Thought I'd share my experience trying to find the right 4K monitor for my PS4 Pro, and it left me with this question - Is this technology too confusing for the common customer?
I play my games at my desk because I like to sit close to my screen. I had a 1080p monitor for my console games, and decided to upgrade to a 4K monitor mainly because of the PS4 Pro. It isn't as simple as going onto Amazon, searching for an affordable 4K monitor, and buying. I found out there are a lot of fine details that I don't remember Sony really talking about - or maybe I just dozed off during their PS4 Pro presentation which would be my fault.
PS4 Pro outputs at 4K, 60 hz refresh rate. Most 4K monitors are 4K / 30 hz refresh rate over a HDMI 1.4 connection. These monitors would restrict the PS4 Pro to only 1080p on the 4K monitor because of the limited refresh rate. So, I had to find a 4K monitor that had a 60 hz refresh rate - which is called HDMI 2.0. Thankfully, I found one that was affordable but it took some digging on Reddit to understand this market that I was entering.
In another note, Amazon sells HDMI 2.0 cables - but they didn't work with my setup. The cable literally froze my monitor when the PS4 Pro was turned off. I tried a HDMI 1.4 cable instead, and it worked beautifully.
So, at the end of the day, this 4K market can be quite confusing for someone entering it and trying to understand complex terms like HDMI 2.0 and 60 hz refresh rate. How can companies like Sony and soon-to-be Microsoft help make this 4K technology understandable for the common customer who just wants to buy a 4K monitor easily?