# Seiki SE42UM Thread



## spypet

damn, you should have titled this se42umS .... anyway, thanks for any details you can add not already known from amazon hhgregg etc.

what I want to know most of all is can you custom OC this like the old 2013 seiki to;

1080p 120Hz and 1440p >60Hz (is text still legible).

http://www.overclock.net/t/1442986/playing-with-my-seiki-se39uy04-got-it-to-do-1440p-at-60hz-playing-with-other-custom-stuff

make sure you confirm all over clocks with http://www.testufo.com/#test=frameskipping


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## MunneY

This isn't the S model. I know the ad says it is, but its not.


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## batmanwcm

Bad input lag. Oh well, does it do 4:4:4 chroma?


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## MunneY

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *batmanwcm*
> 
> Bad input lag. Oh well, does it do 4:4:4 chroma?


it appears that it is 4:2:2


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## batmanwcm

That pretty much seals the deal that this can't be used as a PC display. It would have been awesome if it did. Thanks MunneY!!









Edit: I find it fascinating that you, PetSpy and I are a part of the same forums, SD and here. I guess we all just love saving money.


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## MunneY

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *batmanwcm*
> 
> That pretty much seals the deal that this can't be used as a PC display. It would have been awesome if it did. Thanks MunneY!!


Yeah... I'm not REAL happy about this... but I guess you get what you get for 300$


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## spypet

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *MunneY*
> 
> what you get for 300$


please try 2K over clocks - that may still make this worthwhile for me.

1080p 120Hz and 1440p >60Hz (is text still legible).

http://www.overclock.net/t/1442986/playing-with-my-seiki-se39uy04-got-it-to-do-1440p-at-60hz-playing-with-other-custom-stuff

make sure you confirm all over clocks with http://www.testufo.com/#test=frameskipping

BTW you don't have to go all out, even 1080p 90Hz and 1440p 76Hz would be nice...


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## V1ct1m1z3r

Im at the store looking at this now. Good to know its 4:2:2 before I put it down on plastic. Thanks @MunneY


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## MunneY

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *V1ct1m1z3r*
> 
> Im at the store looking at this now. Good to know its 4:2:2 before I put it down on plastic. Thanks @MunneY


No problem man. I'll be taking mine back up there as soon as I can get back out. Probably should do that before the wife gets home LOL


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## spypet

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *MunneY*
> 
> I'll be taking mine back up there as soon as I can get back out.


wow, that bad... now I wonder is there is an "S" model with better I/O
did you do any other OC tests like I suggested, or you too disgusted.

munney - before you repack it could you post photos of the i/o ports?
all online photos of the back are cad/cam renderings with no details.


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## MunneY

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *spypet*
> 
> wow, that bad... now I wonder is there is an "S" model with better I/O
> did you do any other OC tests like I suggested, or you too disgusted.
> 
> munney - before you repack it could you post photos of the i/o ports?


Honestly, with how bad the input lag is, I count even get it to function without getting frustrated. I put GTA on it and it was unbearable with the lag.

I actually just put it in the box again. Has 2 HDMI 1.4 on the bottom, 2.0 on the side and USB on the left side. Also has 2 Component and Cable in on bottom.


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## spypet

thanks man - is the power internal or an ad/dc brick?


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## MunneY

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *spypet*
> 
> thanks man - is the power internal or an ad/dc brick?


Internal Power

The unboxing





Semi Glossy Screen


2 images of the input lag to the monitor. The right is a 30Q5 Pro Black that is using DVI-D. The left is the SE42UM using HDMI 2.0




True 4k @ 60hz. I couldn't test [email protected] or [email protected] because of the lag.


This is showing that it is 4:2:2 and not 4:4:4 as first thought.


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## iCrap

Heh i saw your post on slickdeals and immeditly went over here cause i knew there would be a thread.

I'm trying to figure out the best way to buy this. If i buy it online it looks like i have to pay shipping to return it.. but is there sales tax online? If i buy it in store though, i can obviously return it no problem

Is the input lag unusable? would you say its a POS and your gonna return it or it's a keeper?

edit: ah nevermind i re read the above posts. So it's a pass then.


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## Insan1tyOne

Bummer that the input lag on this is so terrible and it only does 4:2:2. As @MunneY said though "you get what you get" for $300.


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## MunneY

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *iCrap*
> 
> Heh i saw your post on slickdeals and immeditly went over here cause i knew there would be a thread.
> 
> I'm trying to figure out the best way to buy this. If i buy it online it looks like i have to pay shipping to return it.. but is there sales tax online? If i buy it in store though, i can obviously return it no problem
> 
> Is the input lag unusable? would you say its a POS and your gonna return it or it's a keeper?
> 
> edit: ah nevermind i re read the above posts. So it's a pass then.


I wouldn't buy it as a monitor brother. Its BAD. It is already back at HHGregg. The picture and all is awesome but the input lag makes it completely useless... Look at the pictures above.


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## spypet

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *MunneY*
> 
> Look at the pictures above.


please interpret your photos for those less experienced here...


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## MunneY

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *spypet*
> 
> please interpret your photos for those less experienced here...


Done. Also added to the OP.


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## spypet

*even on a 4K30Hz game console reviewer @04:30confirms a minimum of 250ms input lag:*


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## MunneY

I really dhould have done a video... i was far too frustrated tho


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## Therecanbonly1

OK... so all the reviews I have been reading everywhere are that this sucks as a computer monitor...How does it function as a TV? Sorry, I know that this board is more towards the computer aspects but it appears to be the most active with people that know more than how to plug it in...


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## spypet

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Therecanbonly1*
> 
> How does it function as a TV?


it has minimal "smarts" and at 42" you would be better off spending the same $300 on a 1080p 120Hz HDTV, not a 4K with no content around you can view at that native resolution sitting a yard away. everything viewed on this Seiki, PC, Console and Video will be >250ms lagged - obviously on a Video you won't notice it unless you pause and resume a lot. you should not support a company that makes a 4K/60Hz without the I/O needed to keep up with the panel.


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## AMv8(1day)

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *batmanwcm*
> 
> I find it fascinating that you, PetSpy and I are a part of the same forums, SD and here. I guess we all just love saving money.


I think it makes perfect sense that ALL of us find our way to these forums based on our mutual love of tech and the money saving ways we find to afford more tech. I personally have the 39" Seiki model and although there have been a lot of back and forth opinions on it, I pulled the trigger from a SD deal alert, and started plugging away at various firmware versions and picture settings found here and on AVS until I was happy. I currently consider it money well spent and love my 39" 4K monitor, flanked on either side by my older 22" monitors in portrait. With the Windows scaling doing reasonably well at a custom 167% upscale. Granted I use it mostly for work/surfing and YouTube/Netflix watching, so any perceived lag doesn't really bother me. I actually don't notice any at all with my current firmware, but as alway YMMV.
I was going to post a shot of my desk until I looked at my pics and realized how much sensitive work and personal info was up when I took them


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## homework

i bought one of these to use as a tv since i already got a gsync monitor. ill let you guys know if it can overclock. I got a 50" seiki to do [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] and [email protected] ill try those resolutions and then some probably on monday.


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## egag

I'm trying to figure out if there's any way I can reduce the input lag - figured I'd put what I've found so far out there as far as the main board is concerned.

Appears to be a CV3393CH-W Mainboard. There's a UART port to the bottom right that is labeled 3393 UART - looks to be 5V logic, the baud rate switches on it during power up/power down sequences, I've put the output below. Doesn't respond to anything sent to it...

The other two UART ports at the top look to be 3.3V logic according to the o-scope, they spit out data but nothing really of use.

If anybody has an ideas or suggestions of what to do I'm all ears.


Spoiler: UART Output



Code:



Code:


======================Initial Plug-in - No power on======================
=============================115200 BAUD=================================
 Eden: BD_CV3393CH_I_11
 SPI BOOT
 Console Initial OK

65
  [123456789A][123456789A]
0055

    BIST_0 PASS.

 MIU Initial OK

Keypad Initialize OK
MDrv_PNL_Init u32PnlRiuBaseAddr = A0200000
MDrv_PNL_Init u32PMRiuBaseAddr = A0000000
[_MDrv_PNL_Init_LPLL][295]pstPanelInitData->u16Width=1920, pstPanelInitData->u16Height=1080
[_MDrv_PNL_Init_LPLL][297]u16HTotal=2200,u16VTotal=1125,pstPanelInitData->u16HTotal=2200,pstPanelInitData->u16VTotal=1125, u16DefaultVFreq=600
[_MDrv_PNL_Init_Output_Dclk][340]pstPanelInitData->u16Width=1920, pstPanelInitData->u16Height=1080
[_MDrv_PNL_Init_Output_Dclk][342]u16HTotal=2200,u16VTotal=1125,pstPanelInitData->u16HTotal=2200,pstPanelInitData->u16VTotal=1125, u16DefaultVFreq=600
[XC,Version] 00442327
 MApi_XC_Init, 537, pXC_InitData->stPanelInfo.eLPLL_Type=1
PACLK:0xC008
PACLK:0xC008
PACLK:0xC008

[GOP_ALL, PID 0][Driver Version]: 0088, BuildNum: 0488, ChangeList: 2147483647
====================
First GOP driver instance, flush GWIN HW
====================

[HAL_TSP_CPU_SetBase][2167] load firmware (address, size) = (0x00475D00, 0x00002820)
firmware 111 0x00475D00 0x00000000 0x00008EBA

 SetUrsaPNLSize_PartA == 1

 SetUrsaPNLSize_PartB == 1
Reload Period: 0 ms

 stGenSetting.U32DatabaseMagicCodeStart : A5A5A5A5

 [MDrv_UsbDeviceConnect USB 1 tempi]: 5

 Start Version
 ****************************************
 ****************************************
 Cultraview_Version: ATSC_SY14625_SEIKI_V420DK1-QS1_4K2K_CV3393CH_W_11_B1586_Jan 19 2015_14:39:52
 board: BD_CV3393CH_W_11
 Panel: V420DK1-QS1_4K2K
 Ver6M: 0x14091860
 ****************************************
 ****************************************
 End Version
==============================38400 BAUD=================================
 Hello Eden standby mode

 Console Initial OK (PM)
zqw Enter EDEN PM Standby

zqw debug repeat cancel

==========================Power on via button============================
[Keypad]: Key = 0x46, Repeat = 0

 ======= Whole Chip Reset =======
=============================115200 BAUD=================================
 Eden: BD_CV3393CH_I_11
 SPI BOOT
 Console Initial OK

65
  [123456789AB][123456789AB]
0066

    BIST_0 PASS.

 MIU Initial OK

Keypad Initialize OK
MDrv_PNL_Init u32PnlRiuBaseAddr = A0200000
MDrv_PNL_Init u32PMRiuBaseAddr = A0000000
[_MDrv_PNL_Init_LPLL][295]pstPanelInitData->u16Width=1920, pstPanelInitData->u16Height=1080
[_MDrv_PNL_Init_LPLL][297]u16HTotal=2200,u16VTotal=1125,pstPanelInitData->u16HTotal=2200,pstPanelInitData->u16VTotal=1125, u16DefaultVFreq=600
[_MDrv_PNL_Init_Output_Dclk][340]pstPanelInitData->u16Width=1920, pstPanelInitData->u16Height=1080
[_MDrv_PNL_Init_Output_Dclk][342]u16HTotal=2200,u16VTotal=1125,pstPanelInitData->u16HTotal=2200,pstPanelInitData->u16VTotal=1125, u16DefaultVFreq=600
[XC,Version] 00442327
 MApi_XC_Init, 537, pXC_InitData->stPanelInfo.eLPLL_Type=1
PACLK:0xC008
PACLK:0xC008
PACLK:0xC008

[GOP_ALL, PID 0][Driver Version]: 0088, BuildNum: 0488, ChangeList: 2147483647
====================
First GOP driver instance, flush GWIN HW
====================

[HAL_TSP_CPU_SetBase][2167] load firmware (address, size) = (0x00475D00, 0x00002820)
firmware 111 0x00475D00 0x00000000 0x00008EBA

 SetUrsaPNLSize_PartA == 1

 SetUrsaPNLSize_PartB == 1
Reload Period: 0 ms

 stGenSetting.U32DatabaseMagicCodeStart : A5A5A5A5
DSP code loaded successfully

Auth OK

===== Check Audio Decoder Protection from hash-key IP =====
Hash-key Support DD.
Hash Key Check DDP Fail, No DD+ license!!
Hash-key Support Generic HE-AAC !!
Hash Key Check DDCO Fail, No DDCO license!!
Hash Key Check DTS Fail, No DTS license!!
Hash Key Check WMA Fail, No WMA license!!
Hash Key Check DRA Fail, No DRA license!!
Hash Key Check DTSLBR Fail, No DTSLBR license!!
===== Check Protection IP End                         =====

 NXP_TDA18275

----> tuner init...

TDA18275 IIC Write ACK err

[GOP0, PID 0][Driver Version]: 0088, BuildNum: 0488, ChangeList: 2147483647
MApi_GOP_GWIN_SetWinDispPosition(0,0, 0)
>Load Code...
>INTERN_ATSC Code...
>Verify Code...
>DSP Loadcode done.unsupport N51 FS compress
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Reload BKSV: 0x89
Reload BKSV: 0x38
Reload BKSV: 0xAE
Reload BKSV: 0xD
Reload BKSV: 0xED
HDMI1 4kx2k Disable DDC!Reload BKSV: 0x89
Reload BKSV: 0x38
Reload BKSV: 0xAE
Reload BKSV: 0xD
Reload BKSV: 0xED
HDMI1 4kx2k Disable DDC!
======================================

DVB-T Software Version: 0.00
[Board]: BD_CV3393CH_W_11
[Panel]: V420DK1-QS1_4K2K
[MEMORY_MAP]: MMAP_64MB
[DRAM SIZE]: 64 MB
[FLASH SIZE]: 2 MB
[ATV]: NTSC
[Mirror]: 0
[ENABLE_PWS]: 1
[ENABLE_POWER_SAVING_DPMS]: 1
[ENABLE_DLC]: 1
[MWE]: 1
[DISPLAY_LOGO]: 1
[FRONTEND_TUNER_TYPE]: NXP_TDA18275_TUNER

 =====================================
=> DC_BOOT (1)
PM Wakeup by SAR

====================================
[]terminate OSD=2
[]term:chinfo


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## spypet




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## homework

I got mine and connected it up to a gtx 970 and it was displaying 4k60hz but with a lot of lag. theres a feature on the tv called MEMC that like doubles the frames and does that weird "soap opera" "120hz like" effect. it feels like that feature is on, all the time. Even when you turn the setting to off. 4k videos on youtube looked ok, it was for sure in 4k but theres slight stutters and some weird digital noise from the processing being done on the tv. Then i tried connecting the tv to my cable box and just send a 1080i signal to it. Its a pretty good 42" tv for $300 but unusable for gaming and unusable as a pc monitor. It doesnt look as good as my 50" seiki from a couple years ago and it doesnt overclock at all like the 50" does.


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## dlee7283

Funny that I was a HHGregg here in Memphis about a month ago and didn't see these there. Glad I saw the review as I prob would have gotten one if hadn't seen this review.


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## MunneY

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dlee7283*
> 
> Funny that I was a HHGregg here in Memphis about a month ago and didn't see these there. Glad I saw the review as I prob would have gotten one if hadn't seen this review.


O hey Memphian...


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## EniGma1987

When you were testing this, did you use a 3rd party DP or HDMI cable? Or just tested with the stock HDMI cable it comes with? Reason I am wondering is the stock DP cable my A399U came with had TERRIBLE lag as well, and other people reported these lag issues with the 44K, both my issue and theirs were all solved by using a proper DisplayPort 1.2 cable, no more lag.


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## MunneY

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *EniGma1987*
> 
> When you were testing this, did you use a 3rd party DP or HDMI cable? Or just tested with the stock HDMI cable it comes with? Reason I am wondering is the stock DP cable my A399U came with had TERRIBLE lag as well, and other people reported these lag issues with the 44K, both my issue and theirs were all solved by using a proper DisplayPort 1.2 cable, no more lag.


Well I didnt test with a display port because there isn't one.. but I tried 3 different HDMI cables.


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## MunneY

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *spypet*


I have 2 says that go along with this...

"if you cant ducy-it... ;-)"
"silence is golden, Duct Tape is silver"


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## pingram

Here is what I have so far that makes the unit "almost" bearable as a PC monitor. I'm running a PNY GTX970 on an i5-3570k not overclocked @ 3.4ghz w/ 32G of DDR3 18200 on Windows 10 Pro. Please feel free to share if you think this config is not "strong" enough for a smooth 4k experience. I'd hate to blame this TV for a lacking PC CPU or video card.

With the following it feels as though I've reduced the input lag about 25% but it is still very present.

Visual fixes:
1) Turned contrast down to 40% - remove pink greys
2) Turned sharpness all the way down - fix jagged/glowing text
3) Brightness and Color both left @ 50%
4) Color Temp - Normal

Performance Attempts (anything that I could possibly think that could hit performance in any way):
1) Disabled blue screen - just in case it uses some level of processing by just being enabled but probably not
2) MEMC - Off - this did have a slight but noticeable increase in response time
3) Audio - Turned Bass and Treble all the way down since I don't use the speakers (shrugs, less drive = less cpu?)
4) Disabled the auto volume (again not sure if this effect cpu but I don't need it)
5) DLC - Off (also noticed a slight increase in response time)

I also disabled the HDMI audio via the Nvidia control panel and possibly also affected performance. I noticed the chroma test also looked slightly better. I don't recall where I read this but it mentioned that HDMI audio can have an effect on achieving true 4:4:4

For some reason I don't have access to some of the Seiki menu options, maybe due to the HDMI2 input type? Maybe I need to reset and choose "retail" mode?

Picture - Tint option is grayed out
Setup - Zoom Mode, Noise Reduction and Advanced are all grayed out

update 8/20/2015 - After updating my BIOS on my asrock z77 Pro V3 AND disabling HDMI audio (since I use my PC 7.1 sound card), video playback is now very smooth, even youtube 4k as long as the video doesn't buffer of course. Before this update video playback at even lower 1080 was bad, very choppy and a lot of artifacts. I'm not sure if it was the update or removing the audio from the data stream but for video playback on my PC I am very happy.

Obviously the lag is still a problem and looking into solutions at fixing that. Even if I do fix that, the 4:4:2 is an issue with my graphic design needs as the reds often look terrible, especially when doing website design where the logo is red on a black background.

Lastly, my CPU pushes around 70% when watching full screen 4k. When I do a skype screenshare, its always maxed at 100%. Shopping new CPU's =)


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## pingram

Ok, some good news hopefully. I just received an email from Seiki support providing a new firmware to test which is specifically adjusted to address the lag issue. I've asked if its ok to share the firmware link and instructions if it works out well for me.

Keep you posted.


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## spypet

ping - thanks for keeping us posted with your progress. i already made another 4K dp 1.2 purchase once i saw what a lag disaster the latest seiki was, but i'm still curious to learn how it's progressed in case it gets good enough to recommend to others with hdmi 2.0 supporting gpus.


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## pingram

Firmware update was a breeze and lag is gone!!!

The new setting "PC Mode" is the fix for the lag as it disables unnecessary processing. I also tested several 4k videos both local and streams and all played without any issues.

I'm very happy with this sub $300 monitor. I'm still waiting for them to respond back if I can share the link and instructions as a proper interwebz citizen but If anyone can't wait I'd suggest emailing them as I did from the footer link on their website. I got a response very quickly.


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## spypet

ping, when you post "lag is gone" you really need to back it up with some sort of proof.
hook up a pc monitor to your DP, the Seiki to your HDMI, then desktop them in mirror mode,
now use a no flash fast shutter camera setting and photograph this test while it's running.
http://www.lagom.nl/lcd-test/response_time.php (scroll down to middle of this page)
below is an example showing a 10ms TN 2K monitor next to a 20ms IPS 4K panel:


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## pingram

You're absolutely right. It was foolish of me to say the lag was gone without proving it.

I'll need to go pickup up a dp adaptor to perform the test. Can't promise I'll get around to it. Like I said, I'll post the patch once I get an ok.

What I can say is that my perception is that lag is completely gone but it could very well be only noticeable to those with a keen eye or possibly even only with software. I can use photoshop again. I can trace and easily select areas. I no longer use arrow keys to correct text instead of reaching for the mouse to re-position in a sentence. I can use my web inspectors and point/click in finite areas again without any frustration. My 10k dpi mouse is again paying for itself.

I can say however that this experience has taught me some new keyboard shortcuts that I wasn't using before =)
(and I've only had this monitor 24 hours)


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## spypet

if you already have a dvi-d cable and 2k monitor, that would be fine too.
no need to spend money just to satisfy some online test hungry crowd.
if you "feel" less lag, i'm sure it's so, but it may still be too much for others,
stuck debating between a cheap 4k tv instead of an expensive 4k monitor.


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## LivingFood

I can confirm the latest firmware helps the input lag immensely. When I first bought this TV it was unusable as a monitor, the lag was horrendous. After the update, there was a new "PC Mode" added and I no longer can notice the input lag. I had a 1ms Samsung monitor before, so I feel I would be able to pick it up immediately. There is one thing though that I'm not sure how to get around, the mouse pointer seems to be a bit choppy. I'm not sure if that's my mouse, or I need to turn on some setting in windows to help smooth it out, but it's sometimes hard to follow. I have the TV running @ 60Hz, so I don't think it's that, and I have a GTX 970. I'll look into it a bit more.


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## pingram

It appears if I am reading the test instructions properly, I need to multiply the frame difference by 16.67. In that case the difference is consistently between 6 and 7.

6x16.67 = 100.2ms
7x16.67 = 116.69ms

2nd monitor was an acer 21.5" 1920x1080 res, which in mirror mode also set the Seiki to that res for the test. The Acer was connected via DVI.



update 8/21/2015 - I just wanted to add this tidbit and please jump in if I am calculating this test wrong because the original op said the input lag was around 300ms but when I do the math from the pics he provided it would seem it was much closer to 500-600ms originally. i.e. 32x16.67 = 533.44


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## spypet

ping, you are my hero. yes, it's definitely better with this new "pc mode"
however, there are plenty of 4K TV's out in the 30-60ms range that would
put this Seiki to shame. bottom line, you got what you paid for, little more,
and this is a shameful lag regression for a 2015 hdmi 2.0 model.

IMHO it's a disgusting practice in the panel industry that there is no
standard for spec'ing input lag, when it's such a critical issue now
that gpu's are doubling in speed every two years. the way these
jerks still operate, you'd think we were back in 2009.

that's why many will be greatful for your post setting the record straight.
I hope you inspire LivingFood to post the same test results. the more
data we have on display here, the fewer buyers will be disappointed.

ping, if you really want to be a test god on OC.net, also do the following;
while your panel is running at 4K60Hz on this new pcmode, do this test;
http://www.testufo.com/#test=frameskipping
set your camera to no flash low light so it keeps the shutter open a while.
a useful photo result looks like this;

we are looking for in this test are black squares in the band of white ones.
that would mean Seiki is cheating by skipping frames to get the full 60Hz.
MunneY the OP here did a piss poor job of properly photographing this test.


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## pingram

Ok, here's the test w/ 1/5 shutter speed.


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## pingram

Update, Seiki has allowed me to share the firmware and update process.

From Seiki (they mentioned an .img file but its actually a .bin file):
re: lag

Our engineers have looked at issue and have improved response time. If you'd like to try the updated firmware, please see download and update instructions below:

Here is the beta firmware that we have for the SE42UM. Please carefully follow directions below.

After firmware upgrade is complete, make sure to enter TV main menu and go to "Picture" menu. Select the new "PC Mode" option to reduce processing and enable the "just scan" aspect mode.

You can download a copy of the firmware here:

http://1drv.ms/1MWRsTN

Software upgrading instructions:

1. Please unzip the file and put the "install.img" file under the root directory of a USB flash drive. And insert the flash drive into USB port on back of TV.
*CAUTION: Do not remove the USB flash disk or power off during updating, otherwise the operation will fail.

2. Press "Menu" button on the Remote control first, then press number key "0" four times in a row to enter the hidden Factory Menu before Menu screen disappears.

3. Move cursor to "Software Upgrade" option and press OK key to start upgrading.

4. After about 10 seconds, it will be into the upgrade status, and the screen will display the upgrade progress interface.

