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Anyone happen to know or have an opinion... are 4K TVs (not 4K monitors) good for using as a PC monitor? I'd like to get more screen real estate, and don't want to have 2 monitors. 4k monitors are mostly the same size as HD monitors in inches, so I guess they're treated more like retina displays? I do a lot of graphic work, so I'd like the extra space but I'm hesitant to get a TV since my Plasma HD TV you can see the pixels and the space between them clearly when you get close enough to it, but it looks great from an average sofa sitting position distance.

I found this one on Amazon, looks like a good deal..

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00VJ5X7L4

Some folks are saying the only issue is lag, but you just have to update the firmware to get 60 hz then it's fine. But I'm kinda hesitant to buy one sight unseen...

If you try to use a TV as a monitor, you're going to have a bad time.

Also, a "retina display" has nothing to do with the resolution - it's marketing jargon, not a standard - but it ultimately it refers to pixel density. Which, fortuitously, brings us to just what the problem is with your intended use: a Imac with a 21" retina display has a native resolution of 4096×2304 - about 9.5 million pixels. Pretty nice. Your Seiki TV has 3,840 x 2,160 - about 8.2 pixels. That doesn't sound like a huge difference, just 14% less pixels. It probably wouldn't be a big deal on that 21.5" screen, but you're trying to cover an area much, much larger with less pixels. The pixels will be twice as large, you'll be able to see individual pixels and it's not going to look good, especially when you're sitting 18 inches from the screen.

My advice? Get a good monitor. I would recommend to you a nice flat Samsung, which is a mere $164 more than the TV you're looking at , and will come with a native 4k resolution and about 500% less ragrets.

Also, avoid curved screens. I got one and the curved effect is much too subtle to be worth the price premium.

If you like, I'll hook a laptop up to my TV (4K 60") to see how it looks.

I don't know the technical side of things but I tried using a TV for monitor for a while (try to make use to the TV) and it sucked despite the TV being good for its time. The display is messed up and the picture tends to be flawed (kind of like expanded).

Computer Monitors are far superior. Especially since you sit much closer to a monitor than a TV.

Thats just my experience playing around when I was buying my computer anyway.

hmm .. well my my problem now is I'm doing lots more design work at home.. I'm used to having 2 HD monitors at my day job, and I love the extra screen space, but I don't like having 2 separate monitors.. I'd rather just have one huge screen with the same kind of crispness of my HD monitor. So I just assumed twice the size and twice the resolution would be the way to go.

Maybe that TV on amazon wouldn't be good, but what about other brands? I guess when Snowpocalypse ends I can go to Best Buy and look at some up close and check out some monitors too, and then buy them online where it's cheaper

My home monitor is just 21", so maybe if I go up to 28" 4K that will be much better for me.

My PC can do HDMI2, but is Display Port better for 4k?

As of right now I don't think there is a huge advantage to displayport vs HDMI. Displayport has more bandwidth, theoretically, but it doesn't really matter, because HDMI 2.0 will already support 4K@ 60FPS no sweat and probably can support 4k@120fps as well, when it exists, which it doesn't really. So get whichever is more convenient for you as far as device outputs go.

Looking around at some other TVs... think other brands would work better? Like just this one at Best Buy has lots of reviews from folks using it as a monitor for gaming and all. It's twice as much as the tv Amazon had, but maybe it's also twice as good?