[SOLVED] can u lower the resolution of a 1080p monitor to 720p? and if so, will it be as good as a natively 720p monitor?

[PouyAwW]

since i don't have a really powerful gpu i can't play all modern games 1080p so usually i have to lower the in-game resolution for better fps and since a 720p resolution game will look better on a natively 720p monitor, i wanna know if i can buy a 1080p monitor and then lower the monitor resolution.tnx

 

[Budge414]

Kind of speculating here, but I believe the loss of image quality when using resolutions below the monitors native resolution are simply due to pixel density on the panel itself. I'm not sure changing the native resolution in Windows (or even via monitor settings) will make any difference in quality compared to changing it in-game as you've been doing.
Why not put your cash towards a better GPU instead of a monitor? What hardware are you working with currently and what do you have to spend?

 

[Glenwing]

Yes, you can change the resolution. It won't look as a good as a native 720p monitor, it will be somewhat blurrier.

 

[PouyAwW]

Kind of speculating here, but I believe the loss of image quality when using resolutions below the monitors native resolution are simply due to pixel density on the panel itself. I'm not sure changing the native resolution in Windows (or even via monitor settings) will make any difference in quality compared to changing it in-game as you've been doing.
Why not put your cash towards a better GPU instead of a monitor? What hardware are you working with currently and what do you have to spend?

I don't have a gpu i have the amd ryzen 3 3200g apu instead and it gives me 50-60fps on almost all games (after lowering the resolution to 720p and sometimes i even play 1080p still with good fps but not all games ) and i don't have any problem with it and That's why i'm not planning to buy a gpu. And i don't think if i can still find a native 720p monitor anywhere. Also, i have a monitor with the maximum resolution of 1280x1024 right now.

 

[PouyAwW]

Yes, you can change the resolution. It won't look as a good as a native 720p monitor, it will be somewhat blurrier.

Why ? I mean the game is running at 720p like the monitor after we lowered the resolution. Why shouldn't it look good ?

 

[Budge414]

I don't have a gpu i have the amd ryzen 3 3200g apu instead and it gives me 50-60fps on almost all games (after lowering the resolution to 720p and sometimes i even play 1080p still with good fps but not all games ) and i don't have any problem with it and That's why i'm not planning to buy a gpu. And i don't think if i can still find a native 720p monitor anywhere. Also, i have a monitor with the maximum resolution of 1280x1024 right now.

No problem. You can definitely lower the resolution to 720p on a 1080p screen if you buy one. There may also be 1600x900 monitors still available which is a good compromise between them if you want 720p but can't find one. For a 1080p monitor I recommend looking for something 22inch which has better pixel density as opposed to 24inch or above, as it will give you a clearer image at 720p. Just change the resolution to 720p per-game in the game's settings and leave the desktop at 1080p for best results.

Why ? I mean the game is running at 720p like the monitor after we lowered the resolution. Why shouldn't it look good ?

What Glenwing is referring to is just a natural occurrence of using a resolution different to native. I believe this is because of the actual pixel layout of the manufactured screen, but I'm not 100% sure on that. For example; a native 1080p screen will show 1080p better than a 1440p monitor reduced to 1080p. You'll notice this mainly on the desktop. It's less noticable when in-game but will still not present as well as the native resolution will.

I hope this helps!

 

[PouyAwW]

No problem. You can definitely lower the resolution to 720p on a 1080p screen if you buy one. There may also be 1600x900 monitors still available which is a good compromise between them if you want 720p but can't find one. For a 1080p monitor I recommend looking for something 22inch which has better pixel density as opposed to 24inch or above, as it will give you a clearer image at 720p. Just change the resolution to 720p per-game in the game's settings and leave the desktop at 1080p for best results.


What Glenwing is referring to is just a natural occurrence of using a resolution different to native. I believe this is because of the actual pixel layout of the manufactured screen, but I'm not 100% sure on that. For example; a native 1080p screen will show 1080p better than a 1440p monitor reduced to 1080p. You'll notice this mainly on the desktop. It's less noticable when in-game but will still not present as well as the native resolution will.

I hope this helps!

Tnx man u really helped. just one more thing. i found two monitors one of them is 1600x900 and the other is 1366x768. which one do u think should i buy to get the best quality and fps and performance since i play like half of the games on 720p and some others on 1080p, or should i just buy a 1080p monitor ? or just keep my current monitor and play since its 1280x1024 which is better than 720p i think or it isn't ? tnx

 

[Budge414]

Tnx man u really helped. just one more thing. i found two monitors one of them is 1600x900 and the other is 1366x768. which one do u think should i buy to get the best quality and fps and performance since i play like half of the games on 720p and some others on 1080p, or should i just buy a 1080p monitor ? or just keep my current monitor and play since its 1280x1024 which is better than 720p i think or it isn't ? tnx

Well technically, yes.
You could say your current 1280x1024 resolution is better because it has more total pixels than either 1280x720 or 1366x768. It's also only slightly less than the total pixels in 1600x900.

