An interesting press release found its way into my inbox just now that announces a new competitor to the world of 4K monitors. Seiki, made famous recently for its line of incredibly low cost 4K TVs that really started the 4K trend for consumers and PC gamers, is building a set of three professional series 4K monitors for release early next year with some damned impressive specifications.
Though you can find the 50-in Seiki SE50UY04 for just $799 on Amazon and the 39-in SE39UY04 for only $469, these are televisions with somewhat limited 30 Hz refresh rates. The new products that Seiki is showing for the first time at CE Week Exhibits and Conferences in New York City do not have any of these limitations though and instead boast one of the most complete list of specifications I have seen on a monitor.
Seiki SE39UY04 4K Television
Seiki will introduce three different sizes including a 28-in (28U4SEP-G02), 32-in (32U4SEP-G02) and 40-in (40U4SEP-G02) offering with the following specs:
- Vertical Alignment (VA) LED panel technology with 3,840 by 2,160 4K Ultra HD
resolution - 12-bit color processing and 14-bit gamma mode
- HDMI 2.0, DisplayPort 1.3, MHL 3.0, DVI and VGA standards display connections
- Picture-by-picture (x4) and daisy chain mode
- USB 3.0 hub (1 upstream and 2 downstream)
- VESA-compliant adjustable monitor stand with quick release
I am still waiting for confirmation on the panel type quality (more like TN or more like IPS, etc.) but the list of specifications here offers a glimpse of what to expect. (Vetical Aligned panels should be pretty damned good.) 12-bit color and 14-bit gamma indicate that this display will be built for the professional and creative designer at heart. Support for upcoming standards like HDMI 2.0 and Displayport 1.3 should tell you that the monitors won't be shipping for a while (Q1 2015 I'm told) but when you have them they will be able to push 4K at 60 Hz without issue.
The quad PiP mode could be really cool if it works as I suspect – four different HDMI inputs allow for four unique unscaled images on the panel at the same time. This could be great for multi-display uses where consumers can utilize a set of four 20-in (effective) 1080p panels without a bezel. We are already drooling over the possibilities of that here for our test setups…
So while I am excited about the prospect of these monitors, we don't yet know the pricing. If these are high quality IPS displays you can expect them to be quite expensive. But Seiki is known for building great displays at a low cost, so perhaps the company will be able to do so once again and surprise us all in time for CES next year.
You can find the full press release by looking after the news break!
SEIKI BREAKS INTO DESKTOP MONITOR MARKET
WITH A TRIO OF SEIKI PRO BRANDED 4K ULTRA HD DISPLAYS
Seiki Introduces High-performance 28-, 32- and 40-inch Displays
Featuring 3,840 by 2,160 4K Ultra HD Resolution, HDMI 2.0, DisplayPort 1.3, and MHL 3.0
NEW YORK (CE Week 2014) – June 24, 2014 – In keeping with the goal of accelerating the adoption of 4K Ultra HD standard, Seiki (www.seiki.com), a leading brand in the emerging 4K Ultra HD display market, today announced its entry into the desktop monitor segment with a new lineup of 4K Ultra HD displays. The new Seiki 4K displays will be branded Seiki Pro, the company’s innovation brand for advanced products, and designed for today’s 4K Ultra HD early-adopter users ready for the ultimate desktop computing and gaming experience.
“According to industry experts, 4K desktop monitors are forecasted to reach two million units in 2014 and continue to climb through 2017. Seiki aims to tackle the desktop monitor market and duplicate the success we’ve experienced in the 4K Ultra HD TV market,” said Frank Kendzora, executive vice president at Seiki. “Our strategy again is to offer products that capture the excitement surrounding 4K Ultra HD and make the technology available to the masses at a fair price.”
Seiki will demonstrate its new high-performance Seiki Pro 4K Displays for the first time at the CE Week Exhibits & Conferences (June 25-26) held at the Metropolitan Pavilion in New York City.
Seiki Pro 4K displays are designed to deliver the ultimate desktop computing experience for intensive computer graphics, photo and video editing, and programming applications, as well as fast-paced 4K PC gaming at up to 60 frames per second.
