I currently use a 32inch HD tv screen (1920x1080) as a monitor. When I fly the DCS Viggen, I can hardly read the cockpit switches etc. See picture. Would it be a (big) improvement if I got a 4K screen and if so, what would be a decent one for a decent price?
2 Likes
imo 2K res is perfect for 32" pancake.
when we are at it, just few days ago I bought myself 32" 2K 165hz lcd monitor (not TV) Samsung S32AG520
I used 55" 4K TVs in the past. for these sizes 4K is necessary I would say. but the performance hit is huge. be sure to have enough horsepower pushed by your pc(gpu) to feed 4K.
3 Likes
TV’s are poor substitutes for monitors in most cases. If you go BIG, like 55", they work fine, but under 36" I’ve never had good results unless it was a monitor.
There’s a reason why a 27" 1440p monitor costs as much or more than a 55" 4K TV. Resolution alone is not the whole story.
3 Likes
I use a 34" curved dell monitor. Its amazing
Dell S3422DWG Curved Gaming Monitor - 34 Inch 1800R Curved Screen with 144Hz Refresh Rate, WQHD (3440 x 1440) Display, HDMI, DP to DP 1.4 Cable, AMD FreeSync - Black https://a.co/d/0MWFMiR
5 Likes
I am not into curved yet. but it can be a nice feature in case of ultra wides
I have a curved 34" 3440x1440 144hz ultrawide OLED monitor. It’s amazing. I use my old 27"1440p IPS monitor as a my second monitor and the difference is night and day
I got this one for 275€ during a sale this summer: CU34G2X/BK | AOC Monitors
1 Like
Of course, the problem with monitors wider than standard is making sure all your games work with it.
Not only older games but even newer ones may not always support it.
Why is this? You are definitely correct. My 55 inch is awful for arma etc. But my little laptop screen works well. Even on the same resolution.
Why. Its weird!
1 Like
Timing. When watching tv, the delay between the signal being presented at the HDMI connector and it being displayed on the screen is irrelevant within some pretty big window.
When playing a shooter or race sim, you want that instant response to your control input, all the time.
1 Like
Thanks for all input so far, but my main question is: will a 4K monitor significantly improve the readability of the cockpit?
1 Like
I have a 2160p60 Philips 438P1 42” monitor and an AOC 27G2 1080p144 27” monitor. The 1080p monitor is much nicer for gaming because of the high refresh rate and much better ghosting performance. In DCS that isn’t as much an issue, of course, but you still need that solid 60fps with no frame drops for it to feel good.
A TV, particularly a “full HD” one will be very blurry compared to a PC monitor. But nowadays I wouldn’t buy a 1080p monitor unless you have some specific need (like > 300Hz refresh rate - which you don’t need for sims, that’s for competitive online shooters only). A 4K monitor (pretty much any 4K monitor!) will be more readable than a FHD TV. But I’m not personally happy with the value or features of a “cheap” 4K60 monitor, they tend to be optimised for office use and tend not to handle fast moving images well. And on top of that, your PC has to render all those extra pixels!
In my opinion a decent (AOC, Viewsonic or maybe Samsung or even Philips if you like their panels) 1440p 32” monitor is going to be way better than what you have and isn’t going to destroy your performance. I’d be looking at 144Hz refresh rate as a bare minimum these days. More than that and I’d strongly consider VR, if you’re able to (a modern VR headset like the Quest 3 is very readable, in my experience).
Edit: for reference, I do not recommend the 438P1 for gaming. For a similar price you can get a Samsung G55C curved 32” 1440p165 VA monitor, or a MSI flat 32” 1440p165 IPS monitor if you prefer that type of display. A 4K monitor for gaming is going to be a couple of hundred (here) dollars more expensive, perhaps a US$100 to US$150 increase? I can’t make a discrete recommendation on any of those sorry.
Edit #2: it’s probably obvious but needs to be stated - using DLSS or FSR to get a decent frame rate on a 4K monitor will destroy the edge sharpness you’re trying to achieve and is a waste of money in at least two places 
3 Likes
short answer: yes
long answer : yes, of course
depends on the TV. check if your TV has dedicated GAME mode. those modes reduces the input lag (what @Freak described in his post).
I have Samsung 55" QLED TV not only with game mode but capable of 4K res in 120hz / fps. these days many TVs supports this because of the consoles.
the issue is that I dont have the hw to feed it (not going to accept 4K res doing 30fps in flight sims and not going to buy new hw anytime soon).
so I went the way of native 2K res monitor. native 2K TVs are not sold locally (if ever manufactured) and 2K res sucks on native 4K 55" TV.
so the big TV ended up in the living room as regular TV … fulfilling its destiny! 
2 Likes
It has nothing to do with the framerate and/or refresh rate. The cockpit is a reasonably steady item ingame.
1 Like
I think a couple of us are just trying to look out for you - the jump to 4K can bring hardware that’s brilliant in FHD and perfectly capable in 1440p to its knees.
Of course, if you’re rocking a 4080/90 or 7900 then ignore that and buy a good high refresh rate 4K gaming monitor - good hardware should be paired with good peripherals 
I still think “cheap” 4K60 panels are a waste of money unless you want it for more excel spreadsheet readability
1 Like
you fly only IFR. didnt know that 
1 Like