If saving money is really important here, the 1600x900 is going to give you very similar FPS to what you get with your current 1280x1024. The only advantage is the slightly extra width in gaming with the 16:9 aspect ratio, which is standard these days.
Going for 1080p, however, is going to feel much more like an upgrade and will give you more versatility in the future. You can experiment between 720p, 900p and 1080p at will for the best mix of clarity/FPS, depending on the game. If you do choose to buy a discrete GPU later, you may not need to upgrade your monitor a second time if you're happy with it as is.

On a budget I would always consider the option of a used monitor! This might net you a better monitor for the same price as a new one. I'm not sure how tight your budget is and used isn't everyone's thing, though.

What are the monitor choices and what are the differences in pricing? It will be easier to help that way. Links and your budget will be best, if you have them.

 

[SkyNetRising]

Why ? I mean the game is running at 720p like the monitor after we lowered the resolution. Why shouldn't it look good ?

For clear/sharp image each pixel on screen (virtual pixel) must match physical pixel on monitor.
With non native resolutions there will be more physical pixels than virtual. This means - multiple physical pixels have to approximate one virtual pixel. This causes color bleeding to neighboring physical pixels. Resulting image is not so sharp anymore.

There are some exceptions though. For example 4k screen can display 1080p and 720p image really well.
In 1080p resolution each virtual pixel becomes 2x2 physical pixels.
In 720p resolution each virtual pixel becomes 3x3 physical pixels.
Resulting image remains clear/sharp and there is no color bleeding to neighboring pixels.

Same thing for 1440p screen. It can display 720p image really well too - without any loss of sharpness
(one virtual becomes 2x2 physical).

So, if you want to play in 720p and use higher resolution screen, then choose 1440p or 4k screen instead of 1080p.

 

[PouyAwW]

For clear/sharp image each pixel on screen (virtual pixel) must match physical pixel on monitor.
With non native resolutions there will be more physical pixels than virtual. This means - multiple physical pixels have to approximate one virtual pixel. This causes color bleeding to neighboring physical pixels. Resulting image is not so sharp anymore.

There are some exceptions though. For example 4k screen can display 1080p and 720p image really well.
In 1080p resolution each virtual pixel becomes 2x2 physical pixels.
In 720p resolution each virtual pixel becomes 3x3 physical pixels.
Resulting image remains clear/sharp and there is no color bleeding to neighboring pixels.

Same thing for 1440p screen. It can display 720p image really well too - without any loss of sharpness
(one virtual becomes 2x2 physical).

So, if you want to play in 720p and use higher resolution screen, then choose 1440p or 4k screen instead of 1080p.

Tnx that was a pretty good explanation but 4k-1440p screens are really expensive

 

[PouyAwW]

Well technically, yes.
You could say your current 1280x1024 resolution is better because it has more total pixels than either 1280x720 or 1366x768. It's also only slightly less than the total pixels in 1600x900.

If saving money is really important here, the 1600x900 is going to give you very similar FPS to what you get with your current 1280x1024. The only advantage is the slightly extra width in gaming with the 16:9 aspect ratio, which is standard these days.
Going for 1080p, however, is going to feel much more like an upgrade and will give you more versatility in the future. You can experiment between 720p, 900p and 1080p at will for the best mix of clarity/FPS, depending on the game. If you do choose to buy a discrete GPU later, you may not need to upgrade your monitor a second time if you're happy with it as is.

On a budget I would always consider the option of a used monitor! This might net you a better monitor for the same price as a new one. I'm not sure how tight your budget is and used isn't everyone's thing, though.

What are the monitor choices and what are the differences in pricing? It will be easier to help that way. Links and your budget will be best, if you have them.

money and budget isn't really the matter but i think i made my decision i'm gonna go with the 1366x768 (since i play most of the games 720p) the monitor is an LG 20M39A-TN-D-SUB Monitor 19.5 Inch . because i don't think i'm going to buy a gpu anytime soon and even if i do, it will be ok to play 1080p games on 720p monitor and i think i well get even sharper images on it than 1080p actually! +the 1080p monitor price is like 25-26$ more than the 720p monitor which is pretty cheap and the ones with 1440-1600x900 resolution are even cheaper. tnx

 

[Budge414]

money and budget isn't really the matter but i think i made my decision i'm gonna go with the 1366x768 (since i play most of the games 720p) the monitor is an LG 20M39A-TN-D-SUB Monitor 19.5 Inch . because i don't think i'm going to buy a gpu anytime soon and even if i do, it will be ok to play 1080p games on 720p monitor and i think i well get even sharper images on it than 1080p actually! +the 1080p monitor price is like 25-26$ more than the 720p monitor which is pretty cheap and the ones with 1440-1600x900 resolution are even cheaper. tnx

No problem.
Scaling upwards though you're most likely going to have to use Virtual Super Resolution to enable 1080p as an in-game option from the AMD control panel, or use an in-game resolution scale slider beyond 100%. Unless there's another way that I'm not aware of.

 

[PouyAwW]

No problem.
Scaling upwards though you're most likely going to have to use Virtual Super Resolution to enable 1080p as an in-game option from the AMD control panel, or use an in-game resolution scale slider beyond 100%. Unless there's another way that I'm not aware of.

Yeah That's a good idea. Tnx for all your help