5. Please keep power on during the upgrading process, it will take about 1~2 min.
After upgrading successfully, system will auto turn on.

re: color

Try disabling the MEMC and sharpness settings in "Picture" menu, or just try the new "PC Mode" mentioned above to disable some of the video processing.


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## RickDude

Pingram, thanks for the firmware update.

Could you do a chroma subsampling test with the new "PC Mode" and see if it changed to 4:4:4 instead of the reported 4:2:2? I want to get the SE42UM but at 4:2:2 the text my not be clear enough.

Thank you once again.


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## pingram

It didn't, all red text, especially when on a dark background are horrible...but again, I got it for $275.


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## RickDude

MunneY, newbie here.....

What did you use to test the chroma subsampling?

Thanks.


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## spypet

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *RickDude*
> 
> use to test the chroma subsampling .


http://abload.de/img/444-examplewpjy0.png


----------



## pingram

Well I don't know about you but I don't have time to waste on testing what i can visually see. This monitor is definitely not 4:4:4 and finding the actual test vs a thousand sites that explain what it is and have fixed images of the results seems to be a big chore so please just take my word for it, its not 4:4:4

I felt I should edit this and say wow I sound crabby =)

Please post a link to a direct test if you know of one (the one above is an example of the result of a test on a 4:4:4 capable monitor).


----------



## RickDude

Thank you all for your help. Went ahead and got the SE42UM at HHG for $299. Installed Pingram's firmware and it made a huge difference where it actually can be used as a PC monitor for work (not into gaming). Will run some tests and post the pictures as soon as I can. In the mean while here is a photo of the "PC Mode".


----------



## jamwhit

I got my Seiki SE42UM a couple of months ago to use as a 4k bedroom tv. I figured I would try it out as a monitor on my rig with a 970 card. Yes the lag was hideous. I just tried to revisit the issue today on a whim and found this thread. I updated firmware in about 5 minutes and I now there isnt any noticeable input lag while playing games in 4k. Granted, I've only tried WoW @ 4k as it not very graphic intensive. I'm getting crystal clear 60FPS at 4k. Honestly I could care less that it is only 4:2:2 chroma. THIS IS FREAKIN AWESOME!!!! You are Gentleman and a Scholar Ping! You rock!


----------



## pingram

Thanks jamwhit glad you're happy with it. I recently reinstalled Diablo3 and did all the updates and it's awesome. I used the GFX app to optimize the game launcher settings for all the basics and then upped the size to full res w/ highest quality but left texture mapping and shadows to medium and it plays fairly lag free and I really presume the minor amount that is there is my cpu lagging. I did oc it to 4.2ghz @ 65c and this thing still spikes when I do a screen share with someone.


----------



## xspaceman

Just got one. Two things I have an issue with. I did the firmware update. I still can't seem to add cable channels. During the scan, only one channel, 2, is saved. Nothing else is detected. Really weird bc I have normal cable with at least 30 channels. Only this crappy, fuzzy as hel no name channel is saved?

Other issue is that Win 7 detects this display but only has it listed as 1080P max. No higher resolutions are seen.

Thanks


----------



## RickDude

Xspaceman,

Sorry can't help u with the channel issue, I'm using the se42um as a computer monitor only. Kind of obvious but have you checked if your computer graphics card can output 3840x2160p @30Hz. Just saying becuse my laptop does not so I have to use a USB 3.0 to 4K HDMI adapter from Plugable to be able to display at 2160p.

Good luck.


----------



## dlee7283

Was this ever able to be picked up in the store?

It wasn't available at the Wolfchase location OP.


----------



## xspaceman

Got mine at HHGregg for $360 all in with the extra 2 or 3 yr warranty.

Good TV/Monitor. Did the update no problem. Figured out why I was having issues with channels. THe cable company killed off my free basic cable it sent me for years. I pay $70 a month for internet and thought the cable was free? lol nope.

So I bought a $10 amazon OTA antennae. Picture is stellar. Uncompressed 1080P looks nice.

My HTPC Gpu is an old 240GT and will not support 4K. Still, at 1080P, Mad Max looks tight. Runs smooth even with high speed games like Rocket League.


----------



## kensan

Hey guys, just quoting the post below because using the firmware posted by pingram, my seiki 42" from hhgregg performs flawlessly
- at UD4K
- 60Hz (not 30hz)
- Geforce 740 GT (not GTX)
- Windows 7
- after the firmware update posted by pingram (just repeating!!)

I also have the 39" that does [email protected], I am familiar with the mouse lag, and with the update it is really gone. Especially if you are used to the lag from the 39" like I was!

Also responding because, pingram, I would like to buy you a beer for the help. If you have paypal, IM me!

Another tip, *do NOT install the firmware update posted on the seiki site* which is as described below as of today's writing:

42" LCD TV, 4K ULTRA HD, 60hz
Model # SE42UMS with Serial Number:
42C0M5B522SA00001 ~ 42C0M5B522SA01677 click here
42C0M5B536SA00001 ~ 42C0M5B536SA03354 click here

After installing this update my monitor had wavy lines on bootup. Totally unusable.

But then I reflashed to Pingram's and I am BACK and BETTER THAN OUT OF THE BOX.

*So pingram again, please IM me your paypal and let me buy you that beer,* saved me a trip back to hhgregg, now I am keeping!
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *pingram*
> 
> Update, Seiki has allowed me to share the firmware and update process.
> 
> From Seiki:
> re: lag
> 
> Our engineers have looked at issue and have improved response time. If you'd like to try the updated firmware, please see download and update instructions below:
> 
> Here is the beta firmware that we have for the SE42UM. Please carefully follow directions below.
> 
> After firmware upgrade is complete, make sure to enter TV main menu and go to "Picture" menu. Select the new "PC Mode" option to reduce processing and enable the "just scan" aspect mode.
> 
> You can download a copy of the firmware here:
> 
> http://1drv.ms/1MWRsTN
> 
> Software upgrading instructions:
> 
> 1. Please unzip the file and put the "install.img" file under the root directory of a USB flash drive. And insert the flash drive into USB port on back of TV.
> *CAUTION: Do not remove the USB flash disk or power off during updating, otherwise the operation will fail.
> 
> 2. Press "Menu" button on the Remote control first, then press number key "0" four times in a row to enter the hidden Factory Menu before Menu screen disappears.
> 
> 3. Move cursor to "Software Upgrade" option and press OK key to start upgrading.
> 
> 4. After about 10 seconds, it will be into the upgrade status, and the screen will display the upgrade progress interface.
> 
> 5. Please keep power on during the upgrading process, it will take about 1~2 min.
> After upgrading successfully, system will auto turn on.
> 
> re: color
> 
> Try disabling the MEMC and sharpness settings in "Picture" menu, or just try the new "PC Mode" mentioned above to disable some of the video processing.


----------



## pingram

Thanks again and glad it worked out so well for you Kensan.

Just to also add I had no original intention of gaming on this monitor but I did load up Diablo 3 as mentioned before and set everything as high as it would go this time. Amazing experience and still very little noticeable lag. There has to be a lot going on the screen but never lags to the point of skipping or being jerky, definitely playable and YES I totally forget I'm sitting in my office chair. TOTAL IMMERSION!!! I freaking love it!


----------



## pingram

Another thing I wanted to add for any of you with GTX 960+ cards, the annoying flickering on some of the windows chrome such as right click dialogs, etc. has been gone since the latest video driver update (driver ver 355.98). I thought it could be the monitor but appears it was the video card.


----------



## lessingx

Hi, stupid question but I just got a SE42UM, and I'm trying to upgrade the firmware. The link from Pingram's post takes me to a .zip with a single .bin file in it. The instructions say to unzip the .img file to a thumb drive but I don't see said .img file. I tried converting the bin file with MagicISO but it says invalid disk. Am I missing something?

Thanks!


----------



## crazycrave

It worked for me as just unzip it and drag and drop onto a usb drive and your done..

Also I bought mine at HHgregg as a display model as it was still playing when I bought it for $266 .. I have added a Roku usb stick and the usb port on the telly will power the stick .. I have not tired any 4K game yet but it's updated to Pingram's firmware link..


----------



## lessingx

Hi, update and a question: I got Pingram's firmware to upgrade, but it didn't work well for me, menus looked terrible and no signal detect. BUT, I have a SE42UMS model, so apparently that was the issue. I flashed the firmware update from the Seiki site:
Quote:


> http://www.seiki.com/support/download
> 
> Model # SE42UMS with Serial Number:
> 42C0M5B522SA00001 ~ 42C0M5B522SA01677 click here


This is the one that Kensan in an earlier post said NOT to use (though with reference to a SE42UM I believe). For me, it restored my SE42UMS to usability. FYI with this firmware the monitor DOES have a PC MODE setting.

However, still some mouse lag, and still can't get it up to 3840x2160. I'm using a ThinkPad w520, which apparently can output 4K at 30Hz.

https://forums.lenovo.com/t5/ThinkPad-W-Series-Laptops/w520-tested-with-4K-monitor/td-p/1395527

I'm going from DisplayPort to HDMI via a converter. When I follow the instructions above, I get no image, just a blackout and an endless loop of the NVIDIA driver crashing. I have to unplug the monitor and go back to the laptop display to recover.

I can get the SE42UMS working at lower resolutions through the NVDIA custom resolution settings, but it looks crappy. Any thoughts or advice on how to achieve 4K with this setup is greatly appreciated.

Thanks!


----------



## crazycrave

Ok.. I found an issue with this TV as it does not have HDCP 2.2 which is needed if you ever plan to see 4K over a streamer like the Roku 4 or the up coming 4K Blu-Ray players.

I found this out today hooking up a Roku 4 with 4K streaming as it keeps telling me the TV did not have HDCP 2.2 HDMI connection.. so it's a no go with the Roku 4 as my Sharp 50" 4K does not need it as it is built into the TV already to stream 4K from Netflix.


----------



## Justin Le

My TV got messed up how do i fix i updated with the one on their website and it messed my display up and change the layout theme in the menu


----------



## Kalmado

I didn't want to create a new thread so I apologize for the slight necro. This tv right now is on sale after rebate for a relatively cheap price and I was wondering if anyone has been using it for gaming and could give some feedback. I currently have crossfire 290x so I'm assuming I would need to jump to Nvidia to take advantage of 4k @ 60hz via hdmi 2.0.


----------



## pingram

@Kalmado as I mentioned in this forum thread, I'm not a heavy gamer only playing every once in a while and can say the lag is acceptable to me when playing D3 and Warframe but those are really the only two I've had time to play lately. Neither of which I noticed any lag I can blame on the monitor vs something on net. The experience is identical to that of my previous standard 24" monitor except the awesomeness of my giant monitor =)

Yes I had to swap out my video card for the Nvidia supporting HDMI 2.0 setting me back another $230 but so worth it.

Since I mostly provide tech support and website development services the only thing I really desire now is the ability to specifically share a slice of my monitor pie (say, 1/4 of my screen) for screen shares rather than the whole 4k window which of course uses 4x the bandwidth and the remote user often has to zoom in to see the tiny text. Both skype and teamviewer work ok and there are some alternatives like sharing only a specific app which can be resized or TV allows lowering the resolution but also affects my screen real estate. I assume these issues would also come into play when wanting to record game sessions and the like.


----------



## RickDude

The TV is excellent for the price range as an everyday office monitor have not been using it for gaming. It is not perfect but for the price it's hard to find a fault. Even in the worst case play at 1080p from what I have read 1080 content on a 4K monitor is still better than on a native 1080 monitor/tv. Make sure to update to the firmware posted on this tread by Pingram ( by the way Pingram you are the man....) so you can choose PC mode and get rid of 90% of the lag. I'm using a MSI GTX 960 2 GB OC.


----------



## pingram

Color, gamma and chroma are the biggest of faults I've found with this monitor. Being big on graphic design anything I do that is red text/glyphs on a dark bg look terribly fuzzy and pixelated and getting rid of the reddish/pink hue while still having a relatively bright display was also a big chore. Outside of that when watching videos either 1080 or 4k the image is pretty amazing.


----------



## RickDude

Pingram, could you share your display calibration settings? Thanks.


----------



## iraisdean

Alright folks, I know it is going to be tough but does anyone know how this rates as just a TV? I am on a tight budget and hhgregg has it for $299 the SE42UGT model. Thoughts... after all the gaming and monitor discussion I figured this one would be easy to answer lol..........went back and read thru all the post, kinda found my answer


----------



## MarylandUSA

On the SE42UMS, if you lower the refresh rate to 30 Hz, will the chroma quality rise to 4:4:4?


----------



## RickDude

Nope.


----------



## jamaican voodoo

I order mine off newegg yes the lag was horrendous flash with the firmware and was significantly reduce. however i want to try a 4k with 60hz just waiting for club 3d display port to cdmi 2.0 dongle to be available. it on ok tv not bad for the price of 309.


----------



## MarylandUSA

So without a chroma quality of 4:4:4, how does the SE42UMS fare at small text? Do black characters look fully black, or are they plagued by off-color shadows?


----------



## jamaican voodoo

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *MarylandUSA*
> 
> So without a chroma quality of 4:4:4, how does the SE42UMS fare at small text? Do black characters look fully black, or are they plagued by off-color shadows?


it pretty good did all those test i can see and read the last two sentence fine so i can be that i am not sensitive as other people, when i did the chroma test it says 4:4:4 i'm not sure if it is true or not but colors look great, blacks are not the best but good. overall it an decent 4k tv for the price.


----------



## crazycrave

I have both and I think the SE42UGT is the better buy as it address the short comings of the SE42UM .. SE42UM only has HDMI 1.4 and 1.4 HDCP ..The SE42UGT has both HDMI 1.4 and 2.0 but not sure about the HDCP yet and it has built in Wifi with apps like Netflix.. the Wifi needs an update firmware because 75% is all I can get on the link and it hold it back from Streaming 4K from Netflix .. I have seen it display 2160p in Netflix but it couldn't hold it because of weak Wifi link .. it also comes with a PC mode already so you get a lot more for the same price.


----------



## mkoz1971

Hello all,

As the originator of this tread I happy to report that the Seiki 42 UGT is a great TV and a computer monitor. I am running a GTX 980 and am able to hit 4k 60hz in Windows 10. You must have a HDMI 2.0 out put from the computer to achieve this. Also you must change the color bit rate. That helps a lot. As far as lag.... I don't know why many are having an issue with it but my works great. Running the heaven benchmark test, I am hitting 70FPS in 4K. It took a very long time to get all the adjustments right but trial and error is what got to right. Now running Linux I do have a pretty good lag. But that has to do with a driver issue and not the tv itself. OS X (Hackintosh) will only do 1080p though a HDMI port so that is all you can get from it. For the $299.00 price tag. You can't ask for much more.

Thanks for all the input.


----------



## WhiteDevil

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *crazycrave*
> 
> I have both and I think the SE42UGT is the better buy as it address the short comings of the SE42UM .. SE42UM only has HDMI 1.4 and 1.4 HDCP ..The SE42UGT has both HDMI 1.4 and 2.0 but not sure about the HDCP yet and it has built in Wifi with apps like Netflix.. the Wifi needs an update firmware because 75% is all I can get on the link and it hold it back from Streaming 4K from Netflix .. I have seen it display 2160p in Netflix but it couldn't hold it because of weak Wifi link .. it also comes with a PC mode already so you get a lot more for the same price.


I was about to pull the trigger on a couple of SE42UMS' on Amazon until I read about the SE42UGT. The SE42UMS is an updated version of the SE42UM that has 3 HDMI 2.0 ports with HDCP 2.2. With all other things being equal between the SE42UM and SE42UMS, would you still recommend the SE42UGT instead? I'm concerned with the input lag and it appears to be very low on the SE42UG. I'm wondering if it's better than on the SE42UM with firmware update. I'm currently on a Seiki SE39UY04 and, while I've learned to deal with the input lag, I would definitely like something with less.


----------



## huawei

I bought this TV to use as photo editing monitor. Unfortunately it could not work: No 4:4:4 color, in-TV sharpen and noise reduction, color banding, limited view angle. I had returned it.
It may be good enough for normal works, just not for people that need 4:4:4.

Now I'm researching the 39" Seiki SE39UY04 4K TV. Does anyone know if the 39" can display 4:4:4 chroma at 4K/30Hz?


----------



## willie92708

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *huawei*
> 
> Now I'm researching the 39" Seiki SE39UY04 4K TV. Does anyone know if the 39" can display 4:4:4 chroma at 4K/30Hz?


(Note corrections from RED text to GREEN text as of 13dec2015 10:30AM PST)

I bought a refurbished SE39UY04 from Microcenter on 12/3/2015, and it definitely does 4:4:4 4:2:2 at 4K / 30Hz. I have not tried to get it to run 60 Hz by using customized driver configurations. The standard Win 7 options do not include any refresh above 30 Hz for the 3860x2160 resolution on this TV on a GTX 960, R9 380, R7 360, or a HD 7850. I could try it on my Quadro K620, which actually does drive my RCA 55" 4K TV at 4K 4:2:2 4:2:0 / 60 Hz, or 4K 4:4:4 4:2:2 / 30 Hz, and the Quadro allows for totally customize scan and data rates.

I have read in a different thread that the firmware on the SE39UY04 can have horrible lag, but the unit I bought has no noticeable lag. I also found update firmware for the SE39UY04 on another thread here: http://www.overclock.net/t/1553156/seiki-se39uy04-and-se50uy04-firmware-has-disappeared I'm not a heavy gamer, but the difference between 300ms on a SE42UM and the SE39UY04 is absolutely night and day! The 300mS on the SE42UM is useless for any computer work, but I do not notice the lag on the SE39UY04 at all while doing computer work or playing video games.

Now I am almost curious enough to unbox the SE42UM I bought (about ready to ship back to Newegg), and try the firmware update.


----------



## willie92708

I took my SE42UM back out of the box (was ready to be shipped back to NewEgg), updated the firmware (as described earlier in this thread) and the dreaded input lag really is gone







(or at least diminished to the point it is not noticeable). The firmware update is quick, but it took me a while to figure out that the "software update" selection is under the "other" selection for the service menu (service menu is "menu", then "0" "0" "0" "0"). Also, I hooked my SE42UM up to my Quadro K620 video card, and it will do 4:2:2 4:2:0 4K / 60 Hz and 4:4:4 4:2:2 4K / 30 Hz. So this works out to be a cheap 4K computer monitor after all.

Now this 42" 4K ProScan: http://www.microcenter.com/product/446271/42%22_4K_Ultra_HD_LED_TV is a turd and it's going back to Microcenter. It has input lag around 150mS and it's really hard to get it to work in 4K mode on many video cards. Also, only one of the 3 HDMI inputs will work in 4K resolution.

At the moment NewEgg has the SE42UM for $310:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA8RW34M9649
And the SE39UY04 for $250:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA8RW38E5771


----------



## huawei

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *willie92708*
> 
> I hooked my SE42UM up to my Quadro K620 video card, and it will do 4:2:2 4K / 60 Hz and 4:4:4 4K / 30 Hz. So this works out to be a cheap 4K computer monitor after all.


Are you sure it supports 4:4:4 at 4K/30Hz? I spent about 8 hours tried different settings and could not get it on SE42UM. I have a Sumsang 55" 4K TV that does 4:4:4, so I did have something to compare with.

Do you mind to share how you tested the chroma? I used this method:
http://www.geeks3d.com/20141203/how-to-quickly-check-the-chroma-subsampling-used-with-your-4k-uhd-tv/

Thanks


----------



## willie92708

Yes, the SE42UM definitely does 4:4:4 4:2:2 chroma sub-sampling 3840x2160 @ 30 Hz refresh. I used the Geeks3d.com page you posted, as that's what I've been using for a week now testing various TV's with a wide range of video cards. The blue on red and red on blue text is completely readable in the 4:4:4 4:2:2 mode, although with the TV there are visible (with 3.0 diopter reading glasses and my face 8 inches from the screen) RGB stripes that make each pixel. Nice computer monitors do a better job of blending the RGB into one pixel, so the stripes are not visible even inches from the screen. However, if I changed the refresh rate to 60 Hz, then the text becomes mostly unreadable. I'll upload some macro photos in 30 minutes, so everything is crystal clear!


----------



## willie92708

Upon further inspection of the SE42UM, SE39UY04, and my HP Envy (for reference) using my trusty Canon Rebel T4i to take macro photos, I'm not sure about the 4:4:4 for anything but the HP Envy. And comparing it carefully to the pictures in the http://www.geeks3d.com/20141203/how-to-quickly-check-the-chroma-subsampling-used-with-your-4k-uhd-tv/ they are definitely not the 4:2:0 either at 30 Hz. I suspect that the SE42UM is 4:2:2 4K / 30Hz and 4:2:0 4K / 60Hz, but I cannot be sure because I have no idea what filtering may still be active, even in "PC" mode and with the sharpness turned all the way down.

I think the simple answer, is to look at the pictures (next few posts) and decide if the resolution is sufficient for your application.


----------



## willie92708

Seiki SE42UM at 3840x2160 / 30 Hz in "PC" picture mode after software update:


----------



## willie92708

Seiki SE42UM at 3840x2160 / 60 Hz in "PC" picture mode after software update:


----------



## willie92708

HP Envy 2560x1440 / 60Hz:


----------



## willie92708

Please do click on the pictures so they are show in the full resolution in the thread gallery where this forum holds the processed 1000x500 pixel images. The down-scaled images in the thread itself have aliasing problems. The original images are 18 MegaPixel, which certainly is WAY plenty!







I can Email them if you really want to see super close in like this:


----------



## huawei

willie92708, thanks for taking time for these shots.
Your photos are clear enough to show that SE42UM is 4:2:2 at 4K/30Hz, better than 4:2:0 but not as good as 4:4:4 (like your HP Envy). Same as my testing.

Now, could you test it on 39" Seiki SE39UY04? A picture like your #86 is enough to tell.
I really want 4:4:4 color, even if it's only 30Hz.









Thank you!


----------



## willie92708

Here's a couple desktop icons with the SE42UM 4K / 30 Hz:


----------



## willie92708

Seiki SE39UY04 3840x2160 / 30 Hz:


----------



## willie92708

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *huawei*
> 
> willie92708, thanks for taking time for these shots.
> Your photos are clear enough to show that SE42UM is 4:2:2 at 4K/30Hz, better than 4:2:0 but not as good as 4:4:4 (like your HP Envy). Same as my testing.
> 
> Now, could you test it on 39" Seiki SE39UY04? A picture like your #86 is enough to tell.
> I really want 4:4:4 color, even if it's only 30Hz.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Thank you!


Right, if you want 4:4:4 like the HP Envy, then all of the UHD TV's I've tested in the past couple weeks are not up to that level of clarity. I think I got confused with the 4:2:2 and the 4:2:0 because this link: http://www.geeks3d.com/20141203/how-to-quickly-check-the-chroma-subsampling-used-with-your-4k-uhd-tv/ does not have an example of 4:2:2, only 4:4:4 and 4:2:0. Of course, even with 4:4:4 over the HDMI link, if the TV has noise processing that cannot be turned off fully, then it's still not going to look as good as the true 4:4:4 computer monitor.

Nothing in life is ever simple!









And, you are certainly welcome!

BTW, This is been a crash course in 4K for me over the past 2 weeks, and now I know enough to be dangerous.


----------



## huawei

willie92708, thanks again for the Seiki SE39UY04 shot.
Yes, a lot of people got confused about 4:2:2 and 4:4:4. That's why we need photos to tell.

My 55" Samsung 4K TV UN55HU6840 does 4:4:4 @ 30Hz perfectly, no in-TV processing at all in its PC Mode. But 55" is too big and too bright for my photo editing work. That's why I'm looking to buy a 39~42" 4K TV that can do 4:4:4.

Since SE39UY04 is not 4:4:4, I have to look for others.


----------



## DarthVR6

Folks - is it at all possible to calibrate under PC settings or do we need to use our VC's control panel?


----------



## willie92708

This Samsung 40" model UN40JU6500FXZA is well rated for gaming:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/samsung-40-class-40-diag--led-2160p-smart-4k-ultra-hd-tv-black/3953157.p?id=1219609307257&skuId=3953157

because it shows as having *27mS lag*:

http://www.displaylag.com/display-database/

And 4 reviews say it does *4:4:4 color*, but who knows if we can trust the reviewers. I'm going to check out the 50" version for my software programmer for work, and I'll report on it's color sub-sampling and see if the input lag seems better than the Seiki 50" he is currently using. I think Seiki's input lag is affecting the way he positions the mouse.


