can you use 4k resolution and downscale to 1080p wihtout issue e.g. blurryness?

[Esaelias187]

hello if you had a 4k laptop and the desktop obv looked good and youtube etc.......when you played games the fps wudnt be so high...can you downscale the graphics to 1080p and play like its a 1080p monitor without blurriness?

 

[Pat Flynn]

You shouldn't have any issues with blurriness. Going from 4k to 1080p is about a 4-to-1 ratio, meaning to display one pixel at 1080p, your screen will use 4 pixels in a square. Since the pixels at 4K are microscopic, you likely won't see a difference.
Even less so on a smaller screen.

 

[RCFProd]

You shouldn't have any issues with blurriness. Going from 4k to 1080p is about a 4-to-1 ratio, meaning to display one pixel at 1080p, your screen will use 4 pixels in a square. Since the pixels at 4K are microscopic, you likely won't see a difference.
Even less so on a smaller screen.

I'm not really understanding your explanation. Why will he not see a difference at 1080p, because the pixels at 4K are microscopic? What's the relation between the two? Obviously the smaller the screen, the more of the supersampling effect you see.

Anyways, games that use a seperate downscaling option, like Battlefield 4 or GTA V will make going from 4k to 1080p look like actually 1080p. However most games don't support this and it will force you to drop your resolution in-game to 1080p, this will not look as good as a native 1080p. Will it look really blurry? I can't tell, I've not seen how it looks.

 

[rgd1101]

You shouldn't have any issues with blurriness. Going from 4k to 1080p is about a 4-to-1 ratio, meaning to display one pixel at 1080p, your screen will use 4 pixels in a square. Since the pixels at 4K are microscopic, you likely won't see a difference.
Even less so on a smaller screen.

I'm not really understanding your explanation. Why will he not see a difference at 1080p, because the pixels at 4K are microscopic? What's the relation between the two? Obviously the smaller the screen, the more of the supersampling effect you see.

Anyways, games that use a seperate downscaling option, like Battlefield 4 or GTA V will make going from 4k to 1080p look like actually 1080p. However most games don't support this and it will force you to drop your resolution in-game to 1080p, this will not look as good as a native 1080p. Will it look really blurry? I can't tell, I've not seen how it looks.

4k is 3840 × 2160
3840/2 = 1920
2160/2 = 1080

 

[RCFProd]

Look, I understand that. What I don't understand however is the argument after it.

''Since the pixels at 4K are microscopic, you likely won't see a difference.
Even less so on a smaller screen.''

 

[Suzuki@1473780084@1473780163]

Not how that works. Those that think 1080 on a 4k screen look the same live in a fairy tale.

Stop spreading that 1:4 nonsense. You Will literarally lose detail.

 

[RCFProd]

Not how that works. Those that think 1080 on a 4k screen look the same live in a fairy tale.

Stop spreading that 1:4 nonsense. You Will literarally lose detail.

Yeah.. Literally all that switching to 1080p does is fill one pixel where are supposed to be 4. Ofcourse you are going to notice a difference.

 

[Pat Flynn]

Not saying that you won't lose detail, you certainly will. I think what the original poster was asking is if they will notice any 'fuzzy' blocks like most monitors do when they display a resolution that is not 'native' to the LCD panel. For example, if you set your resolution to 1280x720 on a 1920x1080 panel, most people will notice the pixels are somewhat fuzzy around their edges. This is the panel trying to compensate for not being able to exactly produce that resolution because the ratio is not a perfect match.

You may still run into this issue as not all '4K' panels are a true 4k. However, due to the pixels on a 4K panel being microscopic, the 'fuzzy' lower resolution pixels (say, 1080p) won't be as fuzzy.

 

[RCFProd]

Not saying that you won't lose detail, you certainly will. I think what the original poster was asking is if they will notice any 'fuzzy' blocks like most monitors do when they display a resolution that is not 'native' to the LCD panel. For example, if you set your resolution to 1280x720 on a 1920x1080 panel, most people will notice the pixels are somewhat fuzzy around their edges. This is the panel trying to compensate for not being able to exactly produce that resolution because the ratio is not a perfect match.

You may still run into this issue as not all '4K' panels are a true 4k. However, due to the pixels on a 4K panel being microscopic, the 'fuzzy' lower resolution pixels (say, 1080p) won't be as fuzzy.

Ok, good to know actually.

 

[Suzuki@1473780084@1473780163]

If you don't compare two side by side, then you'll never notice. The problem is that sharpness isn't determined by the resolution, that's a myth. How many people would pick a 1080 OLED over a 4k LCD?

Another problem is the size of the screen, which we guaranteed know that OP is already losing a ton of detail on the screen, even though technically and on paper it's there. Just like looking at our arms, moving closer unveils more detail. After you factor in visual acuity and viewing distance, then we would be able to answer the question which you are trying to answer @Pat Flynn.

With that said, just like a 720p screen from across the room, compared to a 1080 across the room, they'll appear identical, provided the specs are identical as well. We know that OP is using a laptop, so the screen is very small...

can you downscale the graphics to 1080p and play like its a 1080p monitor without blurriness?

The answer is no. As soon as you lose 1:1 mapping, you will lose fine detail. Just like a 3% overscan affects the entire image, regardless if the screen and source is 1080. There is no getting around this. The only solution to this problem would be to play in a forced aspect ratio, meaning OP would have to only use 1/4th his screen when playing games.

So in order to view his game(s) properly, he would have to move closer to the screen. So, it's pointless, and should therefore buy a true 1080 screen that's bigger, and sit further away. Sitting that close to a 4k screen would increase the frequency of which you feel eye strain, and would make it overall a bad and uncomfortable experience.