How To Use A 4K TV As A Monitor? (Step-by-Step Guide)

Whether you own an HD, FHD or 4K TV, you can easily use it as a computer monitor. But, there are a few perks of 4K TV that make it a better option.

4K TV offers a higher Pixels Per Inch (PPI) value resulting in crisp and vivid image quality. Besides, the accurate color precision and a higher refresh rate also make it suitable for gaming and graphic intensive tasks. However, you may sometimes experience input lags as 4K TV goes through several post-processing functions. But there are ways to get around this issue as well.

Below is a step-by-step guide on how you can use your 4K TV as a computer monitor.

Table of Contents

Step 1: Check 4K Compatibility on PC

First things first. If you want to use your 4K TV as a monitor, your PC should also be 4K compatible. If you try connecting a PC with only HD or FHD support, the resolution and scaling on the TV screen can distort resulting in over-scanned or under-scanned images.

Therefore, if you own a GPU with 4K support, you can install it on your PC and use it. In case you are planning to use a non-4K support PC with a 4K TV, you need to make some display adjustments. More on this later.

For now, let’s start by checking the 4K compatibility on your PC.

Press Windows + I keys on your keyboard to launch Settings.
Click System on the left pane and choose Display on the right.
In the Display Resolution drop-down, check if 4K (3840 x 2160) is available. If not, the highest available resolution on your PC will be shown as the Recommended.

Step 2: Get a Suitable HDMI Cable

Not every HDMI cable supports the transmission of 4K signals. So, you should get a high-end HDMI cable that supports 4K resolution. If your TV has a refresh rate of 60Hz, you can get an HDMI 2.0 cable. While, if your TV operates on a higher refresh rate of 120Hz, you need an HDMI 2.1 cable.

You should also check if the GPU on your PC supports higher versions of HDMI. If your PC only has HDMI 1.4 support, you may be able to stream 4K content, but on a lower FPS.

Step 3: Establish the Connection

After getting a compatible HDMI cable, you can now proceed with the connection. Simply connect one end of the cable to the HDMI OUT port of your computer and connect the other end to the HDMI IN of your TV. Then you should switch the input source to HDMI on your TV.

The steps to change the input source are pretty similar in most of the 4K TVs. If your TV remote has a Source button, you can easily switch the source using that button. If not, you can do it through Settings. Let’s see how to do it on Samsung TVs.

Directly press the Source button on your remote and choose HDMI.
Alternatively, go to the left corner of the home screen and choose Source.
Tap HDMI.
The TV will now start casting from your PC.

Tip: If you want to use your 4K TV as a second monitor, you can also use Miracast or streaming devices like a Roku. You may refer to this article on how to cast from PC to your TV.

Step 4: Adjust the Display Settings

Now that you have established a connection, you should adjust a few display settings. If the TV and PC both support 4K resolution, you may not encounter a problem. The TV will detect and adjust the screen size.

But, if you are on a non-4K PC, you can not stream 4K quality content on TV. You can however modify some settings like scaling and resolution to improve the viewing experience to some extent.

Open Settings on your Computer. You can easily do it by hitting Windows and I keys simultaneously.
Choose System > Display.
Go to Scale & layout section and select the 4K resolution (3840 x 2160 pixels). If you have a non-4K compatible PC, select the highest available resolution.
Next, use the Scale option and choose a scaling value to fit the TV screen.

Tip: If your PC uses NVIDIA graphics card, you can use the NVIDIA control panel to adjust the display settings. Similarly, if it has an AMD graphics card, you may modify the display settings using AMD Catalyst Control Center.

Step 5: Maintain Ergonomics

Working with a bigger screen on your 4K TV can be overwhelming. The 4K TV screen provides the flexibility of working on multiple windows at a time but you can easily get lost. Most of the time, you are confined only to one-third of the screen. You can not fully utilize the real state of your TV unless you position yourself correctly.

Not only that, you might end up hurting your eyes and neck in a long computing session. Therefore, you should maintain an ideal distance between your eyes and the TV screen. We also recommend you use bias lighting to avoid eye strains.

Tip: If you are planning to use your TV for gaming, we suggest you enable the gaming mode. You can consult this article on best TV settings for gaming.