Seiki will introduce three displays sizes including a 28- (28U4SEP-G02), 32- (32U4SEP-G02) and 40-inch (40U4SEP-G02) models. Current specification list include:
Vertical Alignment (VA) LED panel technology with 3,840 by 2,160 4K Ultra HD resolution
12-bit color processing and 14-bit gamma mode
HDMI 2.0, DisplayPort 1.3, MHL 3.0, DVI and VGA standards display connections
Picture-by-picture (x4) and daisy chain mode
USB 3.0 hub (1 upstream and 2 downstream)
VESA-compliant adjustable monitor stand with quick release
The Seiki Pro 4K Ultra HD displays will be available in Q1 2015. Suggested retail pricing will be announced closer to product availability.
About Seiki
Seiki (pronounced “SAY-key”) represents a new way of thinking in consumer electronics. Seiki offers straightforward, reliable digital entertainment experience that is affordably priced and backed by comprehensive customer support.
Featuring a one-year replacement warranty, Seiki markets a full range of high-definition LED televisions that feature 4K Ultra HD and Full HD 1080p resolutions. Seiki 4K Ultra HD TV was recognized and presented with the ninth annual POPULAR MECHANICS’ Breakthrough Awards as one of the top ten products setting benchmarks in design and engineering today.
The company also markets an audio product line that includes multi-channel stereo sound bar solutions and portable Bluetooth® speaker models. Seiki products are available at select authorized national in-store and online retailers. For more information about Seiki and its complete list of North American retail partners, please visit www.seiki.com.
Hey AMD freesync people.
Hey AMD freesync people. Guess what, these monitors have DP1.3 and NO variable refresh rate!
Hey nVidia G-Sync people,
Hey nVidia G-Sync people, this monitor (just like every other monitor on the market) doesn’t support G-Sync.
In all seriousness, just because support for either isn’t listed, I doubt these are complete and/or final specs.
Yah,
Acer
Model:
Yah,
Acer
Model: XB280HK
Resolution: 3840×2160 (4K)
Screen Size: 28 inches
Availability: Shipping Q2, available worldwide Q3
Model: XB270H
Resolution: 1920×1080
Screen Size: 27 inches
Availability: Shipping Q2, available worldwide Q3
AOC
Model: G2460PG
Resolution: 1920×1080
Screen Size: 24 inches
Availability: Shipping Q2, available worldwide Q3
ASUS
Model: PG278Q
Resolution: 2560×1440
Screen Size: 27 inches
Availability: Shipping Q2, available worldwide Q3
BenQ
Model: XL2420G
Resolution: 1920×1080
Screen Size: 24 inches
Availability: Q3
Philips
Model: 272G5DYEB
Resolution: 1920×1080
Screen Size: 27 inches
Availability: Shipping Q2, available worldwide Q3
None of those are on the
None of those are on the market either.
Don’t be a fanboy – these megacorps aren’t paying you money to cheerlead for them (and if they were you’d be illegally shilling…)
I’m a total fan boy of
I’m a total fan boy of Gsync,
I have it, it works, it’s awesome.
Don’t be a hater.
I have G-Sync too. I
I have G-Sync too. I ABSOLUTELY LOVE G-Sync! It has changed my computing life.
WITH THAT BEING SAID, I can’t wait for Freesync to come on the scene. I do not like having to rely on Nvidia, and worse, a few, expensive, hard-to-come-by monitors to get this feature. It needs to be a truly universal feature.
Don’t be a lawyer either,
Don’t be a lawyer either, you’re bad at it.
The fact is that G-Sync at least has a product you can buy TODAY (since February, actually).
http://overlordcomputer.com/products/asus-vg248qe-g-sync
Even if you want don’t want to acknowledge that as a real product, it’s still something tangible that you can own and works as advertised as “G-Sync”. AMD doesn’t have that yet and they don’t even have as many announced monitors (posted above) as NVIDIA. At this early stage, you’d have to be a fanboy to NOT admit the advantage NVIDIA has, even if you expect it to fade.
I have also yet to see ANY of
I have also yet to see ANY of these monitors be for sale in a standard channel. NVIDIA has a lot to do to convince me they are pushing this as hard as they should be.
