Are 4k monitors worth it?

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g335

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Hello

Are 4K monitors worth it?

I will use my pc for some gaming, graphic design, 3D design and rendering, movie making and music production.

I am going to buy a 1440p IPS monitor from Asus.

But I am curious about 1440P IPS monitors
 
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4k gaming is not ment for a single GPU. You're supposed to run two GPU's in SLI or Crossfire for any semi-modern/modern titles. And... Monitor scalers are horrible in comparison to a TV. 4k is ment for cinema screens. You don't need a 4k display, the only benefit is more real estate. People who claim it looks better than 1440 on a typical PC monitor, meaning 23.6"-27", are just wrong (in my opinion). The difference is the premium you pay for the better panels, meaning contrast, color, color saturation, etc. You're nearly at what's called the retina pixel density at 1920x1080 from around 3 feet on a 23.6" display.

Now at a resolution of 2560x1440 from the same distance (3 feet), you're already way above the retina pixel density, meaning...
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I don't personally have a 4k monitor myself, but i have heard that the graphics and quality on games are amazing compared to other monitors that you are used to, such as ones that are not 4k, if you have the money to get one, then go for it. but be aware they are pretty expensive.

If you want to game with a 4K monitor then you need to be aware that some games will need a good PC to be able to run them in 4K with high FPS,

I am also running on 2 1080p Monitors and they are perfectly fine for me at the moment, i wouldn't want to upgrade, unless something happened to them, or they stopped working then i would possibly think about upgrading, but i don't think i would upgrade to a 4K monitor.
 
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you do know that 1440 monitors are not 4k right?

also, depends on if you have a graphics card that can even power the 4k monitor smoothly. and also if its worth it to you. im perfectly content on 1080. my dad still has a standard defition TV in his bedroom, and other people wont stop till they have 8k phones 😛

go to bestbuy and take a look at the monitors and see if you like it
 
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Checking in the store is always a great option.

It takes quite a bit or horsepower to run 4k for games.

Most if not all 4k monitors can do 4 pixel upscaling of 1080p avoiding the blurring(4 pixels would be used for every 1080 pixel) of running a a different resolution.

For video and photo editing it may be nice to have more room for tools and even input/output video windows(but this can also be done on dual screen or ultra widescreen setups).

I personally do not have much interest in 4k or ultra HD outside of videos because the Internet is certainly not 4k ready since most websites do not even fill a 1920 x 1080 screen(this website is only about 1410pixels wide). This leads to using scaling or zoom. Some sites scale well(vector images and a good content system) while others do not(raster images that are not big enough and get blurry).

This website adjusts to resolutions fairly well(The main logo is a vector type image so it scales well). User avatars do not and all the text clearly will scale perfect on almost any website.

Since you list 2560 x 1440 here are some examples of a site that takes advantage

These images are very compressed, bit is more to give an idea of monitor space use. Multiple programs work great on high resolution screens. Remember more pixels in the same size are smaller pixels so for 4k I recommend getting a larger screen. 2560 x 1440(1440p) is good for most users at 27-32 inches. but each user is different.

It was at 110%, my bad either way it has so much info it can use higher resolution screens with less scrolling
2ex3gxl.jpg


Here is something that does not at all.
14buj41.jpg


This is this forum
2s98475.jpg


Anandtech
zxtg83.jpg


Overclock.net
1z18z1j.jpg


Here are some scaled images(150%)
e5ky91.jpg


We scale pretty good :)
2czy52p.jpg


5dl99h.jpg

2utg23b.jpg


I can get you some better crops to show you how the scaling looks on images. just ask.
 
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It depends on how much gaming you do and what titles you play. A card around the capability of a GTX 970 should run the majority of the most played steam games at 4K (based on steam stats for games by player count). This does not include about 8-12 titles (GTA V, Witcher 3, Tomb Raider, etc..) that require more GPU power at that resolution. If you play source games and older, less demanding titles you should be fine with 4K.

That said, a 24"-32" 4K display is just not worth it in my opinion. A 1440P panel in this range will be much less demanding and should satisfy your needs. 4K benefits of high resolution for graphic design are great but UI scaling can be lackluster in 4K. Though the option to have have full size 1080p pictures/video side by side for editing purposes does present an advantage over lesser PPI displays, likely not a large one.
 
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Ok so websites will be kind of small.


 
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You can make your browser scale all webpages and the OS can apply scaling.

Text that is not images will actually look very good with the extra pixel density.

It is a simple fact that if the website at 100% 1400 pixels wide on a 2560 pixel wide screen you will have 580 pixels of nothing on each side.

This is the reason why higher resolution screens are sold with multitasking in mind. I only have my browser showing about 1370 pixels wide and have the extra 550 for my music player. I also often use multiple explorer windows but even then 1920 x 1080 or 1200 works for me.

I am in no way putting off the idea of 4k or 1440p screens and with good scaling they can actually make things look sharper. I think larger screens with high resolutions will be a better bet since most computer programs are still made for a lower resolution.

Windows scaling works very well with some programs(nice and sharp) and not so well with others(blurry).
 
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Thanks, the info in this thread has help a lot.

Hmm, 4K seems nice but I wonder maybe 1440p might be best for now. The only decent IPS 4K monitors I can find with out being expensive is one by Acer and the other by Dell but this is still 700-800 dollars compared to 400 dollars for the Asus IPS 1440p I am thinking about buying.

But maybe 4K will be good because lots of screen space with one monitor. I wish Asus had a IPS 4K monitor.
 
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4k gaming is not ment for a single GPU. You're supposed to run two GPU's in SLI or Crossfire for any semi-modern/modern titles. And... Monitor scalers are horrible in comparison to a TV. 4k is ment for cinema screens. You don't need a 4k display, the only benefit is more real estate. People who claim it looks better than 1440 on a typical PC monitor, meaning 23.6"-27", are just wrong (in my opinion). The difference is the premium you pay for the better panels, meaning contrast, color, color saturation, etc. You're nearly at what's called the retina pixel density at 1920x1080 from around 3 feet on a 23.6" display.

Now at a resolution of 2560x1440 from the same distance (3 feet), you're already way above the retina pixel density, meaning you can't make out any of the pixel structure (also known as the SDE) on a 27" display - slightly bigger than a 23.6. Buy what you need, and don't worry about 4k. Believe it or not, resolution is the least important spec in a monitor, after 1920x1080 got mainstream. The only reason 4k is popular or is going to be, is because manufacturers are pushing the 1920x1080 out of the way.

In a typical living room evironment, people are already far above retina pixel density on a 768p TV. People won't benefit from it (majority of us). I agree with spagalicious, 4k is not for anything below 32", infront of you on a desk. Don't get me wrong, the benefits of 4k even on smaller displays can be pretty great, if you scale. But you shouldn't have to do that when buying a new display, just plug it in and go.

Retina pixel density is a thing invented by Apple, but I'm using it for the sake of simplicity.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retina_Display

All the best!
 
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I hope VA panels(AH-VA is an IPS variation so not an actual VA panel) get faster. High contrast and deeper blacks all with no glow.

The most noticeable upgrade I ever notices was from an already very good TN panel(I tested everything in the store before picking it) to a 1920 x 1200 VA panel. Things looked so good, but the panel was slow.

I still use it to this day and am surprised that outside of overshoot(that seems to be more common now anyway) holds its own very well for a 7 year old monitor.
 
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