).
• I would essentially be forced to buy Titans just to play games at 4K (guess it isn't too much of a con, just a good excuse)
• From previous experiences of upgrading monitors, I know I could never look back and go to a smaller screen. I would be ruined for life, and my co-workers would hate me when I finally convince my boss to upgrade my workstation to the same giant screen I have at home...

Thanks for the review. It really does look like a great deal for that price, and I look forward to seeing more monitors like it come out in the future.

Thanks for sharing your experience! I can't afford it, but can definitely appreciate a good deal.

Burdman27911 said:

I just had to laugh with joy when I saw your screen in relation to the 30". I remember the feeling when I first put a 30" on my desk... and this thing just makes it look like a toy.

I think it looks great, but I just couldn't do it for the following reasons:

• 30Hz refresh rate is borderline for me. I still occasionally get annoyed with panning shots in movies at 24Hz, so my eyesight would likely not be happy with 30Hz (especially gaming).
• I would essentially be forced to buy Titans just to play games at 4K (guess it isn't too much of a con, just a good excuse)
• From previous experiences of upgrading monitors, I know I could never look back and go to a smaller screen. I would be ruined for life, and my co-workers would hate me when I finally convince my boss to upgrade my workstation to the same giant screen I have at home...

Thanks for the review. It really does look like a great deal for that price, and I look forward to seeing more monitors like it come out in the future.

Click to expand...

Been so busy lately playing the Beta for Neverwinter that I haven't had time to respond...

Yeah when I first installed my U3011 I was like, "Woah! this thing dwarfs my U2410!" and then, "BAM!" the 3011 looks like Warrick Davis standing next to Shaq...

Playing Neverwinter, I haven't seen anything I'd call a problem when using this display. When VSync is off, response times are instantaneous. With VSync on, not so much...it's like it's giving you extra time to decide if that's truly the direction you want to turn...

I've probably played 100 Hrs of Neverwinter in the last week and this TV/Monitor frikkin' rocks in that game. Anyone using multimonitor knows how fun it is to be able to peek around the corner or see "farther" due to the extra real estate provided and this thing allows me to play smarter because I can see stuff much farther away than normal. Of course, that ability comes with a $2k pricetag thanks to the Titans I bought, but it's Neverwinter has been hellafun! I'm gonna throw Rift back onto the computer soon to see how it performs.

Don't even mention "going back" to a smaller screen. It makes my bunghole involuntarily pucker.

Seiki 39” SE39UY04 Mini-Review
This mini-review is for the 39” version of the Seiki 4k (more accurately, UHD) TV. I purchased it for a pilot project at work with the intention of taking it home to replace the 50” Seiki on my main rig.

The reasons behind initiating the pilot project were many of the same reasons I purchased the 50”. Increase the screen real estate while doing away with a multi-monitor setup in order to save energy as well as support costs associated with having 1000+ “extra” monitors in our work place. An additional reason was to provide needed support for section 508 personnel (those persons with a handicap such as a vision impairment where a UHD screen would allow them to zoom in and still see more of their screen)

An additional, personal reason for getting the 39” is that I don’t have to “look up” to see the top of the monitor screen. This is a major improvement and my neck has already sent me several gift cards and a fruit basket as thanks. This is due more to the fact that the “computer desk” in my bedroom is, in fact, an old kitchen table which sits about a foot higher than a normal desk. It would have been cheaper to buy a new desk, but I’m lazy. I didn’t feel like swapping out the table since I had to take it apart to get it into my bedroom in the first place, lol.

Spec-wise, it’s very similar to the 50” SE50UY04 above, with a few notable exceptions.

1 - The 50” currently supports 120Hz operation when running in 1080p mode. The 39” is supposed to support this mode of operation but, from what I hear on another forum, it does not. This is supposed to be fixed with a firmware update, but I never use it in that mode so I am not too worried if the update doesn’t happen.

2 - The other notable difference between the 39” and the 50” Seiki is in the OSD Menu system. The Service Menu for 50” is where you access the “advanced” color options for tweaking and calibration. On the 39” TV, once you flash to the latest firmware version, these color settings can be accessed on the “normal” menu, if you scroll down to the “Advanced” setting option. This makes calibration or tweaking color settings far faster and easier. You will, however, need to update to the latest firmware in order to get this option on the normal menu.

On either model, the Service Menu is still accessed by the same method…Press the Menu button, then press “0000”. The process of updating the firmware is also the same.

