Thunderbolt Display vs 4K TV

[NJDevils44]

Hey there,

So I'm planning to order a Mac Pro tomorrow when they become available and I am wondering what my best bet is for a display. I was hoping Apple would release a 4K display but no dice.

I will use it primarily for video editing RED footage in FCPX. I'm torn between buying the 27" Thunderbolt display or buying a 4K TV which may actually turn out to be cheaper than the display. Anyone have any suggestions? I feel as if while the 4K TV would provide better resolution, the Apple display would have a much better color spectrum and be better for video editing.

The TV I have in mind is the Seiki 39-inch SE39UY04 which runs at $500, half the price of the thunderbolt display.

Thoughts?

 

[ZnU]

Until HDMI 2.0 lands, or someone starts building 4K TVs with DisplayPort 1.2 support, the big problem using a 4K TV as a monitor is that you're going to be limited to 30 Hz, half the usual refresh rate for a computer display. This will make even simple things like cursor movement and window dragging rather jerky, and it's even worse for gaming. It'll probably also be awkward for watching video content at a rate other than 30 fps — you'll end up with 'motion cadence' artifacts. Some people seem to be putting up with these tradeoffs, but it's something I think you'd really need to see first hand before making such a decision, I think.

 

[Rich.Cohen]

The TV I have in mind is the Seiki 39-inch SE39UY04 which runs at $500, half the price of the thunderbolt display.

There is a long thread here on that subject. I think Seiki is in the thread's title. I'm sure you can find it if you look.

 

[goMac]

At 30 fps, the Seiki is cheap and awful IMO. The large drop in frame rate is not worth the extra pixels.

If you've got a nice machine don't pair it with a horrible display.

 

[mtmac]

I agree that a tv would make a horrible main monitor. Have you thought of getting a Monoprice sub $400 2560 x 1440 monitor that uses the same panel as Apple's TBD? Reviews have been good and they are in a black metal frame to match the pro if that matters to you. You could either get 2 of these or 1 of these and the 4K tv and still be less money than an outdated TBD, which you wouldn't need the ports on anyway. That way you would have 1 good monitor and a 4K tv to experiment with and have something suitable until 4k monitors come down to earth. After that you can repurpose the monoprice as a 2nd monitor and use the 4K as a TV.

http://www.monoprice.com/Product/?c...=1130703&p_id=10509&seq=1&format=1#largeimage