720p vs 1080p vs 1440p vs 4K vs 8K – Which Should I Choose?
Many would say that the higher the resolution the better since you get more pixels and if you get more pixels, the better the image quality you will experience. You will see more precise and vivid details additional screen real estate.
Though this is often what many would think, there are also a lot of advantages and benefits in having a lower resolution display. It is less demanding to drive, you could have higher frame rates and they also offer smoother performance.
If you are going to use a display monitor for everyday use such as web surfing, working on spreadsheets and the like, you could use cheaper graphics card ($100 for AMD RX550) and still get a smooth performance desktop use. However, if you will use a monitor for gaming purposes, you will need to take into consideration a lot of things. Through this article, we shall provide you more information and details about this.
What is Screen Resolution?
Screen resolution is one of the most essential factor in choosing a monitor. Resolution in layman’s term is the number of pixels in terms of width and height. An example of this is 1920 x 1080 resolution. This means that the width comes with 1920 pixels while the height has 1080 pixels. Overall total, it has 1920 * 1080= 2073600 pixels. Here are some of the most popular resolutions:
- 1280×720 (HD, 720p)
- 1920×1080 (FHD, Full HD, 1080p)
- 2560×1440 (QHD, WQHD, Quad HD, 1440p)
- 3840×2160 (UHD, Ultra HD, 4K, 2160p)
- 7680×4320 (8K Ultra HD, 8K, 4320p)
There are also some ultra-wide resolutions which comes with a 21:9 aspect ratio which is way different from the standard 16:9 (2560×1080 UltraWide Full HD), 3440x 1440 (UltraWide Quad HD) and 3840×1600 (UltraWide Quad HD+). Aside from that there are also resolutions that comes with feature of 16:10 or 21:10 aspect ratio for extra vertical screen space. These are 1920×1200, 2560×1600, 2440×1600.
8K monitors are now available, however, they are quite costly.
Screen Size and Pixel Density
Another factor you will need to consider is the new display between screen size and resolution. This is what you call pixel density or in simpler terms – pixels per inch. The 1080p resolution will be seen differently on 24-inch monitor than on 27-inch monitor. Take in mind that the smaller
the screen the more pixels per inch there will be. In other words, the display will be clearer and be more vibrant.
Low pixel density will show items smaller or tinier. The icons will appear pixelated. However, if the pixel density is high, everything will appear small but you will be able to scale the interface. Hence, you will be able to see a more detailed picture.
Screen Resolution for Gaming
Playing video games does not always mean picture quality. There are some players that would sacrifice image quality for performance. Hence, competitive gamers would often check and choose higher refresh rate compared to the standard 144Hz, 200Hz or 240Hz. The higher the refresh rate the frame rates become faster as well. This will provide a smoother gameplay.
The higher the framerate the more demanding your CPU/GPU would require which is why most gamers would choose 1080p 144Hz gaming monitors instead of getting a 1440p and 60Hz monitor.
Though that is the case, choose which is better would all boil down to your personal preference. Would you choose a better image quality? Then, get a higher resolution display monitor. However, if you love fast-paced competitive games, we recommend a monitor that has a higher refresh rate.
