How high can a resolution go before the human eye cannot distinguish?

[Simon Kemper]

I noticed at one point 1920x1080 was the highest gaming resolution and was very good quality. Now I see it has progressed to something like 4k.

I am curious if there is a specific resolution at which point the human eye cannot distinguish the increase in definition?

This is perhaps a question for scientific theory. Perhaps something like this would be difficult to determine a real answer.

However, from your own experience. Do you think if the monitors moved to something like 18k, do you think you could see a visible difference in quality from 4k?

If so, how high would it go before you can no longer distinguish definition difference?

 

[Dunlop0078]

The point where you cant see any pixels. This will depend on a lot of things, resolution, your eyes, the size of the screen, and how close you are to the screen. My phone for example has a 2960x1440 screen that is 5.8inches, I can press my face up to the screen and still cant distinguish any pixels, I would need a magnifying glass to see them.

So for example if you had a 21in screen at 4k and 18k I doubt they would be very distinguishable from one another, besides the fact that 18k wouldn't scale with anything, Barring that I think they would look similar. If you had a 100in 18k screen versus a 100in 4k screen that is a different story.

 

[ehmkec]

I'd try this... Create a graphic that is all black with the exception of one white pixel on your monitor. Now keep backing up until it disappears from your vision. Now try it with a black pixel on white. That gives you something to compare to others given the same equipment.

Your question is also very dependent on how far from the screen you are and the screen size. If you were 50 feet from a 5 foot wide 18K screen the picture sucks. But if if were a 50 foot wide screen then it would look great.

Too many variables - not to mention a person's own vision.

 

[Illias Illtempered]

Dunlopp0078 pretty much summed it up. Some situations it is more obvious and I think with darker settings and darker backgrounds the pixilation becomes more discernable. Along the scientific theory discussion there are nerve connections in the human body (besides the "visual eye") that also analyze images without any visual interaction (e.g. blind people can recognize peoples moods from facial expressions even though they cannot see) and to what degree these might benefit from resolution I could not begin to guess.

 

[Glenwing]

There is no specific resolution, because it also depends on the size of the monitor and the distance from the monitor.