----------



## willie92708

Yes, the Samsung JU6500 series TV (40, 50, 55, 60, 65, 75 inch) *absolutely does do 4:4:4 color!* All you have to do is drill down from the source selection button with the "down arrow", use "edit device type" tab and select either PC or PC DVI for PC HDMI to HDMI connection or PC DVI to HDMI connection. The input lag is still respectable at 48ms. In "Game Mode" the color is only 4:2:2, but the input lag is an excellent 27ms:

http://www.rtings.com/tv/reviews/samsung/ju6500

I have verified the 4:4:4 color on the 50 inch at work:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/samsung-50-class-49-5-diag--led-2160p-smart-4k-ultra-hd-tv-black/3813002.p?id=1219607579163&skuId=3813002

I'll verify the 4:4:4 color on the 40 inch when I get home:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/samsung/3953157.p?id=1219609307257&skuId=3953157


----------



## willie92708

40 inch 4K 4:4:4 color never looked so sweet:










Of course, this is not a $310 Seiki, but rather a $510 (open box from BestBuy) Samsung UN40JU6500. Still, compared with purpose built large 4K computer monitors this is a bargain, and it boosts 27 mS input lag in Game Mode (4:2:2 color), and 48 mS input lag in PC Mode (4:4:4 color).


----------



## huawei

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *willie92708*
> 
> 40 inch 4K 4:4:4 color never looked so sweet:
> Of course, this is not a $310 Seiki, but rather a $510 (open box from BestBuy) Samsung UN40JU6500. Still, compared with purpose built large 4K computer monitors this is a bargain, and it boosts 27 mS input lag in Game Mode (4:2:2 color), and 48 mS input lag in PC Mode (4:4:4 color).


Congratulations willie92708, that Samsung is nice!

Back to 39" Seiki SE39UY04, your photo showed it's 4:2:2. Is it possible after some tricks (e.g. change some service menu settings), it could become 4:4:4? I'm asking this for 2 reasons:
1. Seiki SE39UY04 is only $250, attractive price for a 4K monitor.
2. Based on my 55" Samsung TV experience, you need to play some tricks (like setting PC Mode, and renaming source name to be PC) to enable 4:4:4, otherwise it's 4:2:2 only. I wish SE39UY04 could be 4:4:4 since I saw several people claimed it is 4:4:4 although no one showed real photo like you did.


----------



## MarylandUSA

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *willie92708*
> 
> Yes, the Samsung JU6500 series TV (40, 50, 55, 60, 65, 75 inch) *absolutely does do 4:4:4 color!*


Then so will the 6700 series...giving us 4K options with curved screens!


----------



## willie92708

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *MarylandUSA*
> 
> Then so will the 6700 series...giving us 4K options with curved screens!


Yes, according to RTings: http://www.rtings.com/tv/reviews/samsung/ju6700?uxtv=98ac the 6700 series does 4K / 60 Hz 4:4:4 color and with 44 mS input lag (PC mode), or 4K / 60 Hz 4:2:2 color with 28 mS input lag (game mode). Of course the curved screen comes at a much steeper price ($750 with your link).


----------



## willie92708

false
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *huawei*
> 
> Congratulations willie92708, that Samsung is nice!
> 
> Back to 39" Seiki SE39UY04, your photo showed it's 4:2:2. Is it possible after some tricks (e.g. change some service menu settings), it could become 4:4:4? I'm asking this for 2 reasons:
> 1. Seiki SE39UY04 is only $250, attractive price for a 4K monitor.
> 2. Based on my 55" Samsung TV experience, you need to play some tricks (like setting PC Mode, and renaming source name to be PC) to enable 4:4:4, otherwise it's 4:2:2 only. I wish SE39UY04 could be 4:4:4 since I saw several people claimed it is 4:4:4 although no one showed real photo like you did.


I do not see anyway to get the SE39UY04 to 4:4:4. I can set the pixel format to any of the 4:4:4 shown in the picture, and all I get is 4:2:2 with 30 Hz or even 24 Hz refresh. With the 4:2:2 selection I get 4:2:0. The TV firmware does not have any options that I have not explored. However, there are various versions of the firmware on the web, and I could try updating the firmware to different versions. At least the SE39UY04 with the firmware version on my unit has low input lag, which to me is far more important than 4:4:4 color.


----------



## sambul91

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xspaceman*
> 
> JI still can't seem to add cable channels. During the scan, only one channel, 2, is saved. Nothing else is detected. Really weird bc I have normal Basic cable with at least 30 channels. Only this crappy, fuzzy as hel no name channel is saved?


Do you have a sub for Analog or Digital Cable? If analog, are certain channels scrambled, and other sent in clear? If digital, are they all encrypted or only some, do you have to use a digital box and sub from your TV provider to decrypt them all, or some are playable direct by other TVs?


----------



## ebolamonkey

Here is proof of 4:4:4 for the SE39UY04:

SE39UY04 Album

Factory Firmware is also from 2015. I have the Custom Firmware on there right now.


----------



## DanCar

I'm confused. Why do some people say it does 4:4:4 while others say it doesn't?


----------



## ebolamonkey

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *DanCar*
> 
> I'm confused. Why do some people say it does 4:4:4 while others say it doesn't?


I went here:
http://www.geeks3d.com/20141203/how-to-quickly-check-the-chroma-subsampling-used-with-your-4k-uhd-tv/

Took a picture and the text read just fine. Therefore, I have 4:4:4. Others may have different panels and internals but as far as the 2015 manufactured units go they seem to support 4:4:4. Since there might have been a shift in the hardware I am reporting this so that all readers can know about the transition.

The TV was bought from NewEgg.com which is fulfilled by the Seiki Store. The purchase happened before Black Friday. During Black Friday, this particular TV was selling for around $234 with free shipping. When the item stocks out from Seiki the price jumps back to MSRP. I would suggest you wait a day or two for the item to come back in stock before repurchasing. On paper, the newest TV should be SE39UY04-1 but I'm not sure if I happened to have gotten one of those or if that is a new revision entirely.


----------



## willie92708

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *ebolamonkey*
> 
> Here is proof of 4:4:4 for the SE39UY04:
> 
> SE39UY04 Album
> 
> Factory Firmware is also from 2015. I have the Custom Firmware on there right now.


You zoomed the web page so the fonts are much bigger than 1:1 font pixel to screen pixel. Of course, any color text zoomed a bit looks like it's 4:4:4 color, just like if you switch the TV to 1080p resolution instead of 4K. One of your pictures confirms that the image is zoomed greatly, because I can see how much the web page takes up on the screen. The web page must take up this amount of resolution on the screen:



Otherwise you are not doing the 4:4:4 test correctly.


----------



## ebolamonkey

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *willie92708*
> 
> You zoomed the web page so the fonts are much bigger than 1:1 font pixel to screen pixel. Of course, any color text zoomed a bit looks like it's 4:4:4 color, just like if you switch the TV to 1080p resolution instead of 4K. One of your pictures confirms that the image is zoomed greatly, because I can see how much the web page takes up on the screen. The web page must take up this amount of resolution on the screen:
> 
> 
> 
> Otherwise you are not doing the 4:4:4 test correctly.


The entire Desktop is zoomed. Let me try with 1:1...

It looks like dog poop. The last line is faded quite a bit. Guess I won't miss this TV much. Back to the store it goes! SE42UGT inbound.


----------



## sambul91

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *ebolamonkey*
> 
> SE42UGT inbound.


Which doesn't support 4:4:4 now due to same FW bug or switched off.


----------



## gsmith524

Hey guys! This is my first post on the overclock forums. I bought this TV from Newegg a couple weeks ago and I'm trying to figure out a way to somehow get the 60Hz refresh rate @4K with my new Radeon r9 390 videocard (as most others, I'm using this primarily as a pc monitor). The card itself is definitely powerful enough for 4K gaming and it shows in some games 60-100fps @4K on ultra settings but I can't take advantage of that when I'm stuck with a 30Hz refresh rate...all because my videocard doesn't support HDMI 2.0 from what I've read...

I have an HDMI 2.0 cable and have been looking for DisplayPort 1.2 to HDMI 2.0 adapters that fully support 4K @60Hz, I've come across a few that claim to allow that but I'm halfway skeptical & I don't feel like wasting money on anything that isn't going to help me out. My r9 390 has 2 DisplayPort inputs on the card as well as a standard HDMI & 2 DVI inputs. Does anyone know what I could do to fix this problem? (Oh, and in regards to Seiki TV's, I have both the SE42UM and the SE39UY04 models, and for some reason ever since I did a firmware update on my 39" 4K the pixelation has been absolutely horrendous, it looks like either terrible scaling or a huge cut in actual pixel resolution, it ONLY displays pixels correctly at 3840x2160, does anyone have the stock firmware for that TV by any chance?). I am using the modded firmware for my SE42UM as well and I love it!! It's ironic and amazing how the timing of certain things just fold out, I'm glad I didn't buy this TV 6 months ago when it still had horrible lag issues. Thanks for all the great info and hope you all have a good one









- Gary


----------



## Scougar

Club3D CAC-1070 is the adapter you want (for Displayport 1.2 to HDMI 2.0).


----------



## mrfriednoodles

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *gsmith524*
> 
> Hey guys! This is my first post on the overclock forums. I bought this TV from Newegg a couple weeks ago and I'm trying to figure out a way to somehow get the 60Hz refresh rate @4K with my new Radeon r9 390 videocard (as most others, I'm using this primarily as a pc monitor). The card itself is definitely powerful enough for 4K gaming and it shows in some games 60-100fps @4K on ultra settings but I can't take advantage of that when I'm stuck with a 30Hz refresh rate...all because my videocard doesn't support HDMI 2.0 from what I've read...
> 
> I have an HDMI 2.0 cable and have been looking for DisplayPort 1.2 to HDMI 2.0 adapters that fully support 4K @60Hz, I've come across a few that claim to allow that but I'm halfway skeptical & I don't feel like wasting money on anything that isn't going to help me out. My r9 390 has 2 DisplayPort inputs on the card as well as a standard HDMI & 2 DVI inputs. Does anyone know what I could do to fix this problem? (Oh, and in regards to Seiki TV's, I have both the SE42UM and the SE39UY04 models, and for some reason ever since I did a firmware update on my 39" 4K the pixelation has been absolutely horrendous, it looks like either terrible scaling or a huge cut in actual pixel resolution, it ONLY displays pixels correctly at 3840x2160, does anyone have the stock firmware for that TV by any chance?). I am using the modded firmware for my SE42UM as well and I love it!! It's ironic and amazing how the timing of certain things just fold out, I'm glad I didn't buy this TV 6 months ago when it still had horrible lag issues. Thanks for all the great info and hope you all have a good one
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> - Gary


What modded firmware are you speaking of? I've been reading around and haven't been able to find any for my SE42UGT. Also, how do you like the 42" in comparison to the 39"? I'm still kinda iffy b/w the two because I've heard the 39 can at least output 120hz on 1080. And yes, the adapter everyone has been speaking of is http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0194F1MY4?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=ox_sc_act_title_3&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER


----------



## Russo2188

Pingrim if you could please help me i would be forever thankful i am having trouble trying to upload the software on my tv. I have a mac and a usb drive i don't think it will unzip the file and i try to put it in the back of my tv and it won't upload the software if anybody on this website can message me or if you could message me and help me that would be amazing.


----------



## pingram

@Russo2188 I got your pm. You'll need to uncompress the archive for it to work. If your MAC is fairly new I think you can uncompress the file directly in the OS by right click or ctrl click or see this 



 for help. I don't use a MAC regularly so I'm no help there.

You can also use a free utility like izip

You'll want the contents placed directly on the usb drive "root" folder. Not inside any other folders so the TV can see the file and load the firmware. Please see the instructions here.


----------



## dman6250

Not sure if still monitoring this thread but if so, I downloaded the update but when I extract I get a bin file that cannot be opened. to get the img file to transfer to root of thumb drive. Thanks in advance for any help.


----------



## Russo2188

That's what happened to me I downloaded it and it won't let me open it does anyone know how to get it opened as a bin file


----------



## willie92708

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Russo2188*
> 
> That's what happened to me I downloaded it and it won't let me open it does anyone know how to get it opened as a bin file


All you do is copy the "unzipped" file to a USB flash drive and plug the drive into the TV. You do not "open" the file. Then use the service menu (back in this thread) to update the firmware.


----------



## mott555

Hey guys, quick question. I'm looking at the SE42UMS as a cheap 4K screen for PC use. Is it significantly different than the SE42UM, and are there any hard numbers for input lag on these models when they're configured correctly? I skimmed this thread but didn't see anything.


----------



## RickDude

SE42UM = HDMI port 1 and 2 are 1.4 and port 3 is HDMI 2.0 ( HDCP 2.2 Compliant)
SE42UMS = All HDMI ports are 2.0 and HDCP 2.2 compliant

Everything else is identical


----------



## Ancients1123

Does this TV "upscale" regular 1080p content to 4k?


----------



## zamaracrillio

I don't think any of Seiki 4K consumer models upscale the content, they sell a separate upscaling cable adapter for that.


----------



## willie92708

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Ancients1123*
> 
> Does this TV "upscale" regular 1080p content to 4k?


Yes, 1080p content will display "upscaled" to 4K. In fact, I run my computer at 1920x1080 resolution when I do not want full 4K for some tasks.


----------



## zamaracrillio

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *willie92708*
> 
> Yes, 1080p content will display "upscaled" to 4K. In fact, I run my computer at 1920x1080 resolution when I do not want full 4K for some tasks.


What do you mean by that? Can you post a screenshot or photo showing how your 1080P source signal was upscaled by the TV, to what output screen resolution, and what exact GPU and TV settings did you choose?


----------



## Ancients1123

I mean an HDMI device like an Xbox, PlayStation or bluray player. 1080p upscaled to 4k. Does the TV do that itself? I don't want that uvision cable. It only does 1080p24hz < 4k30hz


----------



## willie92708

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *zamaracrillio*
> 
> What do you mean by that? Can you post a screenshot or photo showing how your 1080P source signal was upscaled by the TV, to what output screen resolution, and what exact GPU and TV settings did you choose?


Ok, first, I no longer have the SE42UM, because I sent it back to Newegg. I kept the Seiki SE39UY04 for $250 instead of the slightly larger SE42UM for $310. However, while I had the SE42UM I hooked it up to several computers, and my AT&T Uverse box. All my computers and the AT&T Uverse box worked great in 1080p mode (except for the horrible input lag which I mostly fixed with the firmware update). My older computers with older Nvidia and Radeon GPU's would not work in 4K mode, but all worked in 1080p. I bought several newer Nvidia and Radeon cards that all work fine in 4K (3840x2160 4:2:2 color at 30Hz) on both the SE42UM and the SE39UY04. The SE42UM worked basically identically to the SE39UY04 in term of display modes and compatibility with all sources I have. Here's a screen shot of the SE39UY04 at 1080p on my i7-4790K with R9 380 GPU:



which is exactly like how the SE42UM behaved on a 1080p source.


----------



## willie92708

Here's the same system at 4K (3840x2160 4:2:2 at 30Hz):


----------



## willie92708

Here's a closeup of the 1080p mode:


----------



## zamaracrillio

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *willie92708*
> 
> Here's a closeup of the 1080p mode


From your screenshots it looks like Windows desktop is displayed at 100% in 1080P mode. It also looks like Desktop program icons were Resampled by either Windows or the monitor to reflect nicely in 1080P mode at switching the resolutions. This is not the same as upscaling 1080P content to 4K. I watch 1080P videos on this TV from PC and web, and they're always played AS IS, never upscaled to 4K resolution during playback by neither the movie player, no by this TV. There isn't any _Upscale Content_ or similar setting in Seiki 4K TV series either, unless you can point to one.

But the monitor nicely doubles the pixels to see 1080P content natively on a 4K panel, since 1080P its 2-nd Native Resolution as per EDID. So it also depends on how you define "upscaling". If you mean "scaling a 1080P video signal to match the size of a particular (4K here) display", then YES, its done automatically by the TV since 1080P is also its native resolution. But it won't convert a 1080P video into 4K video by adding more unique shades to each pixel, though it has certain video enhancements features.


----------



## willie92708

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *zamaracrillio*
> 
> From your screenshots it looks like Windows desktop is displayed at 100% in 1080P mode. It also looks like Desktop program icons were Resampled by either Windows or the monitor to reflect nicely in 1080P mode at switching the resolutions. This is not the same as upscaling 1080P content to 4K. I watch 1080P videos on this TV from PC and web, and they're always played AS IS, never upscaled to 4K resolution during playback by neither the movie player, no by this TV. There isn't any _Upscale Content_ or similar setting in Seiki 4K TV series either, unless you can point to one.
> 
> But the monitor nicely doubles the pixels to see 1080P content natively on a 4K panel, since 1080P its 2-nd Native Resolution as per EDID. So it also depends on how you define "upscaling". For example, if you mean "scaling a video signal of lower resolution to match the size of a particular (4K here) display", then YES, its done automatically by the TV since 1080P is also its native resolution.


That's why I put "upscaling" in quotes. There is no precise definition for "upscaling" and it means different things depending on the person's background. What I do see is that any 1080p content will be displayed on the Seiki 4K TV's so that each 1080p pixel is mapped to 4 of the 4K pixels. It looks like there may be some pixel data averaging done by the TV, because it's not being done by the computer when it's most certainly set to 1080p and the TV is confirming that video mode. I just hooked up my Seiki to my old AMD Athlon with a GT 430 video card:
http://www.geforce.com/hardware/desktop-gpus/geforce-gt-430/specifications
which cannot do 4K a mode and the results are the same, full screen display of 1080p content with some pixel averaging. It's not exactly 1x 1080p pixel maps to exactly 4x 4K pixels, because edges on diagonal lines are much smoother than they would be if only mapped without further processing by the TV. So there is some "upscaling" going on in the TV. It make the 1080p computer source look "smoother" than on a native 1080p monitor.

I think the person asking the original question really wanted to know if the Seiki TV will properly display 1080p sources, and the answer is most definitely YES!

Willie


----------



## zamaracrillio

I agree, it will display 1080P sources automatically on the entire screen looking pretty decent at 100% aspect ratio. I don't have Seiki U-Vision cable, but from its description and user reviews, it looks like it does some up-convertion of 1080P source to 4K resolution by adding (interpolating) more details, so it might be a different viewing experience compare to this TV 1080P default upscaling.


----------



## jamwhit

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *RickDude*
> 
> SE42UM = HDMI port 1 and 2 are 1.4 and port 3 is HDMI 2.0 ( HDCP 2.2 Compliant)
> SE42UMS = All HDMI ports are 2.0 and HDCP 2.2 compliant
> 
> Everything else is identical


RickDude, I disagree that the SE42UM is HDCP 2.2 compliant on any ports. I bought a Roku 4 and could not get it to display 4k at all. It showed HDCP not compliant error on port 3 which is marked HDMI 2.0.

I did further research and found a SE42UM product sheet which clearly states all ports are HDCP 1.4 only.

http://seiki.com/sites/default/files/product-files/Seiki%20SE42UM%20Product%20Sheet.pdf

Needless to say, I returned the Roku 4. At least it works as a decent 4K monitor. Yes even for light gaming like World of Warcraft (with the mouse lag patch).

If anybody knows of a work around for the HDCP 2.2 on this model. I would love to know about it.


----------



## matterino

I just picked up the Seiki SE42UMS to run as a monitor off my surface pro 4. I have run through this thread--and similar others elsewhere--and still can't figure out how to pull [email protected] out of this monitor. My graphics card is the Iris 540. All information floating around says I should be able to get the full 60hz but i can only achieve 30hz. I have the proper HDMI cables, the DP1.2 to HDMI2.0 [email protected] adapter.

I'm fairly new to Windows 10 so I am hoping the wiser minds here might steer to me to a setting I overlooked. When I go into the display settings menu and Display Adapter Properties, my sole choice for 4k is 30hz. Any ideas? Thanks so much guys!


----------



## pingram

@matterino I could be wrong but I recall reading dp1.3 was required for 60hz...plus all dp to hdmi adapters I looked at a few months ago never did actually advertise hdmi 2.0 supporting a 60hz refresh rate, heck most didn't even acknowledge the hdmi version spec at all.

Ok, I did find that dp1.2 does support 4k @ 60hz but the conversion is the problem and found another thread that explains dp1.3 is required to convert to hdmi 2.0 and support 60hz.


----------



## matterino

Ah so the adapter I purchased that converts DP to HDMI 2.0 for [email protected] requires DP1.3 as a pre-req? That's good to know! So essentially with the Surface Pro 4 I would be limited to using a monitor that supports display port in order to attain 60hz. Bummed I can't use this monitor, but glad to have an answer.

Thanks pingram for the quick response! I would have been scratching my head and digging through internet garbage for days without this little detail.


----------



## zamaracrillio

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *pingram*
> 
> I did find that dp1.2 does support 4k @ 60hz but the conversion is the problem and found another thread that explains dp1.3 is required to convert to hdmi 2.0 and support 60hz.


Active DP1.2-to-HDMI2.0 adapters don't seem to be mature yet, and may show problems. DP1.2 port requires such active adapter to support [email protected] 444. DP1.3 port requires just a passive HDMI2.0 adapter, since it natively supports HDMI2.0 as an output mode when requested by the TV, but such passive adapters aren't sold yet.


----------



## matterino

I purchased one of these active adapters you speak of from UpTab: http://www.uptab.com/minidisplayport-thunderbolt-to-hdmi-4kat60hz-adapter-cable-gold-plated.html

The product information gives the impression that it will produce [email protected] from a mini displayport 1.2 to hdmi 2.0. But it seems from the previous posts from those smarter than me that there is more to the story here.

Perhaps it is the relative immaturity of these products mentioned above that is giving me issues. Or the very real possibility I am screwing something up on my end. Whether I am wrong or right, I at least would like the info out there to save someone else the hassle.


----------



## BabylonDown

Does anyone know how to get this tv to turn on when my computer auto turns off the display without having to power it on with the remote?


----------



## greengart

Anyone else experiencing this? I have the SE42UM, I'm trying to use it as a monitor, and even with the updated firmware, photos and video look like it was passed through a watercolor filter. I thought it might be a Windows 10/GTX760 combo issue, but the Macs I've tried have had the same problem. I tried different HDMI cables, made no difference. Text is ok, and when used as a TV it doesn't seem to have this problem. But when hooked up to my PC at native resolution 60 Hz, any images or video all look like low res watercolor versions of themselves. Seems to be some sort of native image processing that I can't turn off.

Also, BabylonDown, I haven't found a way to get around the auto-shutoff.


----------



## DooLocsta

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *greengart*
> 
> Anyone else experiencing this? I have the SE42UM, I'm trying to use it as a monitor, and even with the updated firmware, photos and video look like it was passed through a watercolor filter. I thought it might be a Windows 10/GTX760 combo issue, but the Macs I've tried have had the same problem. I tried different HDMI cables, made no difference. Text is ok, and when used as a TV it doesn't seem to have this problem. But when hooked up to my PC at native resolution 60 Hz, any images or video all look like low res watercolor versions of themselves. Seems to be some sort of native image processing that I can't turn off.
> 
> Also, BabylonDown, I haven't found a way to get around the auto-shutoff.


Sounds like you are seeing 4:2:2 which is all this set is able to display.


----------



## BabylonDown

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *greengart*
> 
> Anyone else experiencing this? I have the SE42UM, I'm trying to use it as a monitor, and even with the updated firmware, photos and video look like it was passed through a watercolor filter. I thought it might be a Windows 10/GTX760 combo issue, but the Macs I've tried have had the same problem. I tried different HDMI cables, made no difference. Text is ok, and when used as a TV it doesn't seem to have this problem. But when hooked up to my PC at native resolution 60 Hz, any images or video all look like low res watercolor versions of themselves. Seems to be some sort of native image processing that I can't turn off.
> 
> Also, BabylonDown, I haven't found a way to get around the auto-shutoff.


I've had no such issues with my SE42UM and I have it hooked up to my computer via HDMI.


----------



## greengart

It was a problem with the Sharpness setting. I had turned it to 0, but it wasn't registering. Resetting the Seiki seems to have gotten the control working again, so I'm good now.