When I first bought the 50” version, its screen occasionally blanked out for a second or so at random times. The “fix” for this blanking issue was contained in an updated version of the firmware and flashing to the latest firmware eliminated the problem on the 50”. This same issue was present on the 39” unit I received, and flashing to the latest firmware eliminated this problem on the 39” as well.

1st Generation UHD Limitations

Because these are both 1st generation UHD TVs they are limited to a 30Hz refresh rate when running at the panel’s native resolution of 3840x2160.

While this is definitely a deal-breaker for some, I have found that, for me, it’s perfectly acceptable in all situations. I’m using this TV as a monitor for the purposes of gaining additional screen real estate and, in this function, both the SE50UY04 the SE39UY04 excel.

Speaking of Excel; A good example of the resolution difference between a standard resolution TV/Monitor and a UHD TV is to compare the number of columns and rows that are visible.

Open a blank MS Excel spreadsheet on your current monitor and maximize MS Excel. How many columns and rows do you see at MS Excel’s default setting? On the Seiki, I see 92 Rows and 55 columns. For working on large spreadsheets (financial management/Project Management, etc) it’s an excellent monitor. It is also great when working in an IDE so you can have several different development windows open simultaneously. This may provide a more graphic example of the difference between a standard resolution LCD monitor and the UHD TV resolution of 3840x2160.

Installation (Side-grade from my 50” SE50UY04)

I powered off the computer, unplugged the Power and HDMI cable from the 50”, and moved that TV out of the way. I put the 39” on the table, connected power and HDMI cable, and powered up the computer and turned on the TV.
Windows booted right up to the login screen at native 3840x2160 resolution, and that was that.

It is my understanding that in order to fully take advantage of UHD resolution you need the 600 series of nVidia cards or the 7000 series of AMD Radeons. I tried using a Radeon 5450 based on a post at the red ray forum site and discovered that the 5450 does not support HDMI 1.4 so UHD is not possible. Once I replaced that 5450 with a 7750, 3840x2160 was immediately available in the CCC and the computer booted up at the higher native resolution automatically.

Subjective observations

I’ve played about 250+ hours of Path of Exile and 200+ hours of Skyrim and, to me, the performance is fine. My vision is not sensitive enough that I see anything wrong with the color or ghosting or tearing. As always, YMMV, but in my case, I am very pleased with the color and performance so far.

The remote control unit on the 39” has a far better “feel” and layout than the one on the 50”. Speaking of remotes…

I am experiencing one minor issue with the 39” that I did not see with the 50” Seiki. If I use the monitor for more than 4 hours at a time, I get an auto-power-off pop-up that tells me the TV will auto power down in 60 seconds (unless I press a button on the remote)

I will post some pictures later today when I get around to clearing off the computer desk.

Bumped to let everyone know there will soon be an upgrade kit available to upgrade the 39" and 50" Seiki TV to use Display Port connectivity so they can display 3840x2160 AT 60 HZ

notarat said:

Bumped to let everyone know there will soon be an upgrade kit available to upgrade the 39" and 50" Seiki TV to use Display Port connectivity so they can display 3840x2160 AT 60 HZ

Click to expand...

Any source or other info on that?

There was a discussion somewhere else on the web on developing such a board but it seems to have stalled. Maybe it was harder than anticipated? FPGA design is very unlike traditional programming, just ask Tiffany Yep... For the time being, supporting 60Hz at 4K is of limited use when even a 980 will struggle to do that in current games, especially with the details turned up as you probably would on such a big screen.

The real bonus is 1080p at 120Hz. There are many "120Hz" displays out there that don't truly do 120Hz but rather a simulated "120Hz". The Seiki will do a real 120Hz at 1080p. Also, it does have upscaling (built into the LCD controller board), albeit a poor one that only works well scaling by integral factors. No problem since every modern GPU has a good scaler built in. The backlight strobes at 120Hz, basically meaning it supports "LightBoost". The panel is S-MVA, not quite as good as much more expensive S-IPS (but really close!) but far better than TN. Power use with the backlight turned down to a reasonable level is about 40W, making it the most efficient color LCD (per viewable area) I have come across.

There was a sale a few weeks back. I got the 50" version for $450 a week prior to the Maxwell release. Just in time since shortly after Maxwell released, the prices jumped quite a bit on one site and went out of stock on another!

On my 560 Ti, I could not get 4K to work (I read about some others who did, apparently by "overclocking" the output units), but 1080p at 120Hz works, albeit pointless when a 560 Ti is too old to actually do 120 FPS with reasonable details. Loading photos using the USB did well to show off the 4K quality. Can't wait to upgrade to a 970...