Nvidia is devolving support
Nvidia is devolving support to lip service. A standard supported feature is and will be the long term winner. G-sync although impressive will be relegated to antiquity. This day in age play nice or go home. Open standards are starting to become the norm. Open is easier to troubleshoot and deign.
Why would I want to buy any
Why would I want to buy any of that if all of them are TNs? Especially the XB280HK? Pushing 4k is an pain in the ass and why do I want an inferior panel? 120hz doesn’t mean much for an RTS/MOBA gamers and certainly doesn’t entice me because of the price as well.
Is the no Adaptive-Sync
Is the no Adaptive-Sync confirmed or just a guess?
Presser (quoted): “Vertical
Presser (quoted): “Vertical Alignment (VA) LED panel technology with 3,840 by 2,160 4K Ultra HD resolution”
PCPer: “I am still waiting for confirmation on the panel type (TN, IPS, etc.)”
PCPer: “If these are high quality IPS displays you can expect them to be quite expensive.”
I don’t understand. Do you not believe them that it’s VA or do you really, really like second-guessing and/or confirmation? Or maybe the press release and/or article was updated?
If only he was this vigilant
If only he was this vigilant when it came to all things Nvidia he’d have consistency.
You’re the best.
You're the best.
I lol’d because true…BUT BE
I lol’d because true…BUT BE NICE.
Yeah…Odds are these are Innolux VA panels, the same type that nobody (established in the US) used this year in their tvs. Not AUO (which are arguably the best for refresh/input lag, probably what current 27/32” 4ks are), not Sharp/Foxconn (which are arguably the best for contrast/color at a decent price, but seem to have quality issues often and input lag is on the edge of ‘good’), which are also nice, but Innolux.
I’m not completely crapping on them, as I said in reference to a different article, they will probably be the first to market with 90-100% ntsc/adobe rgb (or at least they are the first to publicize production), which is nice. That said, that doesn’t make their viewing angles, refresh rate, or past (including what these panels probably are) quality any better.
Could be nice for the price, but where will auo/sharp and lg/samsung (IPS/PLS) be by around that time? All seem to have arguably less work to do to get a better all-around panel out…but IPS (and perhaps PLS) could actually be really hindered depending on what’s important to someone. Refresh rate/pixel persistence is never going to be great on ips, and is why many are going VA for more economical backlight strobing in tvs. Speaking of which, how bright/many zones of a display would you need to get contrast to a great level via zones/strobing on ips? Probably pretty high. High light output (fot dolby hdr and such) displays are coming that could make it possible, but probably not anytime relatively soon.
VA is probably the best way forward, because it can be a very acceptable jack of all trades, but that is not saying each tech does not have a place.
That all said, I still find the slip (about apparently not knowing what VA is) amusing. Good quality does not only mean In-Plane Switching, and the fact the two have become uniquely synonymous is unfortunate.
To ammend my tldr post,
AUO’s
To ammend my tldr post,
AUO’s refresh rate is the best among VA panels, obviously not overall (tn is), but they can reach =/< 5ms g2g (a key threshold) and their viewing angle/color quality (while perhaps not quite ips-like) usually make them a better over-all panel for many situations.
Ya I thought all VA panels
Ya I thought all VA panels were TN… no ?
More of a midway
More of a midway point.
http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/articles/panel_technologies.htm
I should reword this, yes. VA
I should reword this, yes. VA doesn't give us much detail on the panel qualities (viewing angles, color shift) in relation to how we know TN and IPS look, etc.
Yeah, there’s a decent spread
Yeah, there’s a decent spread in VA technologies, but all of them produce better contrast than IPS (and PLS, AHVA) and TN, pretty much all have better viewing angles than pretty much all TN, and as of yet they seem to have worse pixel responsiveness for certain transitions than all IPS and for sure worse than TN.
I would guess and hope the viewing angles are among the better for VA panels if they’re going up to 50″. I mean, even just looking at AOU AMVA panels, there’s a big improvement in off-angle color shift from an older model (see BenQ GW2750) compared to a newer model (see BenQ GW2760; the 32″ 1440p BL3200PT for a recent example).
Anyway, VA panels from a variety of manufacturers—AUO, Samsung, Sharp, CMO, for example—have been in use for a long time.