----------



## some

I would like to buy the Seiki 42" as a monitor but before I do, I want to verify the tests mentioned above were performed on a Nvidia 900 series card with HDMI 2.0 and the NVidia control panel Output Color Format set to YCBRCR444. I have not had issues with the lousy Sceptre TV at 444 with this card and combination, I'm puzzled the Seiki would have problems displaying 444.
I see a number of tests being performed with cards that do not support HDMI 2.0. I saw the same thing in Sceptre forums as well. I proved them all wrong with my Nvidia + HDMI 2.0 combination. The only issue was the display itself was terrible.
Display Port -> HDMI 2.0 adapter tests shouldn't be considered sufficient.
Please validate the tests were performed as mentioned above and that after setting the display to YCbCr444 that the display is performing as expected or less than expected.
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *willie92708*
> 
> Please do click on the pictures so they are show in the full resolution in the thread gallery where this forum holds the processed 1000x500 pixel images. The down-scaled images in the thread itself have aliasing problems. The original images are 18 MegaPixel, which certainly is WAY plenty!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I can Email them if you really want to see super close in like this:


----------



## some

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *greengart*
> 
> Anyone else experiencing this? I have the SE42UM, I'm trying to use it as a monitor, and even with the updated firmware, photos and video look like it was passed through a watercolor filter. I thought it might be a Windows 10/GTX760 combo issue, but the Macs I've tried have had the same problem. I tried different HDMI cables, made no difference. Text is ok, and when used as a TV it doesn't seem to have this problem. But when hooked up to my PC at native resolution 60 Hz, any images or video all look like low res watercolor versions of themselves. Seems to be some sort of native image processing that I can't turn off.
> 
> Also, BabylonDown, I haven't found a way to get around the auto-shutoff.


4k 60hz televisions require an NVidia 900 series card connected to the HDMI 2.0 port. Any other combination will give you a less than optimal experience.
Consider it the price that needs to be paid to enter the world of 4k.


----------



## willie92708

I used a Nvidia GTX 960, Nvidia Quadro K620 and a AMD Radeon R9 380 for testing and none of the cards with the latest drivers would do anything greater than 4:2:2 color, regardless of what setting was selected in the control panel: http://www.overclock.net/t/1563005/lightbox/post/24718883/id/2663241 For any test it is critical to use magnification and look (or take a picture) of the screen pixels to verify the color sampling. Just because the control panel says it's 4:4:4, does not mean that it is actually doing 4:4:4.

The funny thing after all my searching and testing of various 39 to 55 inch 4K TV's for computer monitors, is that the 4:4:4 and/or 60Hz refresh are/is totally moot, if the monitor's lag is too high. Many of these TV's have lag in the 100mS or much greater, making them painful to use on a computer. Some are under 80mS, and a very few under 50mS. The Samsung UN40JU6500 is one of those rare exceptions with a 27mS lag in game mode (4:2:2 color), and 48mS in "normal" mode (4:4:4 color).

Happy 4K gaming, CAD'ing or whatever your heart's desire!








Quote:


> Originally Posted by *some*
> 
> I would like to buy the Seiki 42" as a monitor but before I do, I want to verify the tests mentioned above were performed on a Nvidia 900 series card with HDMI 2.0 and the NVidia control panel Output Color Format set to YCBRCR444. I have not had issues with the lousy Sceptre TV at 444 with this card and combination, I'm puzzled the Seiki would have problems displaying 444.
> I see a number of tests being performed with cards that do not support HDMI 2.0. I saw the same thing in Sceptre forums as well. I proved them all wrong with my Nvidia + HDMI 2.0 combination. The only issue was the display itself was terrible.
> Display Port -> HDMI 2.0 adapter tests shouldn't be considered sufficient.
> Please validate the tests were performed as mentioned above and that after setting the display to YCbCr444 that the display is performing as expected or less than expected.


----------



## willie92708

The Seiki is just a bit "pasty" or "water color" looking, especially in 2K mode. It doesn't matter which video card I use to drive it from an Quadro K420, Radeon 7850, R9 380, GTX 960 or all the way to a GTX 980 Ti. They all look exactly the same. Why? because all the video card does is provide a set of digital numbers for the monitor's every pixel. The monitor turns those numbers into analog values, stores them in the actual LCD cells that modulate how much each Red Green and Blue filtered light from the back plane that reaches the front.
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *some*
> 
> 4k 60hz televisions require an NVidia 900 series card connected to the HDMI 2.0 port. Any other combination will give you a less than optimal experience.
> Consider it the price that needs to be paid to enter the world of 4k.


----------



## greengart

Some, I'm waiting on a new video card from NVIDIA to test out the Rift and Vive; if it improves the Seiki as well, I'll be sure to post about it here.

That said, it's running at 4K 60 Hz and it's usable. Colors are pastel-ly and everything is softer than I want, but it isn't actively hurting my eyes. When the Sharpness setting wouldn't respond, it was completely unusable. It's not what I was hoping for - the displays on the MacBook, MacBook Pro retina, Surface Pro 4, and SurfaceBook are all much better. But there's a LOT more screen real estate on a 42" screen, so... tradeoffs. I suspect that I'd love one of the new 34" monitors, but those are still in the $800 range, and I haven't convinced anyone to send me one to play with (I review lots of tech, but mostly on the mobile/digital home fronts).


----------



## some

willie92708 - How did you connect the tv to the gtx960? Was it through hdmi2.0 direct or display port + adaptor? I found it can make a difference.


----------



## willie92708

With the GTX 960, I used HDMI output port with a 4K certified 10.2Gb/s per channel HDMI cable to the TV. With the Quadro K620, I used both a DVI to HDMI cord and several different Display Port to HDMI adaptors. With the AMD FirePro W5100, I could only use the adaptor, because it only has display port outputs. The same adaptors and cords will do 4:4:4 color on my Samsung UN40JU6500 4K TV, although the adaptors will only do 30Hz refresh rate, because I have yet to buy one of the latest 4K / 60 Hz / 4:4:4 color rated ones.
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *some*
> 
> willie92708 - How did you connect the tv to the gtx960? Was it through hdmi2.0 direct or display port + adaptor? I found it can make a difference.


----------



## some

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *greengart*
> 
> Some, I'm waiting on a new video card from NVIDIA to test out the Rift and Vive; if it improves the Seiki as well, I'll be sure to post about it here.
> 
> That said, it's running at 4K 60 Hz and it's usable. Colors are pastel-ly and everything is softer than I want, but it isn't actively hurting my eyes. When the Sharpness setting wouldn't respond, it was completely unusable. It's not what I was hoping for - the displays on the MacBook, MacBook Pro retina, Surface Pro 4, and SurfaceBook are all much better. But there's a LOT more screen real estate on a 42" screen, so... tradeoffs. I suspect that I'd love one of the new 34" monitors, but those are still in the $800 range, and I haven't convinced anyone to send me one to play with (I review lots of tech, but mostly on the mobile/digital home fronts).


Are you currently using an NVidia 900 series card + HDMI 2.0 Do you see colors on the side of text? When I test my Seiki 4K 39" display with 4:2:2 I'll see blurred colors, but in 4:4:4 the text is perfectly sharp. Also the Seiki 39" (30hz) display seems to have spot on color and detail. It's starting to sound like the 42 is a step back.


----------



## pacolococt

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *willie92708*
> 
> The Seiki is just a bit "pasty" or "water color" looking, especially in 2K mode. It doesn't matter which video card I use to drive it from an Quadro K420, Radeon 7850, R9 380, GTX 960 or all the way to a GTX 980 Ti. They all look exactly the same. Why? because all the video card does is provide a set of digital numbers for the monitor's every pixel. The monitor turns those numbers into analog values, stores them in the actual LCD cells that modulate how much each Red Green and Blue filtered light from the back plane that reaches the front.


I just bought this TV for $249 from a BJ's sale and it is arriving Monday. I currently use a TCL 40" LCD 1080P as my computer monitor that I bought back in 2011. Never had any problems with it until recently as it's dying. I usually use it for working, watching Netflix/Amazon/Hulu/Youtube, gaming on Xbox One and Wii U plus light PC gaming. Almost all of my work is done on a white or light background and never noticed any problems with text on a dark background. You mentioned the Seiki looking pasty even in 1080P but also said it looks better than native 1080P TVs. I really don't care about getting the sharpest picture but won't tolerate blurriness. I currently have an integrated Radeon 8570D and plan to run the Seiki 42UM in 1080P until I upgrade my graphics card (Probably wait until the 950s go under $100 as I'm on a tight budge and then run this TV in HDMI 2.0 at 4k 60HZ). My question is basically will I have any problems with reading text in 1080P based on my above situation or is that just in 4k? I only care that based on my current setup that this TV look as good as my current TCL if not better and worry about the 4k down the line. Also I know about the HDCP and only having one HDMI 2.0 but that really shouldn't be a problem for me as I watch all of my Netflix on my computer as I need to use my bluetooth headphones because of privacy. I have no intention on buying another device to watch 4k (Roku 4 or Firestick) and I have no problem waiting until Netflix, Amazon, and Hulu release 4k viewing to computers if that actually happens. I just hope they don't have the HDCP 2.2 restrictions in that case but to me that wouldn't make sense although I know very very little. Anyway based on what I have describes and my needs do y'all think this TV should suit me just fine? Thanks in advance for any and all help.

P.S. The only gaming I do is Rocket League and I am aware of the firmware fix for the lag and will do so as soon as the TV arrives.


----------



## willie92708

Normally all text in 4K mode is totally readable, because people normally do not use the worst case colors (like blue on red). If you look at some of the pictures I posted you will see that even the smallest text and icons are fine. The issue with wanting 4:4:4 color is for graphic artists, still photographers, etc. that demand the highest quality rendering on the screen. They can buy a $400 Samsung and get 4:4:4 color. I'm picky about my screens, yet I have no issue with using this Seiki TV in 4K, 30Hz and 4:2:2 color mode for computer work. 60 Hz is nicer for gaming, but the lag (even with the software update) is too long to make 60 Hz refresh worth anything. You will just have to see the lag for yourself as far as gaming is concerned. I actually prefer the Seiki SE39UY04 over the SE42UM because the lag is lower. Also, at $229: http://www.microcenter.com/product/460773/SE39UY04_39_4K_UltraHD_LED_TV it's an F'ing steal!









Quote:


> Originally Posted by *pacolococt*
> 
> I just bought this TV for $249 from a BJ's sale and it is arriving Monday. I currently use a TCL 40" LCD 1080P as my computer monitor that I bought back in 2011. Never had any problems with it until recently as it's dying. I usually use it for working, watching Netflix/Amazon/Hulu/Youtube, gaming on Xbox One and Wii U plus light PC gaming. Almost all of my work is done on a white or light background and never noticed any problems with text on a dark background. You mentioned the Seiki looking pasty even in 1080P but also said it looks better than native 1080P TVs. I really don't care about getting the sharpest picture but won't tolerate blurriness. I currently have an integrated Radeon 8570D and plan to run the Seiki 42UM in 1080P until I upgrade my graphics card (Probably wait until the 950s go under $100 as I'm on a tight budge and then run this TV in HDMI 2.0 at 4k 60HZ). My question is basically will I have any problems with reading text in 1080P based on my above situation or is that just in 4k? I only care that based on my current setup that this TV look as good as my current TCL if not better and worry about the 4k down the line. Also I know about the HDCP and only having one HDMI 2.0 but that really shouldn't be a problem for me as I watch all of my Netflix on my computer as I need to use my bluetooth headphones because of privacy. I have no intention on buying another device to watch 4k (Roku 4 or Firestick) and I have no problem waiting until Netflix, Amazon, and Hulu release 4k viewing to computers if that actually happens. I just hope they don't have the HDCP 2.2 restrictions in that case but to me that wouldn't make sense although I know very very little. Anyway based on what I have describes and my needs do y'all think this TV should suit me just fine? Thanks in advance for any and all help.
> 
> P.S. The only gaming I do is Rocket League and I am aware of the firmware fix for the lag and will do so as soon as the TV arrives.


----------



## pacolococt

[/quote]
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *willie92708*
> 
> Normally all text in 4K mode is totally readable, because people normally do not use the worst case colors (like blue on red). If you look at some of the pictures I posted you will see that even the smallest text and icons are fine. The issue with wanting 4:4:4 color is for graphic artists, still photographers, etc. that demand the highest quality rendering on the screen. They can buy a $400 Samsung and get 4:4:4 color. I'm picky about my screens, yet I have no issue with using this Seiki TV in 4K, 30Hz and 4:2:2 color mode for computer work. 60 Hz is nicer for gaming, but the lag (even with the software update) is too long to make 60 Hz refresh worth anything. You will just have to see the lag for yourself as far as gaming is concerned. I actually prefer the Seiki SE39UY04 over the SE42UM because the lag is lower. Also, at $229: http://www.microcenter.com/product/460773/SE39UY04_39_4K_UltraHD_LED_TV it's an F'ing steal!


Thanks for clearing that up, I appreciate it. To make a long story short I actually need the 42 inches instead of 39 but appreciate the advice. Any info on my 1080p question? That's actually the most important part to me. As for as the clarity compared to other 1080P TVs. Is the lag the same in 1080p as it is in 4k?


----------



## pacolococt

Don't worry about answering the 1080P questions or any of my previous questions as I know have the TV. Initial thoughts are that it is pretty good and definitely worth $249 even if I only ran it in 1080P as I am currently. The option of 4K is simply a bonus. I'm wondering if the firmware actually did anything besides add the PC Menu with presets in i.e. I don't think it did anything to reduce the lag except input a menu that has MEMC turned off and picture settings that would be acceptable for the average PC user. I'm not complaining but if it did only do this it's pretty stupid of them to not just tell us to turn MEMC off. The reason I feel this way is if you adjust the picture settings to any of the other defaults (that all have MEMC on) the lag is pretty horrid. If you adjust any of them to turn MEMC off it now changes your setting to USER (which is extremely annoying why can't we adjust the certain settings in the presets) and every default then has no lag. I just find that bizarre. I didn't try it without the firmware update so I could be way off but I do know there is huge lag with MEMC turned on. For that one guy a few pages back that wanted to know if we can adjust the picture settings in PC Mode, like I said I don't think it matters that it's actually on PC Mode as long as MEMC is off but you can change the settings of each default in the secret menu just hit menu 0 0 0 0 then others and picture, then adjust and save. I also don't think the sharpness setting has anything to do with lag which is the impression I got before the TV arrived. I think this is just that most users think it looks better with 0 sharpness. I personally like some sharpness and have mine at 40. I didn't notice any lag difference between 0 and 50 so if you like some sharpness like we try turning it up and it's unlikely you will get increased lag. You guys might think that I'm an idiot for these observations but this was the impression I was getting so it's possible other people thought the same way as me. Rocket League worked well and didn't notice any lag with MEMC off.

Of course all of this applies to my current settings at 1080P and maybe the sharpness thing makes text very blurry or something at 4k I don't know but I doubt the lag situation is any different. There are a bunch of options in the service menu that definitely should have been included in the regular menu and some that definitely shouldn't be touched. One that I am intrigued by is the audio EQ and the sound adjustments (not the regular sound adjustments) as the speakers on this TV are close to straight up garbage and that is my biggest complaint. The sound is loud and seems to have the potential to be good but is basically muffled no matter what regular audio settings you change it to. If someone figures out how to make these speakers not sound muffled with the advanced audio settings that would be awesome but I doubt it. Sound watching direct TV was adequate though. Luckily I watch most of my programming on the computer using headphones that have very good quality. All in all for $249 I can definitely deal with the problems. Thanks again to Pingram for the help and all others and if anyone can elaborate on the first paragraph or help with the audio situation let me know. Here are my current video settings with no lag.

Contrast 60
Brightness 48
Color 50
Tint 0
Sharpness 40
Color Temp Normal
Blue Screen ON
MEMC OFF


----------



## MarylandUSA

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *pacolococt*
> ...the speakers on this TV are close to straight up garbage and that is my biggest complaint. The sound is loud and seems to have the potential to be good but is basically muffled no matter what regular audio settings you change it to. If someone figures out how to make these speakers not sound muffled with the advanced audio settings that would be awesome but I doubt it.


One reason the speakers sound so bad is that they face backward, away from the user.
To use my soundbar through the optical connection, I had to insert a dummy plug into the "headphone out" jack. Otherwise, the damn built-in speakers insisted on playing, too.


----------



## pacolococt

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *MarylandUSA*
> 
> One reason the speakers sound so bad is that they face backward, away from the user.
> To use my soundbar through the optical connection, I had to insert a dummy plug into the "headphone out" jack. Otherwise, the damn built-in speakers insisted on playing, too.


The LCD that this TV replaced also had backwards facing speakers which sounded fine and my set up was exactly the same. I'm sure you are correct in the fact it certainly doesn't help. I find it hard to believe there is no setting in any of the menus to turn off the TV audio but alas there isn't. I did find a dolby setting in the secret menus which changes the sound of the audio but I'm not sure it's any better just different.


----------



## pacolococt

Another thing I find absolutely idiotic is that even when using the service menu to hard change the PC Mode picture settings there is still no way to change the color temperature. Personally I hate the cool setting as I constantly see too much blue (obviously). Any change in any menu to this setting results and you are now using USER Mode so if the firmware change was reliant on PC Mode to actually reduce the lag in defeats half of the purpose as you now really can't adjust the picture. Luckily I haven't noticed and increase lag by using the USER Mode with MEMC off and the settings to my liking. It's just annoying that you can't have PC Mode the way you would like it and get the placebo effect of not having lag regardless lol. Also any change off of USER Mode to something else, when you go back to USER Mode MEMC is now back on by default when all of your other settings were saved. Things like this just bother the hell out of me.


----------



## xkronusx

Has anyone run into an issue with AMD cards + Windows 10 not showing above 1920 * 1080 Resolution? I've tried almost everything I can think of at the moment.

So far I've tried

1) Different HDMI cables, one brand new, one was DVI -> HDMI

2) Different computers, both have amd video cards, one is a newer 8750M and one was an older Radeon direct CU II 6950 2GB

3) I tried updating the firmware, it looks like it was the newest for the Seiki SE42UMS out of the box because it had the PC mode others have mentioned, I read this entire thread a few weeks ago before buying

4) I tried setting a custom resolution with different settings and refresh rates

5) I tried changing the 4:4:4 settings to other options

From what I read online it looks like the TV isn't reporting the 3840*2160 resolution correctly and oddly enough I can't even get 1440P to show up either. I'd e glad with 2160P30 for movie watching but I've got no idea where to go at this point, unfortunately google does not bring up much past the first page or even posts related to the inquiry.

Cheers


----------



## pacolococt

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xkronusx*
> 
> Has anyone run into an issue with AMD cards + Windows 10 not showing above 1920 * 1080 Resolution? I've tried almost everything I can think of at the moment.
> 
> So far I've tried
> 
> 1) Different HDMI cables, one brand new, one was DVI -> HDMI
> 
> 2) Different computers, both have amd video cards, one is a newer 8750M and one was an older Radeon direct CU II 6950 2GB
> 
> 3) I tried updating the firmware, it looks like it was the newest for the Seiki SE42UMS out of the box because it had the PC mode others have mentioned, I read this entire thread a few weeks ago before buying
> 
> 4) I tried setting a custom resolution with different settings and refresh rates
> 
> 5) I tried changing the 4:4:4 settings to other options
> 
> From what I read online it looks like the TV isn't reporting the 3840*2160 resolution correctly and oddly enough I can't even get 1440P to show up either. I'd e glad with 2160P30 for movie watching but I've got no idea where to go at this point, unfortunately google does not bring up much past the first page or even posts related to the inquiry.
> 
> Cheers


I have Windows 10 and currently only using the integrate AMD 8570D. My max resolution is 1920X1080 but until I upgrade the graphics card I have little reason to change it. I believe the max resolution even on the 8570D is higher than 1080P so if I would guess I would say the main reason is the fact we are both using HDMI to connect the computer to the TV. Since we can't connect a display port cable into the TV you might need to use the display port to hdmi 2.0 adapter that everyone is talking about to get higher resolution. I could be way off but that's my guess.


----------



## pacolococt

Also for anyone that cares I at least found a way to make the audio sound somewhat better. I'm not sure what setting or all of them makes them sound better but the things I changed were to turn on low frequency protection and loudness equalization on in my sound properties and change the format to studio quality. I then changed the audio settings on the TV to 75 for bass and 100 for treble (tried these bass and treble settings before and didn't sound very good before the sound property changes). Surround sound and auto volume are off and the sound is significantly less muffled and almost acceptable. I know most probably don't care but if you are like me and want to use the speakers on the TV occasionally this might help.


----------



## some

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *pacolococt*
> 
> I have Windows 10 and currently only using the integrate AMD 8570D. My max resolution is 1920X1080 but until I upgrade the graphics card I have little reason to change it. I believe the max resolution even on the 8570D is higher than 1080P so if I would guess I would say the main reason is the fact we are both using HDMI to connect the computer to the TV. Since we can't connect a display port cable into the TV you might need to use the display port to hdmi 2.0 adapter that everyone is talking about to get higher resolution. I could be way off but that's my guess.


That AMD card does not support HDMI 2.0 but you should be able to get at least 30hz 4k from it.
Be careful when you buy a display port to HDMI 2.0 adapter as many don't support 4:4:4 but instead the lesser 4:2:2.
It may seem trivial now, but a few months out you'll probably wish you'd spent the extra.


----------



## michaelklachko

Hi, I'm considering buying either this one, or the older 39" model - to use as a PC monitor. I'm not interested in gaming of visual arts work, but will occasionally watch movies/Youtube videos. It will be connected to either Gigabyte Brix Pro, or the latest Macbook Pro (4k at 60Hz is expected to work).

1. Can anyone tell me how does the input lag (after the firmware update) affects everyday computer activities (browsing, typing)? Is there a significant improvement going from 30Hz on the 39" model to 60Hz on this one, or is it masked by the input lag?

2. How does the black on white text look like? Crisp text is very important to me because I'm doing lots of reading on a computer. Does the text remain crisp after changing DPI scaling in Windows?

3. Most of the videos I watch are 720p/480p. How will they look on this monitor? Is the upscaling cable necessary in your opinion?

4. Is there any reason to consider Seiki Pro 40" model rather than this 42" model, for the tasks I mentioned above?


----------



## pacolococt

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *some*
> 
> That AMD card does not support HDMI 2.0 but you should be able to get at least 30hz 4k from it.
> Be careful when you buy a display port to HDMI 2.0 adapter as many don't support 4:4:4 but instead the lesser 4:2:2.
> It may seem trivial now, but a few months out you'll probably wish you'd spent the extra.


Did you mean to quote me? I am not trying to pull 4k currently but was trying to help the guy that was. Regardless if my information was accurate or not I am not able to get 4k with this TV and my 8570 unless there are settings I do not know about. It looks like I have the same situation as the person with the actual problem but I am not sure what the max resolution on the 8570D even is nor at this point do I really care as I am happy with 1080P until I can upgrade to at least a 950 as I personally don't want to deal with an adapter and just want to use HDMI 2.0. The adapter may solve the other guy's problems but is the 4:4:4 thing even an issue as this TV doesn't even support it?


----------



## pow3rtr1p

I currently have a 32" 720p TV I got for free. The 42" Seiki is currently $240 on woot. Should I get this to play PS4 games and potentially game on down the road (at 1080p and/or 4k)?


----------



## pacolococt

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *michaelklachko*
> 
> Hi, I'm considering buying either this one, or the older 39" model - to use as a PC monitor. I'm not interested in gaming of visual arts work, but will occasionally watch movies/Youtube videos. It will be connected to either Gigabyte Brix Pro, or the latest Macbook Pro (4k at 60Hz is expected to work).
> 
> 1. Can anyone tell me how does the input lag (after the firmware update) affects everyday computer activities (browsing, typing)? Is there a significant improvement going from 30Hz on the 39" model to 60Hz on this one, or is it masked by the input lag?
> 
> 2. How does the black on white text look like? Crisp text is very important to me because I'm doing lots of reading on a computer. Does the text remain crisp after changing DPI scaling in Windows?
> 
> 3. Most of the videos I watch are 720p/480p. How will they look on this monitor? Is the upscaling cable necessary in your opinion?
> 
> 4. Is there any reason to consider Seiki Pro 40" model rather than this 42" model, for the tasks I mentioned above?


