Do 4k TVs under 30 inches exist?

[thecoalman]

Originally Posted by West of Encino

Would a 4K monitor work with cable TV? I'm mainly looking to use it for gaming.

If your cable box has HDMI you can just plug it into the monitor. If you were going that route I'd make sure it has at least two HDMI ports.



Two gotcha's, TV's do not display the entire frame of video but I think some of them are getting away from that. This is legacy support for analog broadcasts, on the borders of an analog broadcast is what is called the overscan area. This contains various information like CC for example. You might see examples of this youtube videos where they have digitally captured VHS or whatever, it will be pixelated on the edges and "crawling" around. It's not needed for digital broadcast but if whoever encoded it did not take the time to mask it it's going to be viewable. This is relatively minor problem as most content should not be like that.




If you have ever plugged a PC into TV you may have noticed this and the full screen is not displayed, most TV's have a PC mode or simply a mode to display the full frame.



The other gotcha is the speakers, not all monitors come with them and they may be under powered if they do. Bear in mind the expectation is you will sitting about 2 feet away from it.

[PacoMartin]

Originally Posted by West of Encino

Would a 4K monitor work with cable TV? I'm mainly looking to use it for gaming.

Most set top boxes from cable TV don't output a 4K signal since cable doesn't carry 4K. There are a small number of exceptions. My cable company sent over a new DVR this February that also supports Netflix and Hulu in 4K, as well as their channels in HD.

But,monitors will adjust to the lower resolution of a any input device.

Because it is a monitor it may not support audio, so you will need a separate speaker.

[jtvaj125]

Don't forget, monitors will very likely not have a remote. If it didn't come with one then not even a universal remote will be able to control it. You'll also be adjusting settings with the physical buttons on the monitor too which I often find a total PITA because the buttons suck. Also many monitors don't have very many hdmi ports so if you have many sources (cable box, dvd/bluray player, game console) you'll need a switch or a a/v receiver.

[Irishtom29]

It’s not the size of the TV that matters as much as how much of your field of vision is filled by the TV. Thus a person sitting close to small TV would benefit from 4K and a person sitting far from a large TV wouldn’t.

[Flightoficarus87]

Pretty sure the smallest 4K TVs you're going to find are around 40-43 inches.

Anything smaller is usually going to be a monitor, or 1080p. The TV market is moving towards larger screens, as the benefits of 4K become much more noticeable on larger (55 inch and above) sets - and the general consensus is that 4K isn't really worth it/noticeable for most people on anything under 43" at typical TV watching distances.

If you're mainly going to be using it for gaming, you may be best off looking for a 4K monitor, and using external equipment to watch TV on it. It won't be optimal, as you most likely won't have a remote to use, but it's probably the only way you're going to get 4K resolution from a smaller screen - at least at the moment.