On second thought, that’s
On second thought, that’s maybe not quite fair and accurate. The top paragraph of characteristics maybe only applies to the more modern variants or most of them. Whenever you say “all” there are usually exceptions… And some older VA panels may not be particularly indicative of what’s in these upcoming displays.
However, insofar as you can kind of guess what an upcoming TN or IPS panel in an upcoming product might look like, you can mostly do the same for a VA.
Interesting, Seiki announced
Interesting, Seiki announced their Pro line of HDMI 2.0 4K TVs back at CES, and they have had them on their website, but they have yet to materialize. I wonder if VESA has accelerated their DP1.3 schedule to allow for a release this year?
4K @ 120Hz!
They won’t be 120Hz 100%.
They won’t be 120Hz 100%.
Seiki’s other 4K displays
Seiki’s other 4K displays operate at native 120Hz for 1080p and 30Hz for 4K. The panels are currently restricted by the connection. HDMI 2.0 doesn’t support 4K120, but DP 1.3 does. It’s very possible.
WOW! So will these panels be
WOW! So will these panels be able to run 4k120hz with the inclusion of DP 1.3? It’s specifications state 4k@120hz and 8k@60hz.
Displayport 1.2 can handle
Displayport 1.2 can handle 1440p@120Hz. Does that mean all 1440p monitors with Displayport are 120Hz?
Good question.
Good question.
Don’t care about FreeSync or
Don’t care about FreeSync or G-Sync,…..
I’m interested in buying either the 32″ model or the 40″ model depending on full specs and reviews. Hopefully PCPer will be one of the first to get some review samples.
You should care. It is an
You should care. It is an absolutely incredible feature. Try to find a way to experience it.
40″ for 4k, that’s more
40″ for 4k, that’s more reasonable. Can’t be bothered by an insane pixel density…
http://www.lg.com/us/tvs/lg-4
http://www.lg.com/us/tvs/lg-49UB8500-led-tv
4K, HDMI 2.0, IPS, 49″, $1,200.
Makes you wonder how any company can charge that much for a 30″ IPS with a quarter the resolution.
I looked around and couldn’t
I looked around and couldn't find HDMI 2.0 mentioned on the product page or specificaiton page. Where you seeing this info?
Ask and ye shall receive.
Ask and ye shall receive. Since CES, both LG and Sony have both committed several of their current 4K TVs as well as 4K shipping TVs to be HDMI 2.0, specifically 60Hz 4K, compliant. For proof from LG, here’s the manual:
http://www.manualslib.com/manual/715642/Lg-49ub8500.html?page=23#manual
This is the WORST time to be
This is the WORST time to be a pc gamer ever…
I would have been happy with my 21:9 ips if they kept theit holes shut untill they had real products.
Now with all these gsync demos and after my realization what gsync actually is – they have shit all over my gaming xp and ive been miserable the last 8 months.
Ivebecome so obsessive with gsync that i havent been able to enjoy anything on my computer.
End of 2114 when we have 120hz 21:9 oled gsync monitors @ high res is gona be a “GOOD TIME TO BE PC GAMERZ”… not now.
I am a professional
I am a professional photographer and I purchased the 39″ version a few months ago. While the large screen and 4K display is great for editing, I found the unit impossible to properly calibrate for color. Eventually I gave up and added a second monitor for color management. Hopefully Seiki will fix this issue before releasing the new product.
About dang time!
About dang time!
Seiki 28 inch announced to be
Seiki 28 inch announced to be $399.99 on there website http://www.seiki.com/company/news/2014-01-08-SEIKI-2014-Product-Portfolio-brings-more-4K-ULTRA-HD-TVs.php
Ryan,
do current graphic
Ryan,
do current graphic cards support hdmi 2.0?
i seen a 40″ LG 4K tv with hdmi 2.0 for around $1000
I want to see 4k in 60hz,
my card is a powercolor r9 290X pcs+
would that output hdmi 2.0?
thanks.
Probably Never
Probably Never
40″ starts to make sense for
40″ starts to make sense for 4k. Still would feel more confortable in a 48″/50″ monster thing.
Give me this with dp1.3 no tearing shit etc.. and take my money.