1080p video on 800p laptop screen - any benefits?

[tarmiricmi]

Hello,
I'm using Thinkpad with 1200x800 screen resolution. Any benefits of running 1080p (for instance, Youtube) videos on that screen? Or it is a waste of resources/bandwidth since the display can't provide that resolution?

 

[TechyInAZ]

It actually is a benefit. When you stream a higher resolution/higher bit rate than what your monitor supports, it acts as a sort of anti aliasing making the picture look a bit better on lower res monitors.

 

[grmnlxndr]

You should compare yourself the videos to see if there is a noticeable difference. I would not use higher than 720p in your case, but mostly because of the limited bandwith.

 

[Doramius]

Most systems will auto adjust the resolution for the video to fit properly. The stream will come across higher, but your display will still only show the closest resolution available -most likely around 720p. having the higher stream is great if you ever upgrade, but if you set the files to 720p resolutions, you'll have smaller files to try and stream. smaller files tend to run more efficiently over bandwidth.

 

[bigpinkdragon286]

Agree with TechyInAZ that having a better quality stream can lead to better down sampling results when the video is finally displayed, however you can't guarantee this will be the case, as there are different techniques in place for how media is handled, and as others point out, you are necessarily using more bandwidth, but may not be gaining a benefit.

Ultimately, you should test video playback quality yourself and see if you notice a worthwhile difference to justify the extra resources being used.