1. The input lag doesn't appear to be specific to resolution but the TV in general as I run 1080P and also experience it. I did not try the TV before upgrading the firmware but after the firmware update the lag is non existent for me as long as MEMC is turned off. If you turn MEMC on in the picture menu there is lag and yes it is even there while operating the mouse. With the firmware update and MEMC off you will never notice it.

2. All my text look crisp and clear and I do a lot of typing work on white borders. My DPI is 125% and looks awesome.

3. I also watch a lot of 720P and 480P videos look better than my previous 1080P LCD. There is absolutely non need for the upscaling cable unless you want a blu ray player in 4k but as for just a PC Monitor it wouldn't matter.

4. Not sure about the 40"


----------



## pacolococt

That's a choice you will have to make but you will definitely notice a difference on the PS4 but you would with any 1080P or higher TV. You will be running 1080P with this TV on the PS4 and PS4/Xbox One may or may not ever support 4k for games.


----------



## pow3rtr1p

Is the upconversion at least up to par? I realize I will rarely be running native resolution outside of basic desktop usage, and just want to make sure a 1080p signal won't suck.

edit
I intend to do the firmware update as well.


----------



## pacolococt

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *pow3rtr1p*
> 
> Is the upconversion at least up to par? I realize I will rarely be running native resolution outside of basic desktop usage, and just want to make sure a 1080p signal won't suck.
> 
> edit
> I intend to do the firmware update as well.


If you read any of the last 3 pages you will basically see me saying this 100 times that I run 1080P and it looks awesome. Not trying to be a jerk it's just the truth I've said it a ton. Someone said that 1080P is a secondary native resolution I didn't know that existed but whatever it looks great and 1080P on PC and Xbox One look slightly better than my last 1080P Native resolution LCD that was the same size.


----------



## xkronusx

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *pacolococt*
> 
> I have Windows 10 and currently only using the integrate AMD 8570D. My max resolution is 1920X1080 but until I upgrade the graphics card I have little reason to change it. I believe the max resolution even on the 8570D is higher than 1080P so if I would guess I would say the main reason is the fact we are both using HDMI to connect the computer to the TV. Since we can't connect a display port cable into the TV you might need to use the display port to hdmi 2.0 adapter that everyone is talking about to get higher resolution. I could be way off but that's my guess.


I have an odd situation because this laptop has an APU with the 8550G onboard and a dedicated 8750M for the janky crossfire. Which I never suggest anyone purchase, crossfire and laptops with multiple GPUs are far to much hassle for the minor improvement in graphics.

But what I will say is that all I have on the laptop is HDMI out so on that front the laptop is newer and should be able to run 1440P but unfortunately I didn't realize that the Seiki SE42UMS goes from 1080P straight to 2160P with nothing in between. Unfortunate to say the least but it's a great TV none the less.

My other machine has a desktop Radeon direct CU II 6950 2GB which actually has 2 DVI outputs and 4 full sized Displayport outputs. problem is that the 6 Series is capped to 1440P and this TV yet again does not seem to support that resolution... bummer.

Still I am planning on upgrading to a Polaris GPU barring that it is a good product, but at the very least it will be HDMI 2.0
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *some*
> 
> That AMD card does not support HDMI 2.0 but you should be able to get at least 30hz 4k from it.
> Be careful when you buy a display port to HDMI 2.0 adapter as many don't support 4:4:4 but instead the lesser 4:2:2.
> It may seem trivial now, but a few months out you'll probably wish you'd spent the extra.


The 6 series GPU for sure does not like anything about 1080P, for some odd reason I can't figure out why the 8 series GPU won't push 2160P30Hz it really boggles my mind, I thought that HDMI 1.4 was supposed to be horrible for gaming because 30Hz but I thought it was at least fairly achievable and common.

So if anyone knows how to get an 8750M (A laptop GPU) to push 2160P30 out of an HDMI 1.4 port I would be happier than can be to enjoy youtube at a higher resolution.


----------



## xkronusx

So if anyone knows how to get an 8750M (A laptop GPU) to push 2160P30 out of an HDMI 1.4 port I would be happier than can be to enjoy youtube at a higher resolution.[/quote]

I've done some research after testing out different cables and still having the reported maximum resolution come back as 1920x1080 it seems hat to achieve 2160P you need a special cable that can support it. Unfortunately for me I did not take that into consideration because of the difficulty I had searching for a standard specification.

So hear I am with pedal to the metal Cat 6A STP cables as an easy to search solution and then I have this cable I purchased.

http://www.monoprice.com/product?c_id=102&cp_id=10240&cs_id=1024009&p_id=2529&seq=1&format=2

From what I gather I wasn't supposed to buy this cable because it only supports 720P/1080i even though I can achieve 1080P60 without any issues.

I was according to this website, supposed to buy this cable.

http://www.monoprice.com/product?c_id=102&cp_id=10255&cs_id=1025506&p_id=12959&seq=1&format=2

Ironically one person mentions issues with the cable.

Anyhow, can anyone confirm that this isn't just snake oil? I haven't used anything but DVI cables for the last 6 or so years and the last time I checked the HDMI market is full of every bit of monster false advertising as possible. I really wish this TV had DisplayPort because then I could at least try the display port cables I have coming in for my other monitor.

Cheers


----------



## pacolococt

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xkronusx*
> 
> So if anyone knows how to get an 8750M (A laptop GPU) to push 2160P30 out of an HDMI 1.4 port I would be happier than can be to enjoy youtube at a higher resolution.


I'm not exactly sure what the question is as there is a lot of information but from what I understand you are basically asking if you need a special HDMI cable to support 2160P. I am by far an expert but everything I have read is that an enhancements to HDMI are on the hardware end and any regular old HDMI cable can be used to support 1.4 and even 2.0 as long as the hardware supports it. I think a better question to ask is if your HDMI ports on your different graphics cards are 1.3. That might be the problem as my understanding is 4K wasn't supported until 1.4. SO basically if you have 1.4 or 2.0 on the TV and are using a 2.0 HDMI or 1.4 cable it really won't matter if the port you are connecting to on the computer is 1.3 as everything will basically downgrade to 1.3. That is my understanding of it.

Edit: Also you pretty much proved my point about the cables not mattering based on the fact that $5 cable does 1080P when it doesn't say that on monoprice. I'm 90% sure most HDMI cable ratings are all snake oil.


----------



## pacolococt

Also if I were you my next step would be to just buy the display port to hdmi 2.0 adapter for $20-$30 to make use of the display port on your cards and the HDMI 2.0 port on the TV instead of buying a $30 HDMI cable. Just do a google search for display port to hdmi 2.0 adapter and choose the correct one for your setup.


----------



## pacolococt

If you don't have mini hdmi this is most likely your best bet http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0194F1MY4?tag=anandtech01-20&ascsubtag=[site|anand[cat|NA[art|9867[pid|B0194F1MY4|NA[bbc|manual


----------



## samuelkwest

I hope some of the Know-it-Mostlys that frequented this thread are still subscribed...

I ordered a copy of the SE42UM during Woot's most recent sale of same. I applied the firmware upgrade, and have things looking fairly good (using as a Windows PC monitor). This monitor is being used on one of my work machines and, to support it, I ordered a GTX-750ti and an HDMI 2.0 cable.

Based on the research I did (prior to ordering), I believed I was going to have to use the Club 3D DP 1.2 -> HDMI 2.0 adapter to get [email protected] However, Amazon was sold out of the adapter, so while I waited for it, I went ahead and plugged in to the HDMI 2.0 port from the HDMI port on the GTX-70ti (using the HDMI 2.0 cable). Lo, and behold, [email protected] I cancelled the back-ordered adapter.

Here's my question: Would I achieve even better results by using the DP->HDMI adapter? Right now, in order to get the best looking display (without those annoying text artifacts), I have to run at 30hz. I would be fine with 30hz (no gaming, just Windows-based work-related activity) except that mouse responsiveness suffers. Also, I say I would be fine with 30hz, but the truth is I haven't spent enough time with it to find out if I'm going to be able to tolerate said frame rate... it might give me headaches, who knows?

Also, I don't remember why I thought, in the first place, that the adapter was going to be required to achieve 60hz with the GTX-750ti (I'm trying to find the trail of that investigation). If anyone has any comments on that subject I would appreciate it.

Thanks.

- s.west


----------



## pacolococt

Your reason of thinking was most likely due to people saying that only the GTX-950 and up support HDMI 2.0 and in order to get 4K at 60HZ without using a display port (which you obviously can't on this TV) you would need the adapter. The video card that you have is not HDMI 2.0 and it won't matter what cable you are using to connect it as the fact the hardware is not 2.0 is what matters. Now to the fact you are getting 4K at 60HZ with that card and HDMI cable (again the cable is not the important aspect) since this shouldn't be possible and the fact you said there is text artifacts etc. I'm guessing there is some weird upscaling going on. Again this shouldn't be possible and without seeing your machine I wouldn't be able to tell what it is actually doing. Any TV/video card at 30HZ will have that annoying slow mouse/trails. Since you do not like the way the TV looks at 4K and 60HZ I'm guessing there is a problem somewhere as no one that has reported running it at 4K and 60HZ with HDMI 2.0 has said anything similar. Since the adapter is only $28 and has been confirmed to put out true 4K at 60HZ on this TV I would just go with that as it will almost definitely look better in my opinion. It was in stock last week so it should come back soon.


----------



## MarylandUSA

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *michaelklachko*
> 
> Hi, I'm considering buying either this one, or the older 39" model - to use as a PC monitor. I'm not interested in gaming of visual arts work, but will occasionally watch movies/Youtube videos. It will be connected to either Gigabyte Brix Pro, or the latest Macbook Pro (4k at 60Hz is expected to work).
> 
> 1. Can anyone tell me how does the input lag (after the firmware update) affects everyday computer activities (browsing, typing)? Is there a significant improvement going from 30Hz on the 39" model to 60Hz on this one, or is it masked by the input lag?


I use two SE39UY04s at work, one SE42UGT at home. I use an HP 850 laptop, driven to 4K by Intel 4400 graphics at 30 Hz, going back and forth between work and home.
I'm very happy with both models. But if I had to choose which looks better, I'd go with the 39, for two reasons: the higher pixel density and the IPS screen. I just like how IPS renders color.
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *michaelklachko*
> 2. How does the black on white text look like? Crisp text is very important to me because I'm doing lots of reading on a computer. Does the text remain crisp after changing DPI scaling in Windows?


Black on white text is rendered with plenty good tonal contrast on both monitors. I've never had these monitors side by side, under the same lighting, but the Seiki 42, with its VA panel, probably renders black a bit darker. On either monitor, you'll need to play with your ClearType settings to find the degree of anti-aliasing that's right for you.
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *michaelklachko*
> 3. Most of the videos I watch are 720p/480p. How will they look on this monitor? Is the upscaling cable necessary in your opinion?


I can't say. At home, the SE42UGT doubles as a recreational TV, and video is upscaled automatically when I use the Seiki's streaming apps and by my Amazon Fire 4K box when I stream from that device. At work, we're blocked from YouTube, so I don't watch enough videos to weigh in.
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *michaelklachko*
> 4. Is there any reason to consider Seiki Pro 40" model rather than this 42" model, for the tasks I mentioned above?


If you're going to open your options to other models, I don't see the point of spending $650 or more on a Seiki 40-inch model when you can get a terrific Yamakasi 40-inch 4K for a bit over $500. I've read great things about the Vizio M43-C1 used as a monitor. At $425 reconditioned and $475 new, It's probably your best value choice if you want a 43-inch IPS display that doesn't use a WRGB panel.

Where are the 40, 42, and 43-inch monitors with DisplayPort that cost below $600?


----------



## samuelkwest

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *pacolococt*
> The video card that you have is not HDMI 2.0 and it won't matter what cable you are using to connect it as the fact the hardware is not 2.0 is what matters.


Ok, that must be the reason I figured I had to order the adapter... I will re-order and see if my situation improves. Display-wise, it looks really good at 30hz, I just hate the unresponsive mouse...

More later.

Thanks.

- s.west


----------



## samuelkwest

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *samuelkwest*
> 
> Ok, that must be the reason I figured I had to order the adapter... I will re-order and see if my situation improves. Display-wise, it looks really good at 30hz, I just hate the unresponsive mouse...
> 
> More later.
> 
> Thanks.
> 
> - s.west


jeesh, I'm so stupid... I didn't even bother looking at the cost of a gtx-960 card. I paid $110 for the 750ti. With the DP 1.2 adapter, that will bring it to $140. The cost of a 960 is as low as $180...

oh, well.

The adapter is on the way.


----------



## samuelkwest

But, on the subject of the GTX-750ti and its HDMI 1.4 connection... Are we surprised that [email protected] came up? Or is it that HDMI 1.4 has only so much bandwidth, and the card will do what it can with it?

In other words, when I configure the 750ti from the Nvidia Control Panel, it would appear that I can have either
:
[email protected] w/YCbCr420

or
[email protected] w/RGB

Also, when everything came up the first time (after installing the card and drivers and hooking up to the seiki), it came up as [email protected] I didn't have to coerce it into that mode.

Just curious. My video knowledge is woefully inadequate.


----------



## samuelkwest

(last post, I promise)

p.s. I have decided that the coloration artifacts on the text are _less undesirable_ than the poor mouse behavior, so I have swung back to the [email protected] w/YCbCr 4:2:0.

p.p.s. I think the answer to my previous post appears at the bottom of the 'Change Resolution' page of the Nvidia Control Panel:

Since they reduce the color data in the images YCbCr 4:2:2 or 4:2:0, if supported by your display, can help you to display at higher refresh rates compared to RGB or YCbCr 4:4:4
The bottom line: I still think the SE42UM was a well-spent $230.

TTFN


----------



## pacolococt

That really stinks that you just bought the 750 and paid that much. I thought for sure you already had the card for a while. I literally have a 950 on the way that I paid $120 for from New Egg. I'm surprised by the fact you were getting 60hz but I don't know nearly as much as some of the others. The whole 4:4:4, 4:2:2, 4:2:0 discussion confuses the heck out of me but with the card you have and the adapter it will put out whatever the highest the TV will allow that's for sure.

Edit: HDMI 1.4 added 4K compatibility but I believe it has much less bandwith than 2.0 which is the basic problem.


----------



## samuelkwest

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *pacolococt*
> 
> That really stinks that you just bought the 750 and paid that much...


I realized a little while after making that post, that I had completely forgotten another constraint under which I was operating: The PC that the 4K display was destined for was my work PC, and it only has a 400W PS, and no additional 6/8-pin power plugs. So, I had to select the least demanding (power-wise) 4K card out there... _That's_ why I went with the 750ti. So, it wasn't quite as bad as all that. I didn't edit my original post, because there wasn't too much point in it, but since you mentioned it in your reply, I thought I'd take the opportunity to correct myself.

I'll make a final report on Saturday after I get the DP->HDMI 2.0 adapter.

Cheers.

- s.west


----------



## samuelkwest

Well, alrighty then:

GTX-750ti + (Club 3D DP 1.2 -> HDMI 2.0 adapter) + (HDMI 2.0 Cable) plugged in to HDMI 2.0 input on the Seiki SE42UM = [email protected] w/RGB color space.

Goodnuff...

Thanks, guys.

- s.west


----------



## pacolococt

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *samuelkwest*
> 
> Well, alrighty then:
> 
> GTX-750ti + (Club 3D DP 1.2 -> HDMI 2.0 adapter) + (HDMI 2.0 Cable) plugged in to HDMI 2.0 input on the Seiki SE42UM = [email protected] w/RGB color space.
> 
> Goodnuff...
> 
> Thanks, guys.
> 
> - s.west


It's absolutely moot at this point but there are 950's that are low power. The one that I bought only requires 350W but does require the 6 pin power so you were screwed there anyway. I would have just updated the power supply to but that's me lol. Congrats on getting everything the way you like it. My 950 came in yesterday and I'm running 3840x2160 60HZ on the Seiki SE42UM with YCbCr420 looks amazing and have zero problems now except for the fact I had to make the DPI 200% to see everything as my eyes stink. I'm also using a 99 cent HDMI cable from eBay that says nothing about 2.0 which basically proves my point about the cables being snake oil. For $370 I updated my entire visual experience, couldn't be happier.


----------



## samuelkwest

You may recall when I started my Q&A about the GTX-750ti, and the SE42UM, I made the 'discovery', that:
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *samuelkwest*
> Based on the research I did (prior to ordering), I believed I was going to have to use the Club 3D DP 1.2 -> HDMI 2.0 adapter to get [email protected] However, Amazon was sold out of the adapter, so while I waited for it, I went ahead and plugged in to the HDMI 2.0 port from the HDMI port on the GTX-70ti (using the HDMI 2.0 cable). Lo, and behold, [email protected] I cancelled the back-ordered adapter.
> .
> .
> But, on the subject of the GTX-750ti and its HDMI 1.4 connection... Are we surprised that [email protected] came up? Or is it that HDMI 1.4 has only so much bandwidth, and the card will do what it can with it?
> .
> .


Well, while doing some research on a Linux question (that I'm going to ask you guys in my next post), I just happened upon this:

Quote:


> *Nvidia 340.43 Driver Allows HDMI 1.4 To Output 60Hz 4K UHD
> *
> The HDMI specifications essentially limit the output of UHD (3840 x 2160) to 30Hz and 4K (4096 x 2160) to 24Hz. DisplayPort outputs are required to reach 60Hz at those resolutions or the use of dual HDMI ports. Over at Anandtech they have discovered that the dual HDMI requirement isn't set in stone. Some users found out that using the 340.43 Nvidia drivers with Kepler based video cards allows UHD displays to be powered at 60Hz over a single HDMI. However, the new workaround is not present on all UHD displays, only some have implemented it. The workaround method effectively reduces the bandwidth required by the UHD 4K 60Hz stream by using chroma subsampling which effectively lowers the image quality and amount of chroma colour data. This frees up enough bandwidth to jump from 30 to 60Hz while maintaining a UHD resolution.
> 
> 4:2:0 chroma sampling is only available on a handful of UHD 4K TVs currently on the market but Nvidia has confirmed their Kepler cards do support it. The UHD 60Hz signal is only really good for video output though, if you were hoping to use a 4:2:0 compatible UHD TV as a desktop monitor you will be disappointed. Currently, the 4:2:0 workaround is a cheap way of getting 60Hz UHD video but for a true UHD 60Hz image without quality loss Displayport 1.2 is the only way to achieve that until HDMI 2.0 UHD displays and TVs hit the market.
> 
> Source: Anandtech


So, there we go... that wraps it all up neatly, and answers my question, and confirms what others were saying about the chroma issues.

Anyway, on to the next question...


----------



## samuelkwest

This probably should go in its own thread, but some of you guys might know the answer.

The box that I installed the GTX-750ti into, and attached the SE42UM to, is a multi-boot box. I also run SLES11SP2 on that box. Don't bother with questions about why I'm running that (instead of, OpenSUSE/Ubuntu/whatever), there's a good reason.

Anyway, I decided to take on the task of upgrading the nvidia drivers on that install today to make sure that the GTX-750ti was up-to-date in its Linux environment.

The driver upgrade (which has to build a kernel module - the 'driver', as it were) went without a hitch. One of the final steps is to rewrite the xorg.conf file if you desire, and then everything should be good to go.

Only it wasn't. When I came up under that system, the Seiki looked like it had been quartered, and there were identical copies of the desktop (badly rendered, color-wise) in the upper left and upper right quarters, while the lower quarters were blank (black) and flickering wildly.

Based on the mouse movement between the two upper quarters, I thought that there might be some residual of the Xinerama feature (for multiple monitors) left in the xorg.conf file, so I made sure that I had a completely clean copy... and ... still no love. I've used nvidia-settings, and nvidia-xconfig, all to no avail. I just can't get this to display correctly (and, I'm actually cutting the story short: I went through many, many trials and variations, only to end up in the same place every time...)

I can force it to 1920x1080, and that kinda works, but even that's not 100% right. And, no matter, that's not what I want it to run at, so that's a non-starter.

Anyway, does anyone have any ideas or guidance about this? Like I said at the outset, this probably should be in its own thread (and, actually, I haven't even searched on this within the overclock forums, so there may be something out there already), but I thought I'd throw it out here first.

Thoughts?

Thanks.

- s.west


----------



## kdkool

So I got this TV earlier this week on a ebay sale from buydig for $225 shipped (10% ebay bucks sweetened it too!). Loaded up the firmware with the lag fix and ordered a new GTX950 graphics card simply because it was the cheapest HDMI 2.0 card out there since I don't game. I really wanted to take advantage of the [email protected] resolutions without getting a $30 display port to HDMI 2.0 adapter that goes out of stock frequently!

Well here are my findings / opinions...

1) This thing takes a good 5 seconds from the time the power button is hit to when it shows the desktop. Minor annoyance but it's not too bad in the grand scheme of things.
2) The PC mode setting works great if you don't touch any of the default color settings. If you change any of it, on the next power on, the lag returns as it changes to have memc turned back on for some stupid buggy reason!
The only thing I change is brightness in the settings. I've found that going into the secret menu and turning down the backlight setting alone does what I was looking for and looks better.
3) The whole [email protected] on the GTX950's HDMI 2.0 has been a HUGE disappointment for me!!! When I set it to that resolution, the color space changes to YCbCr 4:2:2 only which makes all the the colors look washed out / faded / blurred. But if I set it down to [email protected], I get the full RGB color space. I'd rather have the full RGB coloring than 30 vs 60Hz refresh rates. I'd prefer 60Hz but I could live with 30Hz if there were no other options...
4) Referencing from a post above, it appears that [email protected] will work at full RGB color if the club3d Display port adapter is used. I will go ahead and order this cable and verify that this is indeed true as claimed above. I wish I realized this limitation before buying the GTX950 video card as I would've just bough the GTX750ti to use the DP to HDMI 2.0 adapter anyway.

So long story short, it's a great deal for me as it was only $225!

Don't get the GTX950 or above for HDMI 2.0 as it won't do the full color spectrum at 60Hz!!! (I hope someone can prove me wrong and that I just don't know how to configure it)

The club3d display port to HDMI 2.0 is required to achieve [email protected] and full RGB (at least as claimed by samuelkwest) which makes my whole reasoning of getting the GTX950 HDMI 2.0 output pointless.


----------



## kdkool

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *pacolococt*
> 
> It's absolutely moot at this point but there are 950's that are low power. The one that I bought only requires 350W but does require the 6 pin power so you were screwed there anyway. I would have just updated the power supply to but that's me lol. Congrats on getting everything the way you like it. My 950 came in yesterday and I'm running 3840x2160 60HZ on the Seiki SE42UM with YCbCr420 looks amazing and have zero problems now except for the fact I had to make the DPI 200% to see everything as my eyes stink. I'm also using a 99 cent HDMI cable from eBay that says nothing about 2.0 which basically proves my point about the cables being snake oil. For $370 I updated my entire visual experience, couldn't be happier.


The 6pin power cable in my GTX950 came with adapters to plug in standard older style molex power cables for HDD's / Optical Drives so you don't have to upgrade your PSU.

Its true if you set it to zoom to 200% zoom, it's marginally acceptable with the display running at [email protected] with YCBCR420. But with my young-for-now eyes, it looks like crap at that setting ([email protected] with YCBCR420) if you're running no zoom.


----------



## samuelkwest

I've been playing around quite a bit with the linux install, and it has boiled down to the fact that the linux configuration does not like the DP 1.2->HDMI 2.0 path at all... If I move the cable to the HDMI 1.4 port (remember this is a GTX-750ti), the display behaves acceptably (and even defaults to 60hz, although at the reduced color space). So, now I'm going to take my linux investigation down the DP path, to see if anything turns up.

Rebooting back to my Windows install, and moving the HDMI cable back to the DP->HDMI adapter, returns me to 60hz/RGB goodness:


----------



## samuelkwest

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *kdkool*
> 
> The 6pin power cable in my GTX950 came with adapters to plug in standard older style molex power cables for HDD's / Optical Drives so you don't have to upgrade your PSU.
> 
> Its true if you set it to zoom to 200% zoom, it's marginally acceptable with the display running at [email protected] with YCBCR420. But with my young-for-now eyes, it looks like crap at that setting ([email protected] with YCBCR420) if you're running no zoom.


