mikes616 Posted November 28, 2015 Share Posted November 28, 2015 I am currently running X7. I have a laptop with a Nividia, GeForce video card, 840M, resolution set to the max- 1920 x 1080. I recently connected it to my new Samsung 75", 4k, smart tv. It connected fine but the resolution on the tv screen using Chief was very disappointing. The lines weren't sharp, the 3d views not very sharp. I'm wondering if it is my video card, or a setting in Chief that is giving me a disapponting result- or something else. When first connected, the overall screen looks very clear and sharp. Using windows 8 OS. Any suggestions? Thanks. Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe_Carrick Posted November 28, 2015 Share Posted November 28, 2015 The NVidea resolution is limited to the max resolution of your Laptop screen. To use the 4K Tv to maximum resolution you will need a desktop computer with a GPU that supports that resolution. This is just a fact of life with Laptops. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheKitchenAbode Posted November 28, 2015 Share Posted November 28, 2015 As Joe said above, you need a graphics card that will support 4K. What's happening now is that your 4K set is set to upscale the 1080 in order to utilize the full display area, it's a zoom like process and as you a zoom into any pic beyond it's native resolution it will become less and less sharp. If you do not require the 4K sets screen to be filled you could set the 4K set to display the input in it's native resolution, defeats the purpose of the large screen but it will improve the image quality. Otherwise you will need get a new laptop that has a graphics card that can do the job. Just make sure you get a good one, processing all those pixels is very demanding. Just one other note. If you Raytrace then you will likely need to increase the pixel size of your images, otherwise they will look soft & fuzzy. Your Raytrace time will increase accordingly. Graham Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikes616 Posted November 28, 2015 Author Share Posted November 28, 2015 Joe, So a better video card wouldn't have any effect on the 4k tv? My desktop pc does. I have no HDMI connection other than the monitor HDMI output. Could I use that to connect to the HDMI on the "Smart hub" on the tv? Lastly, pardon my ignorance but what does "GPU" mean? I've heard of "CPU"...."central processing unit"....the motherboard and the processor. I do use a wireless keyboard and wireless mouse for the pc but I'm not sure tyhe signal is strong enough to reach the tv......but it is in an adjacent room. Thanks. Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikes616 Posted November 28, 2015 Author Share Posted November 28, 2015 Graham, Is there a particular 4k video card you recommend? Does Nividia make a good one? Thanks,\. Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe_Carrick Posted November 28, 2015 Share Posted November 28, 2015 Mark, GPU = Graphics Processor Unit (aka Graphics Card). It is unlikely that you will find a Laptop that can support a GPU that will support 4K. Typically, the Laptop has a limit of the max resolution of it's monitor. I'm not sure why this is the case except that they are not expected to be used with such large hi-res monitors. OTOH, it may just be that the GPU's installed in Laptops are typically just the least that will drive the on-board monitor - mainly due to the space available and cooling capabilities of the Laptop. If you look at the higher end GPU's that will fit in a Desktop you might understand the problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheKitchenAbode Posted November 28, 2015 Share Posted November 28, 2015 The graphics card determines the native resolution being sent to the 4k TV. So yes it will determine the image quality. GPU stands for Graphics Processing Unit, this is the main processor on the graphics board. CPU stands for Central Processing Unit, this is typically the main processor on your computers motherboard. Best performance is achieved by having the graphics handled by a separate graphics processor, this frees up your main processor for other duties. Currently Nvidia is leading in the graphic card field. Joe makes a very important point if you are looking to use a laptop for 4K. To do so you may have to purchase a laptop that also has a 4k screen if you wish to have the same native resolution to send to your TV. You will need to check the specs to see what the graphics card capabilities are and if it will support a second monitor at a resolution that differs from the laptops monitor. Never really looked into this, but as these laptop graphics cards are special mobile versions they will undoubtedly lack some of the features found in their desktop equivalent. Graham Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe_Carrick Posted November 28, 2015 Share Posted November 28, 2015 Typical native resolution max on Laptop GPU's is 1920x1080. My 30" Hi-Res Monitor is 2560x1600...a 4K TV would be about double that. I've been considering a 55" 4K but I expect that I will need a better GPU than my current system has. I'm not sure that I could even fit that beast in my rig so I might just have to get a new system. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikes616 Posted November 28, 2015 Author Share Posted November 28, 2015 Guys, Thanks for the GPU clarification....learned something new. So it sounds like using the llaptop is not to be....and won't be buying a new one as the current one is fairly new. I was wondering if you had any comments about my other questions related to my pc. Can I use a single HDMI monitor output into the 4k on the tv? Would that work and be in 4k, with the right graphics card or gpu? Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe_Carrick Posted November 28, 2015 Share Posted November 28, 2015 It depends on the HDMI specs on your PC. It's also important to have the right HDMI cable - they are not all the same. Assuming you have the right HDMI components it should work fine with the 4K TV. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheKitchenAbode Posted November 28, 2015 Share Posted November 28, 2015 If the graphics card is 4k capable then the tv will display 4k. You may need to get a better quality HDMI cable though as their bandwidth capacity is quality dependent. Having said all of this it may be prudent to wait for a few more users who are using large high resolution TV's as monitors for their advice. I may be off base on this but I believe that some software does not always upscale as one would expect. Have encountered this before where the main program is fine but a pop up dialog box does not properly scale. This can happen as pop up dialog box boundaries are often predefined in absolute pixels. Graham Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill_Emery Posted November 28, 2015 Share Posted November 28, 2015 You are not limited to the maximum resolution of your laptop screen You are limited by the resolution of the destination display, and the capability of the video card, which in your case supports 4K resolution. Go to your PC settings > Display > customize your display. Follow the prompts to identify and set up your display. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheKitchenAbode Posted November 28, 2015 Share Posted November 28, 2015 Check out Bill's suggestion. This will tell you what the graphics card in your laptop is capable of. You mentioned in your last post that the laptop was fairly new, as such it should have a resolution greater than the 1080 you mentioned in your original posting and it should also have multi-monitor support. Even if it does not fully support 4K you may find that it may support a high enough resolution that things will be good enough. Graham Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheKitchenAbode Posted November 28, 2015 Share Posted November 28, 2015 One other note, are you just mirroring your laptop display or are you setting it up as dual monitors. This can make a difference. Graham Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alaskan_Son Posted November 28, 2015 Share Posted November 28, 2015 ...the capability of the video card, which in your case supports 4K resolution. I don't believe this is quite right. The 840M has a max resolution of 2560x1600. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe_Carrick Posted November 28, 2015 Share Posted November 28, 2015 Bill, Even with the 840M capable of 2560x1600 - that isn't 4K capable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikes616 Posted November 28, 2015 Author Share Posted November 28, 2015 I bought 4k HDMI cables so I know that part is ok....everything else is....fuzzy....it doesn't sound like I can use the laptop and must use the pc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheKitchenAbode Posted November 28, 2015 Share Posted November 28, 2015 What laptop do you have? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill_Emery Posted November 28, 2015 Share Posted November 28, 2015 Sorry, My mistake. The 840m is not 4K capable. However, it might be worthwhile exploring if the on board graphics processor for the laptop is capable of 4K. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe_Carrick Posted November 28, 2015 Share Posted November 28, 2015 Sorry, My mistake. The 840m is not 4K capable. However, it might be worthwhile exploring if the on board graphics processor for the laptop is capable of 4K. I have not seen any Laptop with such a capability. In fact, I don't think I've even seen a Desktop with on board graphics capable of 4K. AFAIK, only the higher end GPU's are able to deliver 4K. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alaskan_Son Posted November 28, 2015 Share Posted November 28, 2015 I have not seen any Laptop with such a capability. In fact, I don't think I've even seen a Desktop with on board graphics capable of 4K. AFAIK, only the higher end GPU's are able to deliver 4K. Actually Joe, the video card in my laptop can handle 4k resolution. Here's a pretty good little article on the subject... https://developer.nvidia.com/4k-ultra-high-resolution-development Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheKitchenAbode Posted November 28, 2015 Share Posted November 28, 2015 Some of Intel's latest chips have this capability. http://www.intel.com.au/content/www/au/en/architecture-and-technology/hd-graphics/hd-graphics-developer.html Graham Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikes616 Posted November 29, 2015 Author Share Posted November 29, 2015 My laptop in an HP Envy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheKitchenAbode Posted November 29, 2015 Share Posted November 29, 2015 There are many models and configurations in the Envy lineup. Could you be a bit more specific? I checked on some models from 2 years ago, even if you only have the integrated graphic, most likely hd4600, it is capable of higher than 1080. Specs indicate about 3k for the HDMI output. It would appear that the Tv is not being setup properly within your laptops display settings. Graham Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnny Posted November 29, 2015 Share Posted November 29, 2015 Just to be clear, you will never get the same "sharpness" from a TV product (even 4k) as you do from a computer monitor. For presentations and things I'm sure the TV would be fine, but for everyday work most recommend against using anything other than a true monitor. Also, as I understand it there is currently only 2 video card series that are true 4k - the Titian is one of them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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