OLED TVs as monitors

[b0redom]

Hi folks,
I had a lovely 49" ultrawide Samsung monitor. Unfortunately I just accidentally knocked if off my desk and smashed it.

Has anyone actually used one of the LG OLEDs as a monitor? Looks like the 42" one released this year would be a good candidate, but it's quite pricey (although not as pricey as a new 49" ultrawide).

[DanceswithUnix]

Is the old one covered by house contents insurance?

[b0redom]

Possibly.

[MrJim]

Linus on Linus Tech Tips used an LG OLED TV as a monitor for a while, but had problems with burn-in:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hWrFEU_605g

The latest Samsung QD-OLED monitors look good though:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0aLF3KVOTQ

[kompukare]

I wonder if to maximise views, a youtuber would run a static image at max brightness so it fails and they can make a video about it?

Okay, haven't watched it (I really try to avoid youtubers), but RTINGS.com's TV burn-in tests might be relevant:
https://www.rtings.com/tv/learn/real...d-burn-in-test
Some poor sets have been on for 9,000 hours (375 days) now. And yes they have managed to damage some.

@b0redom there are a number of threads about those LG 42" as monitor in various forums, for example on the ocuk forums. For productive work, dark mode and low brightness might be okay. Certainly brightness is what cause the burn-out (it's OLED - they will fail and no longer be as bright as they were so calling it burn-in doesn't seem correct).

[jim]

Totally missed this, but yes I'm using the 42C2 as a daily monitor.

There are probably three things that bug me, but none enough to put me off the monitor (which overall is fantastic).

1) It behaves like a TV, staying on but using a really bright idle screen when there's no detected input, which I hate. So I downloaded a little tool that pushes shutdown and WOL commands over the network to operate it

2) If it's connected to the internet (see (1)) it tells you about all the services that are available when it starts up with a little pop up (like Apple TV or whatever). That's really annoying, but it's not a dealbreaker since it goes away fairly quickly.

3) ClearType is a bit of a mess, apparently because Windows can't cope with RGBW pixel arrangements. I've found a setting that works for me, eventually, but it is a bit fiddly.

The other caveat is that my GPU (RTX 2070) cannot push 4K @ 120Hz via HDMI, so I would suggest that a GPU capable of HDMI 2.1 is almost an essential purchase alongside.

[MrJim]

3) ClearType is a bit of a mess, apparently because Windows can't cope with RGBW pixel arrangements. I've found a setting that works for me, eventually, but it is a bit fiddly.

This post on Reddit describes the use of 'MacType' utility to fix the text rendering issues of using an LG oled tv with Windows:

https://www.reddit.com/r/OLED_Gaming...plays_getting/

[jim]

This post on Reddit describes the use of 'MacType' utility to fix the text rendering issues of using an LG oled tv with Windows:

https://www.reddit.com/r/OLED_Gaming...plays_getting/

Yeah, I tried that and it didn't help me at all. Maybe for some it does.

[Terbinator]

3) ClearType is a bit of a mess, apparently because Windows can't cope with RGBW pixel arrangements. I've found a setting that works for me, eventually, but it is a bit fiddly.

The other caveat is that my GPU (RTX 2070) cannot push 4K @ 120Hz via HDMI, so I would suggest that a GPU capable of HDMI 2.1 is almost an essential purchase alongside.

Have you tried 125% scaling in Windows and see if it helps with text?

Some related to the above, but you may be able to push 120Hz if you drop chroma sub sampling to 4:2:2? Obviously impacts text more than anything though.

[jim]

Have you tried 125% scaling in Windows and see if it helps with text?

Some related to the above, but you may be able to push 120Hz if you drop chroma sub sampling to 4:2:2? Obviously impacts text more than anything though.

To me, increasing font scale defeats the object - I want to fit more content on the screen. I can't say that I've tested scaling out much.

I have now reached a point where I'm happy with the fonts - and I suspect most people would do so as well. The point is more that it's a lot of faffing about and there isn't one definitive answer, and I've never had to deal with this on a normal computer monitor. It's not a deal-breaker, but something that looked negligible in reviews and then turned out to be a lot more annoying in practice / daily usage.

And no, dropping chroma sub sampling doesn't enable higher refresh rates on my config. I've left it maxed out @ 60Hz, waiting for a good deal on a GPU.

[b0redom]

Well, my insurance company has just paid out, so I have some cash to splash now. Wondering if the 42" ROG OLED might be a better bet. It's a bit more expensive, but does have a Display Port input (for my macbook pro) as well as HDMI 2.1 (which I should be able to feed with my PC which has a 3090 in it). That being said, it's about double the price of the 42C2, and is I think, the same panel.