I found that I was more comfortable with a zoomed desktop, as well, but 125% seemed sufficient. But, and it's a _big_ 'but', that's running [email protected]/*RGB*.


----------



## kdkool

I'm running full RGB at max resolution, no Zoom, but only at 30Hz. It's actually not too bad to be honest. I could live with it. But if it can be better, I'll make the effort to get it to 60Hz with the purchase of the adapter.

Good luck to you on the linux troubleshooting. I gave up troubleshooting linux related drivers issues 10+ yrs ago. I concluded that I hated computers right about then. I still do hate them.


----------



## xkronusx

Is there any other adapter to get the full 4:4:4 RGB other than the Club3D active one?

Because something like this

https://www.amazon.ca/Rankie%C2%AE-Plated-DisplayPort-Adapter-Female/dp/B010SDZZ80/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1460052352&sr=8-1&keywords=dp+to+hdmi+adapter

is much more favorable to something like this

https://www.amazon.ca/CLUB3D-Mini-DisplayPort-Adapter-Cable/dp/B003WSIMFW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1460052385&sr=8-1&keywords=dp+to+hdmi+adapter+club+3d

Which I can only seem to find in the mini DP version for Canada.

Also noticed on the website, maybe this is the wrong adapter but

http://www.club-3d.com/index.php/products/reader.en/product/displayport-12-to-hdmi-20-uhd-active-adapter.html

it only shows 4k60hz 4:4:4 at 8 Bit color. Is there anything wrong with that? I'm not sure the bit rate of the panel, haven't been able to find anything through google.


----------



## samuelkwest

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xkronusx*
> 
> Is there any other adapter to get the full 4:4:4 RGB other than the Club3D active one?
> 
> Because something like this
> 
> https://www.amazon.ca/Rankie%C2%AE-Plated-DisplayPort-Adapter-Female/dp/B010SDZZ80/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1460052352&sr=8-1&keywords=dp+to+hdmi+adapter
> 
> is much more favorable to something like this
> 
> https://www.amazon.ca/CLUB3D-Mini-DisplayPort-Adapter-Cable/dp/B003WSIMFW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1460052385&sr=8-1&keywords=dp+to+hdmi+adapter+club+3d
> 
> Which I can only seem to find in the mini DP version for Canada.


It's not simply DP -> HDMI, it's DP 1.2 -> HDMI 2.0 that is critical...
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xkronusx*
> Also noticed on the website, maybe this is the wrong adapter but
> 
> http://www.club-3d.com/index.php/products/reader.en/product/displayport-12-to-hdmi-20-uhd-active-adapter.html
> 
> it only shows 4k60hz 4:4:4 at 8 Bit color. Is there anything wrong with that? I'm not sure the bit rate of the panel, haven't been able to find anything through google.


This is the correct adapter. Part number = CAC-1070.


----------



## BabylonDown

Im running the club3d adapter on a 290x and get 4k 60hz with full rgb and 150% zoom. It looks great.


----------



## xkronusx

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *samuelkwest*
> 
> It's not simply DP -> HDMI, it's DP 1.2 -> HDMI 2.0 that is critical...
> This is the correct adapter. Part number = CAC-1070.


Good to know, I asked because it seems that anything inexpensive has little to know information, it looks like that cheap adapter I linked is probably not capable of doing what I would like it to do.

Thanks for the info, it's really hard to google for anything lately. With the push to 4k there is so much snake oil in the market it's insane.


----------



## samuelkwest

Apparently this particular item, the CAC-1070, goes out-of-stock on Amazon frequently. Why it doesn't even show up on amazon.ca is beyond me... It's still in-stock on amazon.com. Maybe _I_ could order one and have it shipped to you ;-)

Also, during my own research I found 



 that clarified some of the various adapter claims and Fails.

So, yes, there are a number of converters out there that purport to support HDMI 2.0, or, indirectly, purport to support [email protected] but don't. Now, I don't claim to know what the actual difference, internally, would be, but there must be something (given the youtube content I referenced).

Finally, according to that same source, the CAC-1070 is the _only_ one that actually works like it's supposed to. Again, I don't know if that is a fact, or not, particularly since the video was posted in January, and a lot can happen in 3 months.









Good luck.

- s.west


----------



## kdkool

Update, I just got my club3d adapter in. It is now running at 3480x2160 @ 60Hz with no zoom and full RGB.









In short, DO NOT BUY A GTX950 for full HDMI 2.0 functionality!!! I'm assuming that this is true for all the GTX960 / GTX970 / GTX980 cards! If you do, you will be limited to 4:2:0 chroma at max resolution and 60Hz. If you do decide to go with this card series for HDMI 2.0, you will have to back it down to 30Hz to get full RGB. I personally would pick full 4:4:4 RGB coloring over 60Hz.


----------



## samuelkwest

I wonder if this could be a signal strength issue? And maybe there's some bandwidth negotiation going on behind the curtain... (?)

Since this is a thread about using the SE42UM as a 4K PC display, I probably won't get any response to the following question, but I'll ask it anyway







: Does anyone here have a 'regular' 4K monitor? And, if so, does it provide an HDMI 2.0 input? Or do they all use DisplayPort? (actually, I'm going to go look up this question right now... )

I found the following kind of interesting (from PCWorld, a year ago):
Quote:


> HDMI 2.0 has been on video cards since last year, but we haven't seen a monitor sporting the newer interface-until now. Finally, on Thursday, Viewsonic sprang two 4K monitors on us with support for the newer spec.
> 
> HDMI 2.0 supplants HDMI 1.4 with more than double the bandwidth of its predecessor. HDMI 1.4, for example, can only drive a 4K monitor at an unusable 30Hz refresh rate. How bad is 30Hz? Let's just say it's so bad, you'd be far better off stepping down in resolution. HDMI 2.0 easily hits the 60Hz refresh rate while featuring enough bandwidth to accommodate 32 audio channels and more.
> 
> Why this matters: HDMI and DisplayPort continue to wage an input duel, thrusting or parrying with some new spec advance. With version 2.0, HDMI is catching up to the capabilities of DisplayPort 1.2, and it's coming out ahead of DisplayPort 1.3, which supposed to support 8K resolution monitors at 60Hz. HDMI 2.0's advancing slowly, available now in handful of products-first Nvidia's GeForce GTX 980, and now ViewSonic's monitors.


For one thing, I'm wondering why he says, "first Nvidia's GeForce GTX 980..." Did the 980 come out before the 960/950?

But, anyway, to the point: Yes there are some 4K monitors out there with HDMI 2.0 connectors. I wonder if they would fare any better with the GTX-950/960/980 HDMI 2.0 outputs? Just wonderin'.

Also, I assume you are using a High Speed HDMI cable, yes? And, before anyone jumps on me about the cable question, notice that I didn't say, "are you using an HDMI 2.0 cable?". That would be an error... But there _are_ 2 classes of HDMI cables out there, and you definitely want to use the newer (Category 2) variant. From hdmi.org [emphasis mine]:
Quote:


> *Does HDMI 2.0 require new cables?*
> No, HDMI 2.0 features will work with existing HDMI cables. Higher bandwidth features, such as [email protected]/60 (2160p) video formats, will require existing *High Speed* HDMI cables (*Category 2* cables).


The typical FAIL, when the cable is the problem, is the, so-called, _Sparkles_. But, I suppose there might be other consequences...

But, like I said, "I assume you are using a High Speed HDMI cable". I went looking on Amazon for a Category 1 HDMI cable, and couldn't even find one... so, I'm not sure you can buy one any more.

The point of my post is: Doesn't it seem unlikely that a GPU that Nvidia claims to support HDMI 2.0, wouldn't do so?


----------



## Butthurt Beluga

I actually just recently got my Seiki SE42UMS TV and mounted it to a wall - only to find that there was a cluster of dead LEDs in the upper right hand corner of the screen.
The input lag was also atrocious as most people have stated, almost unusable in fact. I tried the firmware update but I don't believe it worked.
I returned it and simply got a refund and opted to not get a new one, but I'm not wondering if I should give it another shot, or should I look elsewhere?

I'm looking for a 4K TV or display not to use a main display, but just something to watch movies/streams/play games that are good with a controller/use as a TV if I decide to get a console/also to watch TV once NFL comes around again because watching those awful 144p livestreams is too much for me anymore.


----------



## crazycrave

I ordered the Club 3D and paired it with my R9-280 and it works great at 4K 60Hz on the SE42UM as I have only watched a Blu-Ray movie so far Pacific Rim and it looked as good if not better then my $399 Samsung UHD 4K player without the need of an upscaler.


----------



## jfinkow

Just got my SE42UM. Went to upgrade the firmware. No firmware update menu item. Yes, I was in the secret menu. And the firmware appeared to match the beta download!


----------



## Snorri

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *jfinkow*
> 
> Just got my SE42UM. Went to upgrade the firmware. No firmware update menu item. Yes, I was in the secret menu. And the firmware appeared to match the beta download!


The instructions per the Seiki website are to load the BIN onto a USB drive, unplug the TV, plug in USB, plug in TV, light will flash blue/red/blue/red. When it stops, unplug power, unplug USB, replug power. That is what I did with mine.

http://www.seiki.com/support/download


----------



## jfinkow

Snorri, yes, you are correct. I think I did that by accident. Thank you. And the firmware update is now on the Seiki site itself. This TV is awesome as a PC monitor!


----------



## Manak1n

Just hopped in to see how this thread has moved after a while. From what I'm hearing, with the firmware update and the Club3D adapter we can get full 8-bit RGB [email protected] on this monitor with 4:4:4 chroma?
How's the input lag through the Club3D?


----------



## Snorri

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *jfinkow*
> 
> Snorri, yes, you are correct. I think I did that by accident. Thank you. And the firmware update is now on the Seiki site itself. This TV is awesome as a PC monitor!


I agree, I got it for $225 from eBay and it is awesome for just about everything.

My only issue right now is that text is too crisp and pictures/videos look a little weird, I assume this is just from 4K being stretched to 42"? Unless someone has a suggestion for this, in which case I am all ears! I am running an HDMI 2.0 cable to the CAC-1070 adapter suggested in this thread with a GTX 970 powering it (and then on-board Intel powering 24" 1080p vertically) getting [email protected] with RGB, no scaling, 100% zoom in Windows.

And did anyone ever post color settings? I looked through the thread but never caught anything.

Here is a shot of my current setup in my nerd lair. Center is the Seiki, above is an old cheap 50" Sanyo 1080p I got for $250 two Black Friday's ago.


----------



## Snorri

Sadly I just answered my own question. I was assuming the Nvidia control panel knew what was going on, but it looks like the CAC-1070 is just fooling it into believing it is RGB/60hz/4K. Because when I look at this: http://www.geeks3d.com/20141203/how-to-quickly-check-the-chroma-subsampling-used-with-your-4k-uhd-tv/ it is telling me what I already knew...that text and images are in 4:2:0.

Is everyone that is seeing 4K/60hz/RGB in the control panel also seeing the image from the link above clearly?


----------



## jfinkow

Quote:


> And did anyone ever post color settings? I looked through the thread but never caught anything.


See page 16, post 153 by pacolococt. I turned down the sharpness myself to 40. Here is his summary:

Contrast 60
Brightness 48
Color 50
Tint 0
Sharpness 40
Color Temp Normal
Blue Screen ON
MEMC OFF


----------



## Krakn3Dfx

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Snorri*
> 
> Sadly I just answered my own question. I was assuming the Nvidia control panel knew what was going on, but it looks like the CAC-1070 is just fooling it into believing it is RGB/60hz/4K. Because when I look at this: http://www.geeks3d.com/20141203/how-to-quickly-check-the-chroma-subsampling-used-with-your-4k-uhd-tv/ it is telling me what I already knew...that text and images are in 4:2:0.
> 
> Is everyone that is seeing 4K/60hz/RGB in the control panel also seeing the image from the link above clearly?


I downloaded the image to my PC and looked at it, and it looks like 4:4:4 to me, I can read the bottom 2 lines perfectly using the CAC-1070 with the SE42UM on my EVGA GTX980.


----------



## Manak1n

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Krakn3Dfx*
> 
> I downloaded the image to my PC and looked at it, and it looks like 4:4:4 to me, I can read the bottom 2 lines perfectly using the CAC-1070 with the SE42UM on my EVGA GTX980.


Yeah, that's unquestionably 4:4:4. If you're running at 60hz right now, it seems like it's a no-brainer to get this TV as a monitor considering the price. Just to confirm, you didn't zoom the image at all, correct? any form of zooming kills the test.

EDIT: Found a sale on this today, if I can get final confirmation that this is all good, I'll bite.


----------



## Krakn3Dfx

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Manak1n*
> 
> Yeah, that's unquestionably 4:4:4. If you're running at 60hz right now, it seems like it's a no-brainer to get this TV as a monitor considering the price. Just to confirm, you didn't zoom the image at all, correct? any form of zooming kills the test.
> 
> EDIT: Found a sale on this today, if I can get final confirmation that this is all good, I'll bite.


Definitely 4K @ 60fps based on the games I've played on it using the built-in Steam counter. Can I ask where you found it on sale? Have a friend looking as well.

Edit: Didn't realize zooming the image affected the outcome. Here's a picture of the text with the image at actual size, so maybe I was wrong and it's not 4:4:4. I can still read it, but it's definitely not as clear as it was.



Also, my potato phone camera isn't helping.


----------



## Manak1n

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Krakn3Dfx*
> 
> Definitely 4K @ 60fps based on the games I've played on it using the built-in Steam counter. Can I ask where you found it on sale? Have a friend looking as well.


Thanks, just placed my order. Praying everything goes smoothly! Here's the link, it's $225, so not the lowest its been, but still a good deal: http://www.ebay.com/itm/301910593737


----------



## Manak1n

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Krakn3Dfx*
> 
> Definitely 4K @ 60fps based on the games I've played on it using the built-in Steam counter. Can I ask where you found it on sale? Have a friend looking as well.
> 
> Edit: Didn't realize zooming the image affected the outcome. Here's a picture of the text with the image at actual size, so maybe I was wrong and it's not 4:4:4. I can still read it, but it's definitely not as clear as it was.
> 
> 
> 
> Also, my potato phone camera isn't helping.


Yeah, that's 4:2:2 instead of 4:2:0 or 4:4:4.







Just placed a cancellation, but the seller already marked as shipped. We'll see how things pan out. Might keep it, might not. Depends how 4:2:2 feels.


----------



## Krakn3Dfx

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Manak1n*
> 
> Yeah, that's 4:2:2 instead of 4:2:0 or 4:4:4.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Just placed a cancellation, but the seller already marked as shipped. We'll see how things pan out. Might keep it, might not. Depends how 4:2:2 feels.


Sorry about that, I feel bad, didn't realize that was something that would affect it.







Apologies for the miscommunication.


----------



## Manak1n

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Krakn3Dfx*
> 
> Sorry about that, I feel bad, didn't realize that was something that would affect it.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Apologies for the miscommunication.


Not that big of a deal. Worst case scenario, I run 1440p for full chroma when needed. I'm very conflicted as to whether I'd rather the order gets canceled or not. I think I'd prefer trying it, but I'm not one to like risks.

Edit: for some reason the text wasn't displaying here.


----------



## BabylonDown

I dont understand what 444 chroma offers if this monitor is not truly that. Ive been using this monitor for months at 4k 60hz and all text ive encountered has been crisp and clean. Whats the deal?


----------



## Manak1n

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *BabylonDown*
> 
> I dont understand what 444 chroma offers if this monitor is not truly that. Ive been using this monitor for months at 4k 60hz and all text ive encountered has been crisp and clean. Whats the deal?


For most people, it honestly shouldn't be that much of an issue. I, however, do graphic design and video editing on the side, so sometimes I need accuracy at a per-pixel level. On second thought, the color accuracy of this pannel is probably crap, so I shouldn't be complaining about 4:2:2 anyway. Maybe I'll just keep my Dell P2414H on the side for that purpose.

EDIT: well, it shipped. Guess I'll have a 4k display soon. I'll later report my experiences.


----------



## Snorri

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Manak1n*
> 
> For most people, it honestly shouldn't be that much of an issue. I, however, do graphic design and video editing on the side, so sometimes I need accuracy at a per-pixel level. On second thought, the color accuracy of this pannel is probably crap, so I shouldn't be complaining about 4:2:2 anyway. Maybe I'll just keep my Dell P2414H on the side for that purpose.
> 
> EDIT: well, it shipped. Guess I'll have a 4k display soon. I'll later report my experiences.


I wouldn't bother with the CAC-1070, all it does is fool the video card. It also pisses off my GTX970 a lot, unlike the HDMI 2.0 which works 100% of the time. You gain nothing by using this adapter. This is still a great deal for $225, but after using it for a couple of days trying to read websites and documents I am going to go back to my Dell 28" 4K. I played some Borderlands 2 on this thing and it was was awesome, so that would still be a great use for it,. but I don't play games that often.


----------



## Manak1n

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Snorri*
> 
> I wouldn't bother with the CAC-1070, all it does is fool the video card. It also pisses off my GTX970 a lot, unlike the HDMI 2.0 which works 100% of the time. You gain nothing by using this adapter. This is still a great deal for $225, but after using it for a couple of days trying to read websites and documents I am going to go back to my Dell 28" 4K. I played some Borderlands 2 on this thing and it was was awesome, so that would still be a great use for it,. but I don't play games that often.


On the contrary, the CAC-1070 is necessary for me. I have a Radeon R9 290, so no HDMI 2.0 support oob. :/ still, I'm somewhat thinking I won't regret my purchase. Is 4:2:2 really that bad? I was under the impression that the test images were worst-case scenario, and the text didn't look that bad on the example image Krakn3Dfx uploaded.


----------



## andy4theherd

Has anybody in this thread gone from a 27" (or similar size) 1440 IPS (Korean or otherwise) 60Hz monitor to this? I have been following closely ~40" 4k TVs. I am only concerned about gaming on the screen (980Ti). I can use the other screen for everything else. I am worried that the resolution gain going up to 4k will be diminished by the loss of color accuracy and other benefits of the IPS screen. Are there any other trade-off's (good or bad)?

I have been following the Samsung UN40JU6500 as it has 4:4:4 at 4k/60hz and very low input lag (26ms in "game mode" and 48 in "pc mode"), but it cost almost twice as much as the Seiki...


----------



## Snorri

I came from a Crossover 30" 2560x1600 monitor trying out this Seiki and a Dell 28" 4K. My complaints about the Seiki have been posted in the past 2 pages, text is fuzzy and colors are not quite right. The 28" 4K is way too small for 4K and defeats the purpose of having the resolution to get work done.

I did start to play Fallout 4 last night on the Seiki and it looks great IMO. If all you're going to do is play games, I say go for the Seiki.


----------



## Manak1n

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *andy4theherd*
> 
> Has anybody in this thread gone from a 27" (or similar size) 1440 IPS (Korean or otherwise) 60Hz monitor to this? I have been following closely ~40" 4k TVs. I am only concerned about gaming on the screen (980Ti). I can use the other screen for everything else. I am worried that the resolution gain going up to 4k will be diminished by the loss of color accuracy and other benefits of the IPS screen. Are there any other trade-off's (good or bad)?
> 
> I have been following the Samsung UN40JU6500 as it has 4:4:4 at 4k/60hz and very low input lag (26ms in "game mode" and 48 in "pc mode"), but it cost almost twice as much as the Seiki...


Maths says the ppi will be almost identical 108 for the 27" 1440p and 104 for the 42" 4k. Over at SlickDeals somebody noted it looks amazing for gaming. Chroma doesn't matter that much for watching movies or gaming, it's pretty much just a nuisance when reading small text or looking at small graphics. If you enable desktop scaling desktop use should be fine as well. You'll definitely lose the viewing angles of IPS, but the Samsung will probably suffer in this regard as well. Won't comment on input lag as I've heard the positive feedback but haven't tried it myself, but I'll share my findings when I get my Seiki this weekend. I have a Dell P2414H OC'd to 80Hz, and the color accuracy, input lag, and amount of ghosting on that display is amazing (check out tftcentral's review on it), so you'll be hearing feedback from someone with a very good IPS display.
If you're going up in price, I say just get the Wasabi Mango UHD400 instead of the Samsung. It has VA panel and DisplayPort, and can be found for $570 (negligible input lag, and no worries about chroma subsampling). Where I'm at right now, ~$500 for 4k isn't worth it. In a few years you'll get higher quality stuff for closer to $300. I'm willing to pay less for 4k now with the hope that I can get OLED or IPS 4k for rather cheap in a few years. I want the extra workspace, might keep the P2414H for CS:GO and photoshop....

I've got a DSLR, so we'll be having some decent photos for ghosting, chroma tests (I have a radeon card and the club 3D adapter, may have more positive results?), and input lag vs TN comparison. Sunday I can do some comparisons with my P2414H.

First impressions will be as early as tomorrow. I won't test input lag before firmware upgrade because I'll just feel the relative difference. First step is upgrading firmware, then I'll give my raw impressions of input lag and so on. The problem is that so many people have said "it's terrible before upgrading firmware" that it's hard to tell if they're enjoying the relative difference or if the input lag is actually negligible. Anyway, more on this in ~36hrs.


----------



## andy4theherd

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Manak1n*
> 
> If you're going up in price, I say just get the Wasabi Mango UHD400 instead of the Samsung.


that's a good point about the Mango. the UN40JU6500 has been as low as $450 shipped.

i look forward to your impressions of the Seiki.


----------



## Snorri

Agreed - good stuff Manak1n, look forward to your opinion/setup/testing. See you're in the SD thread too, haha. After looking through search there I am kicking myself for not getting the Seiki Pro 40" 4K for ~$450 in January. D'oh!

I told myself I was going 4K for school work, which did not turn out well this round. But my next class is Python programming, and in SublimeText, it should look fine. So I have 8 weeks for a 4:4:4 40" 4K to come around cheap.


----------



## Manak1n

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Snorri*
> 
> Agreed - good stuff Manak1n, look forward to your opinion/setup/testing. See you're in the SD thread too, haha. After looking through search there I am kicking myself for not getting the Seiki Pro 40" 4K for ~$450 in January. D'oh!
> 
> I told myself I was going 4K for school work, which did not turn out well this round. But my next class is Python programming, and in SublimeText, it should look fine. So I have 8 weeks for a 4:4:4 40" 4K to come around cheap.


How did I miss the Seiki Pro!?!? I watch SD religiously... Ah well, still saved $200 if I can handle 4:2:2 or am lucky enough to get 4:4:4 through some miracle.


----------



## DutchDogg54

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *pingram*
> 
> Update, Seiki has allowed me to share the firmware and update process.
> 
> From Seiki (they mentioned an .img file but its actually a .bin file):
> re: lag
> 
> Our engineers have looked at issue and have improved response time. If you'd like to try the updated firmware, please see download and update instructions below:
> 
> Here is the beta firmware that we have for the SE42UM. Please carefully follow directions below.
> 
> After firmware upgrade is complete, make sure to enter TV main menu and go to "Picture" menu. Select the new "PC Mode" option to reduce processing and enable the "just scan" aspect mode.
> 
> You can download a copy of the firmware here:
> 
> http://1drv.ms/1MWRsTN
> 
> Software upgrading instructions:
> 
> 1. Please unzip the file and put the "install.img" file under the root directory of a USB flash drive. And insert the flash drive into USB port on back of TV.
> *CAUTION: Do not remove the USB flash disk or power off during updating, otherwise the operation will fail.
> 
> 2. Press "Menu" button on the Remote control first, then press number key "0" four times in a row to enter the hidden Factory Menu before Menu screen disappears.
> 
> 3. Move cursor to "Software Upgrade" option and press OK key to start upgrading.
> 
> 4. After about 10 seconds, it will be into the upgrade status, and the screen will display the upgrade progress interface.
> 
> 5. Please keep power on during the upgrading process, it will take about 1~2 min.
> After upgrading successfully, system will auto turn on.
> 
> re: color
> 
> Try disabling the MEMC and sharpness settings in "Picture" menu, or just try the new "PC Mode" mentioned above to disable some of the video processing.


Awesome instructions from Pingram above - thanks a lot for sharing those. I noticed that the link that is above isn't working any longer but I found the correct file on their site with this new link: https://onedrive.live.com/?authkey=%21ADgqAhYvYsKO3wo&cid=9EC20EC148C073D7&id=9EC20EC148C073D7%21851023&parId=9EC20EC148C073D7%21524831&action=locate

Follow the instructions above with this file and you should be good to go!


