116 PCWorld MARCH 2020HERE’S HOW USE YOUR TV AS A PC MONITOR
a significantly lower pixel density of 68.84
ppi. The lower the pixel density, the less
clear and detailed the image becomes.
But the importance of pixel density
decreases with viewing distance. The further
you sit from a screen, the lower the pixel
density needs to be for you to have a
comfortable viewing experience. You won’t
have any problems looking at a 15.6-
inch/141.21 ppi screen from two feet away,
but you will find it much harder to view a
32-inch/68.84 ppi screen from the same
distance. This is why a “Retina” screen on
the iPhone has a pixel density of 326 ppi,
but a Retina screen on the MacBook Pro has
a pixel density of just 226 ppi.
A normal user typically sits between two
and three feet away from a desktop monitor.
To comfortably view a monitor at this
distance, you should aim for 80 ppi or
higher. This means that for 1920x1080
(1080p) resolution, your screen should beno larger than 27.5 inches diagonally, and
for 4K sets, you’ll want to max out at 55
inches, like the $500 TCL 55R617 4K UHD
Roku TV (go.pcworld.com/55r6) shown
below. We reviewed it, and it’s solid.
Important: “4K” is not a market standard.
A 4K HDTV can mean 4x720p (3840x2160
resolution) or 4x1080p (4096x2160
resolution). Most models use 3840x2160,
but you should check the exact specs of
your model to determine pixel density.Input lag
Input lag (go.pcworld.com/inlg) is the delay
between movement you make on your input
device (in this case, a mouse and keyboard)
and what displays on your screen. While
most computer monitors prioritize minimal
lag times, HDTVs generally do not—they
prioritize (laggy) video processing instead.
These extra milliseconds may not seem like
they matter, but they will make a massive
difference if you’re trying to
do something like
competitive online gaming.
DisplayLag maintains a
good database of input lag
times (go.pcworld.com/lgtm),
sortable by display type. An
input lag of less than 30
milliseconds is considered
good for an HDTV if you’re
using it as an HDTV. For a
6 Series TCL TV. computer monitor, you’ll want