----------



## andy4theherd

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Snorri*
> 
> I did start to play Fallout 4 last night on the Seiki and it looks great IMO. If all you're going to do is play games, I say go for the Seiki.


how would you compare playing it on the Seiki vs the Crossover (positives and negatives)? would you consider the positives to be enough to justify the purchase?

also, what is your system setup? did you have to lower quality settings in game to get decent fps? and if so, was it noticeable?

sorry for all the questions. i'm really considering this and looking for opinions from others coming from a similar 1440 IPS. when i switched from 1080 to 1440 i lost around 30 fps across all games and benchmarks. i know going from 1440 to 4k will hammer my 980Ti.


----------



## Manak1n

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *andy4theherd*
> 
> ...did you have to lower quality settings in game to get decent fps? and if so, was it noticeable?


Fun fact from maths: 4k is 2.25x the total number of pixels as 1440p. So basically two and a quarter 1440p displays (that's a lot of pixels). From benchmarks, it looks like most current gen games will run at about 40fps with high settings on a 980 Ti at 4k. Beyond that, I don't know how things will look. I've got a R9 290, so I'll be sitting closer to 20-30fps on those games. My initial plans were to revert to 1440p or 1080p for gaming anyway.


----------



## Snorri

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *andy4theherd*
> 
> how would you compare playing it on the Seiki vs the Crossover (positives and negatives)? would you consider the positives to be enough to justify the purchase?
> 
> also, what is your system setup? did you have to lower quality settings in game to get decent fps? and if so, was it noticeable?
> 
> sorry for all the questions. i'm really considering this and looking for opinions from others coming from a similar 1440 IPS. when i switched from 1080 to 1440 i lost around 30 fps across all games and benchmarks. i know going from 1440 to 4k will hammer my 980Ti.


i7 4770k, 32GB RAM, 1TB Samsung Pro SSD, GTX 970 4GB. Had Fallout 4 on Ultra at 4K and it wasn't perfectly smooth, but not enough for me to dump out and lowering everything either. A 980Ti will not have any issue at all. It has been so long since I have had 1080p as my main I am not sure what I lost going from it to 2560x1600. I know my 970 was perfectly smooth on anything I played on it. I should mention I don't play many games and I just bought Fallout 4 yesterday, haha.

For me, I wish I had skipped the Seiki and Dell I bought. But the Dell would be amazing for a graphics person and the Seiki may be perfect for someone that just plays games and watches movies all the time. So I know that is not a perfect answer for you, but that is where I am now.


----------



## Manak1n

Got the display, here's a few brief thoughts since I don't have much time today to do a full review yet (something important came up).









EDIT: Note, this was on a R9 280 via HDMI 1.4a

*Display accuracy*: I need to work on calibrating the contrast, colors seem sort of crushed. Nothing too far from my other TN panels.
*Chroma*: can't test the Club 3D adapter (my other computer didn't end up having displayport), but it's seemingly 4:2:2 based on the multi-colored text test. However, the 4:2:2 4:4:4 test image shows up almost exactly the same as on my main display. Maybe it's not 4:2:2 but some other form of image compression? All in all, 100% not bothered by this, everything looks super sharp, and the only time I can notice the artifacts is when menus have greyed out text, and only that when I'm looking for it (hard to even notice normally) BTW, you NEED to set sharpness to 0. Sharpness on windows always looks horrid. Pictures to come when I have time later today (hopefully)
*Input lag*: in my tests, 1440x900 had 50-68ms lag compared to a super fast TN I have (just a dell with imperceptible lag). This means about 3-4 frame lag. This isn't bad when playing normal games, mostly just feels like light mouse acceleration. Verdict: Don't get this for CS:GO or LOL. Anything that has twitch-based movement won't work. That said, I could happily play PlanetSide 2, Crysis, etc on this. Don't take this with a grain of salt, I'm very sensitive to lag and typically play CS:GO on a less than 10ms input lag monitor running at 80hz. In fact, I don't like mobile devices because I can feel the input lag on them (download a touch screen tester that puts targets on when you press, notice how if you move super fast it takes the target a fraction of a second to catch up to your finger. This is what this TV is like, but not quite as present. AKA, it's quite subtle during normal use). Note the resolution I was testing at though, I found 1080p actually had notably different input lag depending on how I set the scaling in crimson. I think I got the lowest lag setting it to centered, and then updating the refresh rate in the advanced Windows display config. Odd... another thing to note, input lag at 1080p feels slightly worse than [email protected] Based on my previously stated findings, I'd assume it's the scaling algorithm that does this.

Anyone with a SE42UM want to risk something? the main board in this TV (cv3393ch) appears to be the same one as the SE55UY04. Knowing seiki and firmware/hardware differences between models, we can probably flash that firmware to this TV and have everything work smoothly. Anyone willing to give it a shot? That could potentially enable [email protected] Not sure what it would do with input lag and chroma, but theoretically it has nearest-neighbor scaling instead, so input lag at 1080p might improve? Lots of guessing here, but if someone confirms this, it may change the playing field a little.

That's all for now, more to be added later


----------



## Manak1n

*[1/4: setup]* Okay, review V2. *This time I'm using my R9 290 and the Club 3D CAC-1070 DP->HDMI 2.0 adapter.*
These are my current settings. Note that most color/contrast correction is best done by changing the gamma in your OS:
Contrast: 44
Brightness: 50
Color: 77
Sharpness: 0
Temp: normal
Backlight: 75
Make sure DLC and noise reduction are off in the setup tab of the menu.
I STRONGLY SUGGEST YOU RE-CALIBRATE CLEARTYPE!!! It makes a pretty worthwhile difference with text.
Also, change the gamma using display calibration. Helps keep the blacks from clipping so much.
*I found the solution for stopping MEMC from turning on every time you turn the TV on*. Go into "user" mode, change the settings to your liking, and then write them down NOTE: you can't change color using this method, it will reset to 'cool'. Next, with the menu closed, hit the menu button and then 0000. This brings up the secret menu. Go to "Others->Video Quality" and then set the top option to PC Mode. Now, change the settings to whatever you'd like. Once you're done, hit "Save to EEPROM" and then confirm it. Once you're done with this, go into the regular menu and set the TV to PC mode. Don't change settings, or it will revert to "user" (typically how presets work) and you'll have to deal with memc again.


----------



## Manak1n

*[2/4: Chroma/color]*
Chroma 4:2:2 isn't as bad as I feared. To be honest, it fights with color accuracy in terms of which is more annoying. Chroma 4:2:2 generally does three things:


http://imgur.com/06GS4pD

, and some menu options with text seem like there's compression artifacts (look in the center of "c" in the


http://imgur.com/AINpFZd

), and some thin details with very little contrast get washed out (example: the lack of outline of a


http://imgur.com/qVUcGqE

). Chroma issues are reasonably reduced if you pop on some desktop scaling. Also, some text gets a


http://imgur.com/6lwJuXY

, not sure why (probably chroma?).

All in all, reminds me of the 1366x768 TV I have back at home in terms of color quality. Looking at calibration images, dark shades of grey and very light shades of grey (basically white) are blended together. Skype's call buttons and Firefox's blue highlighting on address bar suggestions seem less blue and more cyan. Basically, the color feels "crushed." This means that in some aspects it's more contrasted and vivid than a standard TN display, while others you sort of feel like colors are clipping and not hitting their full richness. Odd contrast I know, but that's how it is. Basically the issue is imperfect coloring of subpixels, not a digital issue. I've been pampered with a Dell P2414H. Really, you're getting what you pay for in this regard. Keep in mind, I'm coming from a professional grade monitor. Biggest meh for me is the crushed blacks. Everything else feels sort of nitpicky. That said, I see no point in spending more, because you really can't find a 40" 4k monitor designed for graphics design. Verdict: It looks amazing for images and video, black-on-white text is great, but it suffers for dark UI (eg Logic Pro X, which I did use on it for a bit and it kind of looks like crap with compression artifacts and crushed blacks) and grey text.
Take


http://imgur.com/e0lkz

 with a cube of salt because that is worst case scenario. So far only experienced one actually distracting case, where playing Civ5 there was some small red-on-black text that suffered.

Small note: I noticed some ghosting when moving windows around when I first set it up, but it seems to have vanished after some use. Odd, and no longer can I re-create it. (EDIT: this is actually overshoot, not ghosting. Panel response time is super fast, not seeing any overshoot now) Also, black crushing is reduced by adjusting the gamma, but the whites still suffer. You can try pushing gamma the other way if you prefer crushed blacks over blown-out whites. I tried to find a happy medium.


----------



## Manak1n

*[3/4: Use cases and Misc.]*
Gaming in 4k: BAHAHAHAHHAHA if this is what you want this for, just buy it. Oh my gosh it's amazing, all flaws just disappear. BTW, you know those chickens in CS:GO? I can't hit them for crap just casually bouncing around the level, but this time I actually landed two direct hits on my first attempts. I think this has to do with the fact that despite the very slight input lag, the larger screen and higher resolution allows for your brain to faster judge the _precision_ of your aim. It's an odd tradeoff, and overall this display will probably help my CS:GO play style more than it will hurt it (I'm used to taking corners safely and watching the HUD, so not that much twitching to check corners. Probably averages less than one twitch-corner-check every round.)
EDIT: Using two instances of XNote Stopwatch, you can have them start at the exact same time by assigning a keyboard shortcut and unchecking the "prevent keypresses..." Put one on my TN and one on the Seiki SE42UM, and took some pictures. All in all, there's *almost exactly 50ms* difference between the two. This makes for *almost exactly 3 frames input lag* (my assumption is the other display I have is less than one frame lag, which is fair). Also, these photos revealed that this panel has crazy fast response time. This explains the ghosting I saw before, it wasn't regular ghosting but instead overshoot due to overdriving the pixels. Once again, not seeing overdrive anymore. Basically the same deal as something like triple-buffering V-sync causing mouse lag.

Workspace in 4k: ggaaaah the spacceee1!!!!111!one! You may choose to do some scaling, but no way was I about to. 4k=4x1080p displays. Exactly what I wanted in this regard. It's going to be super hard going back to 1080p or lower displays after I get used to this. In school for Comp. Sci&Eng, so this is quite appreciated.
Pixel density: Didn't realize how much I'd appreciate this over my 24" 1080p monitor. It makes me not care that much when I see chroma aliasing on circles. When you sit back to game or watch a video, chroma 4:2:2 and this pixel density+resolution unquestionably beats out 24" 1080p. It's an amazing experience.

Small annoyances:
-Using my method before, you can't set color mode. I just used OS-Specific calibration to adjust it to my liking based of PC Mode's default of "cool" instead which made the white point better than "normal" mode anyway.
-No HDCP 2.2. Honestly, I couldn't care less about this but I'm sure some people do.
-Gloss on the feet is sort of stupid, all it does is make it more obvious when there's dust on it.
-Glossy screen, though I think I like the reflection better than general light diffusion that sunlight creates on my P2414H. Not sure if I like or dislike, so putting this here for now.
-No sleep mode?

Small perks:
-I don't have to change ANY settings when turning this on, everything calibrated to my liking and settings are remembered!
-I like the brushed metal look of the front bezel.
-VGA and component in for emergencies or use with older consoles. Haven't tried my SNES but I'd assume it won't have issues (ah, the irony of a SNES on a 4k display)


----------



## Manak1n

*[4/4: Conclusions]*
Why are people returning this? For $225+$30 (adapter) I don't regret this at all. The small annoyances will fade as I get used to it. If I was given the option to go back and change my decision, I wouldn't. In fact, I might buy a second one if I had another beefy rig to run it. I don't think 4k is ready enough for it to be worth geting anything more than this now, as this is at the knee just before diminishing returns. Paying $225 more might get you a better panel and 4:4:4 chroma, but input lag would probably be the same unless you got a Korean monitor with DisplayPort, where you're potentially risking loosing customer service among other things. Even still, with the better panel it most likely wouldn't be graphics-design ready, so really you're just getting a "better" panel instead of a panel that would rival IPS or similar displays.

Who should NOT buy:
-People who need color accuracy/wide gamut. Aka, photo or video work of any kind where you will be adjusting colors.
-People who desire 100% imperceptible mouse lag (we're talking 10ms or less, and 25ms for you is like "eh, maybe I'll be okay with it"), aka don't look at 4k because almost all of the options won't fit your needs. Get a 120/144hz monitor at 1080p or 1440p.
-People with a weak computer. This is true for 4k in general. Overclocked G3258 with R9 280 couldn't play 4k video without stuttering, and was plagued with occasional stuttering when moving windows and such.

People who should buy:
-If you want 4k now, but plan on upgrading in ~3 years when 4k content is cycled in more regularly and 4k displays become more or less commonplace. Rather than "dealing with" the minor drawbacks of the display, they'll disappear after a while and you'll just more enjoy the difference next time you upgrade.
-If you have a beefy GPU and want 4k 40" gaming. Seriously, don't pay more. This already looks amazing. I've only played CS:GO and Civ5 right now but boy am I tempted to pop open crisis 3 and watch a pretty slideshow.
-If you have a multi monitor setup consisting of two 1080p displays, and find it frustrating going back to using only one 1080p display. The amount of workspace is amazing.

Notes on the Club 3D adapter with the SE42UM: [email protected] has odd tearing and stuttering. No idea why. Doesn't matter since you'll run this [email protected], but thought I'd mention this anyway.


----------



## andy4theherd

great info, thanks for sharing!

you have just about completely convinced me to buy this (gaming only on a 980Ti). the only cause for hesitation remaining is that i've been using a 27" 1440 IPS screen for 3 years. i don't think i will have quite the same "upgrade" impressions that you did coming from a 24" 1080 screen..... worst case scenario, i'll stick it in the kid's playroom and replace a 27" 720 TV.......lol


----------



## Snorri

Yeah seriously GREAT info Manak1n! I cannot wait to get home and try out everything in your posts! I will report my results later with your suggestions.


----------



## Snorri

First, all of your advice was spot on, thanks Manak1n. I am definitely going to keep this thing and dump my old 30" and the new 28" Dell 4k.

That said, do you still get slight halo/coloring around some text? You will have to ignore the whorls in my cell phone picture below.


----------



## Manak1n

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Snorri*
> 
> First, all of your advice was spot on, thanks Manak1n. I am definitely going to keep this thing and dump my old 30" and the new 28" Dell 4k.
> 
> That said, do you still get slight halo/coloring around some text? You will have to ignore the whorls in my cell phone picture below.


Unfortunately, yeah. for me it pretty much just shows up behind the text in Firefox tabs. What changes did you end up going with?


----------



## Snorri

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Manak1n*
> 
> Unfortunately, yeah. for me it pretty much just shows up behind the text in Firefox tabs. What changes did you end up going with?


Followed your recommendations spot on. I think this is as good as it gets. Like you said, really can't beat this right now. Now, as soon as a Seiki Pro or equivalent goes on sale I will have that.


----------



## samuelkwest

Has anyone figured out how to disable the automatic power-off 'feature'? There's a 'sleep timer' in the menu, but that doesn't appear to do anything... or am I just using it wrong?

I went looking through the thread, but didn't find any instructions.

?

- s.west

[edit] p.s. Just to be clear, I'm referring to the following behavior: PC goes into screensaver mode, SE42UM says 'signal lost' or 'no signal', a little while later the SE42UM starts counting down to power-off...

I want to extend the period between the loss of signal, and the power off.

Thanks.


----------



## Manak1n

Was able to test input lag with two XNote Stopwatch instances. It's almost exactly 3 frames/50ms of input lag. Updated my review with a few tidbits, but I'll just mention here that I'm impressed by the pixel response time (not input lag, two different things).
Also, changed the color to 77, as I found out today that was one of my subconscious issues with the color accuracy.


----------



## samuelkwest

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Manak1n*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *Snorri*
> ...do you still get slight halo/coloring around some text?
> 
> 
> 
> Unfortunately, yeah. for me it pretty much just shows up behind the text in Firefox tabs...
Click to expand...

And, for sure, *sharpness* is set to '0'? Because once I did that, almost every last bit of haloing disappeared.


----------



## samuelkwest

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Manak1n*
> 
> ... I STRONGLY SUGGEST YOU RE-CALIBRATE CLEARTYPE!!! It makes a pretty worthwhile difference with text...


I just went to do that, and it says that ClearType is 'off'... Should I turn it on? And then calibrate it?

What I'm looking at right now, on this PC as currently configured, looks pretty good. I'll do a little more research, but I thought I'd ask for your opinion on enabling ClearType.

Thanks.

- s.west


----------



## samuelkwest

Another question. You wrote:
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Manak1n*
> 
> ...
> *I found the solution for stopping MEMC from turning on every time you turn the TV on*. Go into "user" mode, change the settings to your liking, and then write them down NOTE: you can't change color using this method, it will reset to 'cool'. Next, with the menu closed, hit the menu button and then 0000. This brings up the secret menu. Go to "Others->Video Quality" and then set the top option to PC Mode. Now, change the settings to whatever you'd like. Once you're done, hit "Save to EEPROM" and then confirm it. Once you're done with this, go into the regular menu and set the TV to PC mode. Don't change settings, or it will revert to "user" (typically how presets work) and you'll have to deal with memc again.


When I do this, on the secret menu settings screen is a choice for turning DLC off/on, but I don't see one for MEMC. However, I made the desired changes to the other settings in PC mode, saved it to EEPROM, and now my PC mode looks like I want it to. So, that's good.

But, like I said, I didn't see MEMC on that screen...

?

- s.west


----------



## Manak1n

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *samuelkwest*
> 
> And, for sure, *sharpness* is set to '0'? Because once I did that, almost every last bit of haloing disappeared.


Oh yeah, halos are almost all gone, the only time I see them now is the text on inactive Firefox tabs.

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *samuelkwest*
> 
> I just went to do that, and it says that ClearType is 'off'... Should I turn it on? And then calibrate it?
> 
> What I'm looking at right now, on this PC as currently configured, looks pretty good. I'll do a little more research, but I thought I'd ask for your opinion on enabling ClearType.
> 
> Thanks.
> 
> - s.west


It's up to you. It allows you to fine tune how text renders in a manner similar to how an optometrist checks your perscription (which is better, a or b?). If in the end you don't like it, you can always turn it back off with no consequences.

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *samuelkwest*
> 
> Another question. You wrote:
> When I do this, on the secret menu settings screen is a choice for turning DLC off/on, but I don't see one for MEMC. However, I made the desired changes to the other settings in PC mode, saved it to EEPROM, and now my PC mode looks like I want it to. So, that's good.
> 
> But, like I said, I didn't see MEMC on that screen...
> 
> ?
> 
> - s.west


The idea is that PC Mode always has MEMC off, which is why you need to make changes to that preset and use that one as opposed to User or something else.


----------



## samuelkwest

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Manak1n*
> 
> The idea is that PC Mode always has MEMC off, which is why you need to make changes to that preset and use that one as opposed to User or something else.


ahh... yeah, gotcha. I didn't make the connection.

Now I get it.

Thanks. And thanks for all the other helpful info.

- s.west

p.s. I turned ClearType back on (the funny thing is I remember doing the ClearType calibration recently... but I'm not sure which PC it was on... that's the problem with having more than one computer), and I'll see how I like it. So far, It doesn't look a whole lot different... at least not that I notice.

Is there a way of a/b'ing ClearType (i.e. off then on then off then on) without having to go through the calibration everytime it's turned on?


----------



## Manak1n

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *samuelkwest*
> 
> ahh... yeah, gotcha. I didn't make the connection.
> 
> Now I get it.
> 
> Thanks. And thanks for all the other helpful info.
> 
> - s.west
> 
> p.s. I turned ClearType back on (the funny thing is I remember doing the ClearType calibration recently... but I'm not sure which PC it was on... that's the problem with having more than one computer), and I'll see how I like it. So far, It doesn't look a whole lot different... at least not that I notice.
> 
> Is there a way of a/b'ing ClearType (i.e. off then on then off then on) without having to go through the calibration everytime it's turned on?


I believe when you start the configuration up there's a checkbox that enables and disables it live.


----------



## korhayus

Good Day Everyone,

I just purchased one of these TV's on sale for $250.00. Are you still stating this would not be suitable for at least some gaming, with the firmware update(Btw is there any updated software links floating around?) If this is the case, I should probably start a refund right now.


----------



## Manak1n

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *korhayus*
> 
> Good Day Everyone,
> 
> I just purchased one of these TV's on sale for $250.00. Are you still stating this would not be suitable for at least some gaming, with the firmware update(Btw is there any updated software links floating around?) If this is the case, I should probably start a refund right now.


No, it's great for gaming. Just spent a few hours yesterday playing Borderlands TPS and it was amazing. I only vote not to get the SE42UM it if you need a 144hz or super low input latency anyway for single-frame accuracy. Latest firmware can be grabbed here: http://www.seiki.com/support/download#firmware

Running games at 1080p adds lag though. 4k there's no notable lag. To be honest, Each time I use the display the lag gets less and less apparent, and as I stated before it doesn't feel like lag, it feels like light mouse acceleration or triple-buffering V-Sync. If you've never noticed mouse acceleration in games that have it enabled, then you don't need to worry at all.


----------



## korhayus

Excellent, thank you for the head's up. I think it is the "SE42UM" model however that I purchased.


----------



## korhayus

Good Evening, I finally received my TV. I did the firmware update. Should I see a refresh rate increase from the display setting screen now? It's smoother than it intitially was pulling it out of the box, but there is still some lag, and it only shows 30 refresh rates in the setttings, is there something else I missed?


----------



## Snorri

The firmware update doesn't have to do with the refresh rate.

You probably do not have HDMI 2.0 which is required for 60hz.


----------



## korhayus

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Snorri*
> 
> The firmware update doesn't have to do with the refresh rate.
> 
> You probably do not have HDMI 2.0 which is required for 60hz.


What has hdmi 2.0 installed, the video card? or is it a type of cable? Forgive my ignorance, I am new to this stuff.


----------



## Snorri

Video card and technically the cable too, but the vast majority of cables support it. Not many video cards have native HDMI 2.0. Check your model of video card on NewEgg and see if it has 1.4 (which I am sure it does).


----------



## korhayus

Edit:

I had the HDMI plugged into the wrong port, the writing is so small on this TV. GOT IT WORKING WOOT. Thanks mate.


----------



## samuelkwest

[............OBE.......]


----------



## KB22

Hello,

I recently picked up a SE42UM for cheap and was testing it out on my PC and I cannot get the TV to display 4[email protected] 30hz works fine, but 60hz is green/pink image that is cutoff. I have an MSI GTX970 and tried 3 different high speed HDMI cables on the side port. Any idea what I'm doing wrong?

Thanks!


----------



## andy4theherd

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *KB22*
> 
> Hello,
> 
> I recently picked up a SE42UM for cheap and was testing it out on my PC and I cannot get the TV to display [email protected] 30hz works fine, but 60hz is green/pink image that is cutoff. I have an MSI GTX970 and tried 3 different high speed HDMI cables on the side port. Any idea what I'm doing wrong?
> 
> Thanks!


try the other hdmi ports on the TV. only 1 works @60hz


----------



## Blither

Are there any UK users here? I've just bought the UK version of this TV and I'm so scared it's going to be too laggy to use and that the firmware update will not work for it. The TV is here:

http://www.ebuyer.com/719882-seiki-se42ua01uk-42-ultra-hd-4k-led-tv-se42ua01uk

If anyone knows anyone who has modded the firmware or even where to begin, I might be able to work with my friend to alter the firmware to be accepted by the UK model that I have. I will not be using this TV as a TV at all and only hope to use it as a PC monitor, therefor the lag issue is going to be an absolute deal breaker!

Thank you so much to anyone, in advance, who responds or helps out in any way, shape, or form.


----------



## Manak1n

It looks like there isn't a firmware update for the UK version. When was that model released? It might just have the newest firmware already, as Seiki said they wouldn't do further updates for the SE42UM when I contacted them a while back. If it has a PC mode, you're pretty much set I think. See if you can follow my setup guide, and then if you still have issues it might be worth looking in to creating a modded firmware. Here's the link to the SE42UM's firmware: https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=9EC20EC148C073D7!851023&authkey=!ADgqAhYvYsKO3wo&ithint=file%2cbin
As for how you'd go about modding it, I have no idea. Careful you don't brick your TV since there's no stock firmware available for download!

Also, in regards to the lag, if you follow my guide successfully, you'll get about 50ms lag total. To put it in perspective, the QNIX QX2710 (a popular 1440p korean monitor) has 22-33ms lag, and not many people that own one even mention it. As I said in my review, it only matters if you need per-frame accuracy (CS:GO, LOL, etc), at which point you're looking at the wrong type of display altogether. I'm at the point where I can't even notice the lag with regular usage now. TBH, if you are getting "lag," it's probably a result of having a poor mouse and not because of the actual lag of the display. 4k+42"+crappy mouse=ugh. It'll just feel wrong moving your mouse around, dragging windows, precision clicking (eg small buttons), and so on. Irregardless of the model/brand you have, if you have a 4k screen of this size or larger, you'll want a gaming mouse just so you can traverse the display smoothly and quickly. One case where you won't need a great mouse is if you love super low mouse sensitivity and have a LARGE mousepad.

Nice lag chart:
25ms - pro gamers will notice if you A/B a 8ms with a 25ms monitor, but it probably wouldn't bug them too much overall. On it's own, a 25ms monitor probably would only bother INSANELY sensitive gamers, and they might not even be able to say with certainty it's the display's fault.
50ms - sensitive gamers would pick up a subtle difference between a 50ms and a 8ms monitor, and many standard computer users wouldn't be able to tell a difference at all. The standard users that can notice it probably wouldn't notice it until you deliberately point it out ("does it feel like it has any lag?").
75ms - many people will start to notice something is slightly off, the comment would be "things don't feel as snappy, not quite sure why"
100ms - Pretty much everyone will notice at this point, and then you'll start hearing "this TV has lag."
>125ms - display gets a reputation for having *bad* lag. This is where the SE42UM sat for a while. The lag was so bad, it scared people away from ever trusting that "most of the lag is gone" means it's hard to notice the lag.
TL;DR: Lag won't be a _problem_ for you unless you're one of those people who needs a 8ms lag monitor at 120hz/144hz. Depending how sensitive you are, you *might* be able to feel a _slight_ difference between the SE42UM and your normal monitors if you deliberately look for it.

Also, just played Overwatch for the first time on this today and had a great time. Second game I ended up getting play of the game, yay! Yes, at 50ms this thing is suitable for heavy FPS gaming (but is your GPU? lol), which should say a lot. TBH, my biggest problem with FPS games on this monitor is that my GPU doesn't get over 60fps at 4k with graphics settings at Ultra. Typically I need to turn things down to High instead.


----------



## Blither

Wow, thanks for your comprehensive run down. Turns out that you are right and there's no firmware but that things already seem fine without it. I don't get any kind of "PC" mode or "gaming mode" and I'm wondering if I should move to HDMI port 1 or 2, as I'm currently in port 4, but things seem great. Had a problem with the screen forcing an aspect ratio when I switched down to 1080p for a game that there is no point utilising 4k in (that will be 2 of 3 games I regularly play in all honesty) which caused the screen to zoom in, but that has been resolved. One issue is that I cannot alter sharpness in 4k at 30hz, but I can when using 1080p at 60hz. Possibly cable related? All in all, I'm happy, and can barely notice any input lag at all.


----------



## KB22

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *KB22*
> 
> Hello,
> 
> I recently picked up a SE42UM for cheap and was testing it out on my PC and I cannot get the TV to display [email protected] 30hz works fine, but 60hz is green/pink image that is cutoff. I have an MSI GTX970 and tried 3 different high speed HDMI cables on the side port. Any idea what I'm doing wrong?
> 
> Thanks!


I've now tried 5 different cables, the last one came with a 4k ASUS display. I'm still can't get the TV to do 4k @ 60hz right. I am using the 2.0 port on the TV. Any ideas?


----------



## Manak1n

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *KB22*
> 
> I've now tried 5 different cables, the last one came with a 4k ASUS display. I'm still can't get the TV to do 4k @ 60hz right. I am using the 2.0 port on the TV. Any ideas?


Have you tried running it at 59hz?


----------



## KB22

Yea, I tried 50hz too. Neither worked. 30hz works just fine.


----------



## gojira1019

I just want to update new buyers on this TV. I do not use this Tv for a computer monitor, but I use it as my Tv monitor. The thing is, the monitor is horrible out of the box. You need to download the firmware update from the Seiki site:http://seiki.com/support/download
Once you download the .bin file literally just place that file on a USB flash driver and connect that drive to the pc.

After turning on the TV, press the menu button and the 0 key 4 times. This will bring up a new menu. Go to other options and you will see towards the bottom a sof upgrade option. This is what you use to scan the USB for the bin file and upgrade. Very easy process.

After this you may notice a very annoying option that is called MEMC. When turned on, this displays that dreaded soap opera effect and the issue is everytime you turn the tv off the MEMC option resets itself. However there is a workaround.

You may notice that the new PC Mode setting by default has MEMC turned off. If you once again press the menu key and press the 0 key four times you can go to the other options again. From here, you can actually adjust the different display options and save them to the EEPROM. So if you go into video settings and change it to PC mode, you can adjust accordingly and then save to EEPROM (option at bottom) This will make the PC settings essentially tweaked visually to your liking but it will also have MEMC off by default.


----------



## crazycrave

Here is the TV running 4K 60Hz , I built an AMD FX 6300 /R9-280 computer and I am using the Club 3D DP 1.2 to 2.0 HDMI from the video card to the TV as the cable itself does not matter much.. watch the video and it will show you 4K 60Hz .

My cheap Moto E did the video at sucked at it.


----------



## snoobzill

Thanks for all the tips and feedback.

I saw this for $249 at local BJs wholesale club waited a week and it was down to $199. I couldn't pass it up. Brought it home and updated firmware, worked on my laptop at 30hz which is fine for work, I don't game much anymore. After a day working from home.. I liked it so much I went back for the display model, which was supposed to be 10% off... I am thinking that is a good deal, then I get there and they don't have the remote/manual so they gave me 20% off _the original price_ of $349... so I was out the door for $140 including tax for one at my desk at work! SCORE! I will be the coolest/geekiest dude there 

Now I just need to figure out how to save the MEMC setting to off and I am good.

Cheers!


----------



## snoobzill

Ok... figured out MEMC thing. Do the Menu 0000 thing, go to others, video quality, pc mode, adjust brightness etc there, save to eeprom. Go back out, menu select PC mode, and no more memc on power on.


----------



## samuelkwest

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *snoobzill*
> 
> ... so I was out the door for $140 including tax ...


And I thought $240 was a good deal. That is freakin' unbelievable!

... gonna have to keep my eyes out for another one...

- s.west

p.s. Hey, I just discovered there's a BJs in my town... hmm....

p.p.s. Cancel that... I misread. It was BJ Products. Oh, well.


----------



## snoobzill

I called and it was still there when I arrived a few hours later.


----------



## tabasco122

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Manak1n*
> 
> It looks like there isn't a firmware update for the UK version. When was that model released? It might just have the newest firmware already, as Seiki said they wouldn't do further updates for the SE42UM when I contacted them a while back. If it has a PC mode, you're pretty much set I think. See if you can follow my setup guide, and then if you still have issues it might be worth looking in to creating a modded firmware. Here's the link to the SE42UM's firmware: https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=9EC20EC148C073D7!851023&authkey=!ADgqAhYvYsKO3wo&ithint=file%2cbin
> As for how you'd go about modding it, I have no idea. Careful you don't brick your TV since there's no stock firmware available for download!
> 
> Also, in regards to the lag, if you follow my guide successfully, you'll get about 50ms lag total. To put it in perspective, the QNIX QX2710 (a popular 1440p korean monitor) has 22-33ms lag, and not many people that own one even mention it. As I said in my review, it only matters if you need per-frame accuracy (CS:GO, LOL, etc), at which point you're looking at the wrong type of display altogether. I'm at the point where I can't even notice the lag with regular usage now. TBH, if you are getting "lag," it's probably a result of having a poor mouse and not because of the actual lag of the display. 4k+42"+crappy mouse=ugh. It'll just feel wrong moving your mouse around, dragging windows, precision clicking (eg small buttons), and so on. Irregardless of the model/brand you have, if you have a 4k screen of this size or larger, you'll want a gaming mouse just so you can traverse the display smoothly and quickly. One case where you won't need a great mouse is if you love super low mouse sensitivity and have a LARGE mousepad.
> 
> Nice lag chart:
> 25ms - pro gamers will notice if you A/B a 8ms with a 25ms monitor, but it probably wouldn't bug them too much overall. On it's own, a 25ms monitor probably would only bother INSANELY sensitive gamers, and they might not even be able to say with certainty it's the display's fault.
> 50ms - sensitive gamers would pick up a subtle difference between a 50ms and a 8ms monitor, and many standard computer users wouldn't be able to tell a difference at all. The standard users that can notice it probably wouldn't notice it until you deliberately point it out ("does it feel like it has any lag?").
> 75ms - many people will start to notice something is slightly off, the comment would be "things don't feel as snappy, not quite sure why"
> 100ms - Pretty much everyone will notice at this point, and then you'll start hearing "this TV has lag."
> >125ms - display gets a reputation for having *bad* lag. This is where the SE42UM sat for a while. The lag was so bad, it scared people away from ever trusting that "most of the lag is gone" means it's hard to notice the lag.
> TL;DR: Lag won't be a _problem_ for you unless you're one of those people who needs a 8ms lag monitor at 120hz/144hz. Depending how sensitive you are, you *might* be able to feel a _slight_ difference between the SE42UM and your normal monitors if you deliberately look for it.
> 
> Also, just played Overwatch for the first time on this today and had a great time. Second game I ended up getting play of the game, yay! Yes, at 50ms this thing is suitable for heavy FPS gaming (but is your GPU? lol), which should say a lot. TBH, my biggest problem with FPS games on this monitor is that my GPU doesn't get over 60fps at 4k with graphics settings at Ultra. Typically I need to turn things down to High instead.


Is this firmware better, or the SY15335 that is from august of 2015 on seiki's website?


----------



## korhayus

I've applied the firmware update from the site. It now recognizes a PC Mode etc, the lag is less noticeable but its still there while playing games etc, how do some of yall say this is perfect with no lag at all playing video games, the fps hiccups like crazy while trying to play any games with this TV etc.

Has anyone else got a possible solution to perfecting this?


----------



## andy4theherd

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *korhayus*
> 
> I've applied the firmware update from the site. It now recognizes a PC Mode etc, the lag is less noticeable but its still there while playing games etc, how do some of yall say this is perfect with no lag at all playing video games, the fps hiccups like crazy while trying to play any games with this TV etc.
> 
> Has anyone else got a possible solution to perfecting this?


are you talking about input lag or fps?

those are two very different things. input lag is the delay from pressing a button on your controller that it takes to happen on the screen. the firmware update posted here is supposed to resolve that. fps drops are hardware (cpu/gpu) issues. 4k is extremely GPU dependent. you need a high-end GPU or SLi cards to get descent 4k gaming fps. i have an overclocked 980Ti, a 2560x1440 monitor, and get drops under 60 fps in graphic heavy games on max settings (Witcher 3). 4k (3840 x 2160) takes MUCH more power to run than 1440p.


----------



## mikeseth

Picked up a SE42UMT for $420 Canadian which was a "steal of a price" (349 pre-tax, tell me about it).

*Pros:*
- Appears to have been manuf. in 2015 and was preloaded with the latest firmware.
- Input lag is virtually non-existent compared to other displays I have used (can't tell the difference).

*Settings:*
- Brightness 52
- Contrast: 37
- Color 47
- Sharpness 0
- DLC OFF
- MEMC OFF
- Noise Reduction OFF

*Strange Firmware Tweaks*
- Going into Menu -> 000000 (4 doesnt work) -> Others -> QMAP Adjust -> HSD_Y setting from ALLPASS1X to LFP11 makes the text quite sharp however adds to the white outlining that occurs around it.

*Cons:*
- OOB noticed there is an area of dead pixels about 4mm in diameter towards the left edge of the display visible on white (not that bad).
- Some white glow around the text, turning the contrast down minimizes it. Someone suggested to turn the contrast up to 77 however, that blows everything out making the colours inaccurate.
- Text smaller than font size 6 pt looks corrupted and unreadable.
- QMAP Adjust Setting does not get saved.
*- Could not find EPROM Save Setting (anyone have pointers)?*
- Lack of Sleep/Wake. Display does turn off after showing "No Signal" for a period of time however, waking the system up from sleep does not wake the display. Manually turning the display on AFTER turning the system on continues to show "No Signal".
- Colours are *highly* inaccurate with some being excessively saturated or blown-out, while others are washed-out and not saturated enough.
- As a TV it is great except, the only "Smart" features you get is YouTube, Netflix, Accuweather and Toon Goggles. There are no apps, DLNA / WMC, Plex or other streaming support. If and when content sites update their API, it could break the built-in apps and make it into a dumb TV.
- Could not get NVIDIA control panel gamma adjust or Windows Display Calibration settings to save (display goes back to original).

*Overall thoughts:*
- "You get what you pay for"
- The display is great for general use (i.e. documents, web surfing, development) etc. as the resolution provides plenty of space.
- I would not perform any sort of color-sensitive work on it.


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## theoriginalpol

Been lurking on this thread for a while, thought I'd chime in. Picked one of these up from the recent Slickdeals post, $199 shipped.

I was wondering about Manak1n's setup and the concern about being stuck on the "cool" color temperature. I noticed in the advanced menu there's an option to fine tune all these presets (individual RGB gain, etc). So could we solve this by adjusting the "cool" preset to be more neutral? Haven't actually tried this but prob will when I get home this eve.


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## Scougar

So is this the same set as the UGT?

I got sick trying to play FPS games on the UGT. Even with 60hz @4K, and even when dropping to 1920 res at 60hz same thing. Horrible performance. The input lag is still there with nearly every post processing thing turned off, and for whatever reason 60 hz (even with matching frame rate) does not seem to equate to 60hz. Panning at all in FPS results in horrible choppy mess. Even if I set the screen to use 1920*1080 pixel matched (i.e. picture in the middle of the screen wtih a big black border, the chop is still there and you just cannot play fps games properly. It is awful.

So bad, that I bought a 25" hd screen and relegated the UGT to the bedroom. I did this because I had given up gaming thanks to this 4k screen, it was a horrible experience in FPS games.


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## davidson1153

I have been lurking around this thread and I am looking at upgrading my monitor to a 4k display. I recently sold my 24" Apple LED Cinema Display and am looking for a 4k display in the $200-$350 range. I have a MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Mid 2015) with an Intel Iris Pro 1536 MB graphics card. I am in dental school and would mostly use the monitor for studying with 4+ windows open, viewing oral X-rays, and viewing intraoral and extraoral pictures for treatment planning. I may use a PS4 for occasional COD, but gaming is not a very important component in this decision.

I am stuck between buying the Seiki SE42UM and using the Club-3D Mini DisplayPort™ 1.2 to HDMI™ 2.0 4K60Hz UHD Active Adapter and the Samsung U28E590D monitor. I understand the downsides of using the Seiki SE42UM in concerns to the chroma, but I mainly view texts on a white background. Color accuracy is pretty important especially for cosmetic dentistry. I am worried that the Samsung may be too small @ 4k resolution. Desk

Any opinions, advise, or other recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!


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## mcphone2004

I try to use se42um as a 4K display with a 2012 Mac mini + pixel clock patch + switchresx. Just wonder if any one can share their switchresx settings to allow 4K @ 24/25/30hgz?


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## BabylonDown

I'm very frustrated with this monitor. As others have mentioned, the input lag is horrendous. I seriously thought it was my Logitech G602 wireless mouse and Rapoo wireless keyboard being laggy until I switch to wired and experienced the exact same laggyness. It literally feels like a half second delay between either pressing a key or moving the mouse. For FPS it is unacceptable. Playing Dark Souls 3 was an absolute disaster. Trying to dodge accurately made me want to rage quit every time. lol. I actually thought my mouse and keyboard were broken. The worse part is, setup my station around this display and going with something smaller just isnt in the cards. I'm so used to this size I can never go back.


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## mastercoin

Looking to purchase 65" model. From what I read I don't know if I should. I think I need to figure out the firmware upgrade issue, if I'm going to seriously consider this


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## Krakn3Dfx

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *BabylonDown*
> 
> I'm very frustrated with this monitor. As others have mentioned, the input lag is horrendous. I seriously thought it was my Logitech G602 wireless mouse and Rapoo wireless keyboard being laggy until I switch to wired and experienced the exact same laggyness. It literally feels like a half second delay between either pressing a key or moving the mouse. For FPS it is unacceptable. Playing Dark Souls 3 was an absolute disaster. Trying to dodge accurately made me want to rage quit every time. lol. I actually thought my mouse and keyboard were broken. The worse part is, setup my station around this display and going with something smaller just isnt in the cards. I'm so used to this size I can never go back.


Did you install the firmware update mentioned earlier in this thread? Makes a huge difference.


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## MunneY

I'm glad to see you guys have found a better use for it now with the firmware update. I didn't realize this thread had kept going like it did. If you are really able to pick one up for 230$, then I think its a great deal as a 4k gaming monitor or productivity work!


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## Krakn3Dfx

Worth noting the SE42UMT updated model is $230 shipped on HHR Greg right now. I went ahead and ordered one, figure I'll move this one to my bedroom to replace a 40" Changhong 1080p I have in there.

http://www.hhgregg.com/seiki-42-4k-ultra-hd-smart-tv/item/SE42UMT


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## tluu04

Hi everyone, I just purchased the SE42UMT from hhgregg.

The SN is 42C0M3B617SA00861 which is outside the range 42C0M3B527SA00001 ~ 42C0M3B527SA02236 to use the firmware from the Seiki site.

I could not find the PC mode from the picture menu either. I connected my HP ZBook 15 G2 to the SE42UMT via the VGA port and can only set it to 1920x1080, which is the highest resolution i can choose from the laptop display. I try everything but can't set it to 4k.

I hesitate to install the firmware because i am afraid if it does not work i don't know what to do to go back the default.

Please help! anyone and Seiki support.

My questions:

How can i get the firmware for this SN? and does it work to use the VGA port, or must i use a HDMI 2.0 with a DP to HDMI cable?
My laptop has a quardro k1100m card which from specs support 4 4k monitors. But from the display mode list, the max resolution i can pick is FHD?

Thanks


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## Squigibo

FOLKS DO YOURSELF A HUGE FAVOR

I have the 42" 4K model, and flashed firmware. - the biggest problem with this TV/Monitor (after the firmware flash) is getting your colors correct.
I turned everything to normal factory settings, then turned the SHARPNESS DOWN to ZERO.

Now.... PURCHASE A Spyder-5 Express color calibrator and calibrate the screen. It works great with Windows 10. My color is now perfect. Every six months, I re-calibrate.

Once I flashed the firmware, and calibrated the colors..... the monitor springs to life and it's glorius 4K at 60Hz with PERFECT COLOR.


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## Squigibo

4K can be misleading. You may have to set a custom resolution within windows. But 4K can be 30FPS or 60FPS (Hz)... you need a powerful GPU to really get the 4K moving at a good framerate. Unless you're watching movies, then 30FPS (Hz) is fine.


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## MunneY

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Squigibo*
> 
> 4K can be misleading. You may have to set a custom resolution within windows. But 4K can be 30FPS or 60FPS (Hz)... you need a powerful GPU to really get the 4K moving at a good framerate. Unless you're watching movies, then 30FPS (Hz) is fine.


No, 30hz is not fine. Its borderline unusable even at the desktop.

How is it misleading. Its not a custom resolution either.


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## NoisufnoC

FWIW I have my SE42UM running off a 15" MBP Retina with this adapter http://a.co/1SRX93n and SwitchResX at [email protected]

My only question is how to permanently disable MEMC in the System (0000) menu.


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## DrewTheMuse

Hello, I realize this post is quite old now and the url for the firmware download is no longer working. Would you or anyone be able to repost it, as I really need this firmware to reduce the lag in my Seiki SE42UM for computer monitor use. Please and thank you!


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## jdbhasi

Could you please give the correct link. this link seems to have been broken, I did a firmware update on my tv, now its unusable..


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## jdbhasi

https://onedrive.live.com/?authkey=%21ADgqAhYvYsKO3wo&cid=9EC20EC148C073D7&id=9EC20EC148C073D7%21851023&parId=9EC20EC148C073D7%21524831&action=locate

Please use this link. I did a wrong firmware update and almost ruined my TV, until i found this one.


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## CaptainDucky

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *pingram*
> 
> Update, Seiki has allowed me to share the firmware and update process.
> 
> From Seiki (they mentioned an .img file but its actually a .bin file):
> re: lag
> 
> Our engineers have looked at issue and have improved response time. If you'd like to try the updated firmware, please see download and update instructions below:
> 
> Here is the beta firmware that we have for the SE42UM. Please carefully follow directions below.
> 
> After firmware upgrade is complete, make sure to enter TV main menu and go to "Picture" menu. Select the new "PC Mode" option to reduce processing and enable the "just scan" aspect mode.
> 
> You can download a copy of the firmware here:
> 
> http://1drv.ms/1MWRsTN
> 
> Software upgrading instructions:
> 
> 1. Please unzip the file and put the "install.img" file under the root directory of a USB flash drive. And insert the flash drive into USB port on back of TV.
> *CAUTION: Do not remove the USB flash disk or power off during updating, otherwise the operation will fail.
> 
> 2. Press "Menu" button on the Remote control first, then press number key "0" four times in a row to enter the hidden Factory Menu before Menu screen disappears.
> 
> 3. Move cursor to "Software Upgrade" option and press OK key to start upgrading.
> 
> 4. After about 10 seconds, it will be into the upgrade status, and the screen will display the upgrade progress interface.
> 
> 5. Please keep power on during the upgrading process, it will take about 1~2 min.
> After upgrading successfully, system will auto turn on.
> 
> re: color
> 
> Try disabling the MEMC and sharpness settings in "Picture" menu, or just try the new "PC Mode" mentioned above to disable some of the video processing.


Hi, do you happen to have this download still hanging around somewhere. They're no longer supporting it on the site.


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## CaptainDucky

*? My apologies for forgetting the "?". I was walking to work.


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## dwangwin999

pingram said:


> Update, Seiki has allowed me to share the firmware and update process.
> 
> From Seiki (they mentioned an .img file but its actually a .bin file):
> re: lag
> 
> Our engineers have looked at issue and have improved response time. If you'd like to try the updated firmware, please see download and update instructions below:
> 
> Here is the beta firmware that we have for the SE42UM. Please carefully follow directions below.
> 
> After firmware upgrade is complete, make sure to enter TV main menu and go to "Picture" menu. Select the new "PC Mode" option to reduce processing and enable the "just scan" aspect mode.
> 
> You can download a copy of the firmware here:
> 
> http://1drv.ms/1MWRsTN
> 
> Software upgrading instructions:
> 
> 1. Please unzip the file and put the "install.img" file under the root directory of a USB flash drive. And insert the flash drive into USB port on back of TV.
> *CAUTION: Do not remove the USB flash disk or power off during updating, otherwise the operation will fail.
> 
> 2. Press "Menu" button on the Remote control first, then press number key "0" four times in a row to enter the hidden Factory Menu before Menu screen disappears.
> 
> 3. Move cursor to "Software Upgrade" option and press OK key to start upgrading.
> 
> 4. After about 10 seconds, it will be into the upgrade status, and the screen will display the upgrade progress interface.
> 
> 5. Please keep power on during the upgrading process, it will take about 1~2 min.
> After upgrading successfully, system will auto turn on.
> 
> re: color
> 
> Try disabling the MEMC and sharpness settings in "Picture" menu, or just try the new "PC Mode" mentioned above to disable some of the video processing.


Hello - do you still have the firmware available? Please post it if you do. Thanks a lot


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## waxettio

hi guys!
need firmware seiki 42um
please help


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## Ernesto777

Hi How are you, I need to ask you a important question about the Seiki TV SE42UM, Can u answer me at my email pls. [email protected]


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## Ernesto777

jdbhasi said:


> OneDrive
> 
> Please use this link. I did a wrong firmware update and almost ruined my TV, until i found this one.


Hi How are you, I need to ask you a important question about the Seiki TV SE42UM, Can u answer me at my email pls. [email protected]


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