1080p vs 1440p on 15'6 laptop

markoboyo11 · 24 May 2021 at 21:12

Just wondering peoples thought on this, its been years since ive even seen a laptop screen but looking to get one soon.

I know 1440p will be better but how much in reality for gaming and general use?
Is it hardly noticeable or very obvious, 144 pixels per inch for 1080p sounds good to me and more than ive got on my 4k monitor.

I know its a very subjective question but just after peoples thoughts in general from their experience.

olliej82 · 25 May 2021 at 01:10

I haven't seen 1440p on a 15 inch laptop but I do have a 1080p 15 inch laptop and the screen looks fine to me with the added bonus of not needing so much gpu power to run games.
1440p probably does look nicer but as games get harder to run, playing them at 1080p on a 1440p screen will look worse than 1080p native.

Kohaashi · 25 May 2021 at 12:28

1440p looks great on a 15.6 inch display. But then 1080P still looks very good.

I’ve tried 4K on the same screen size and I think 1440P is perfect blend of image sharpness and gaming performance. I don’t miss the 4K display with 1440P.

If your using a RTX 3070 card or higher then you will be definitely be leaving GPU performance on the table if you use 1080P. This is because the CPU is the bottleneck at that resolution.

I’d say the 16:10 QHD+ display is the one to go for though. The extra vertical space makes a huge difference.
I have the Legion 5 Pro with 16:10 QHD+ display and my wife has last years Legion 5 with 16:9 1080P display and the biggest difference is the 16:10 aspect ratio. I would never choose to go back to 16:9 on a laptop after using 16:10.

hornetstinger · 25 May 2021 at 18:54

I've got 2550x1440p on 27".

No way I'd want higher ppi for that, I already use 125% scaling because at native at zero scaling text is tiny. I think 1920x1200 at 24" was spot on ppi.

markoboyo11 · 25 May 2021 at 21:39

Kohaashi said:
1440p looks great on a 15.6 inch display. But then 1080P still looks very good.

I’ve tried 4K on the same screen size and I think 1440P is perfect blend of image sharpness and gaming performance. I don’t miss the 4K display with 1440P.

If your using a RTX 3070 card or higher then you will be definitely be leaving GPU performance on the table if you use 1080P. This is because the CPU is the bottleneck at that resolution.

I’d say the 16:10 QHD+ display is the one to go for though. The extra vertical space makes a huge difference.
I have the Legion 5 Pro with 16:10 QHD+ display and my wife has last years Legion 5 with 16:9 1080P display and the biggest difference is the 16:10 aspect ratio. I would never choose to go back to 16:9 on a laptop after using 16:10.

This is exactly what im trying to debate really, between the legion 5 or 5 pro.
Cant decide what panel i would like between fps hit and slightly better visuals as i have no point of comparison, also not sure when i might even be able to get a pro.
The pro seems to go brighter, would you say the actual screen quality is better forgetting the resolution difference or similar?

hornetstinger · 25 May 2021 at 22:06

I would look into panel types, TN are best for gaming, but I've got Samsung va 27" monitor and it's fine but I suppose you can get bad va.

markoboyo11 said:
This is exactly what im trying to debate really, between the legion 5 or 5 pro.
Cant decide what panel i would like between fps hit and slightly better visuals as i have no point of comparison, also not sure when i might even be able to get a pro.
The pro seems to go brighter, would you say the actual screen quality is better forgetting the resolution difference or similar?

Kohaashi · 25 May 2021 at 23:29

markoboyo11 said:
This is exactly what im trying to debate really, between the legion 5 or 5 pro.
Cant decide what panel i would like between fps hit and slightly better visuals as i have no point of comparison, also not sure when i might even be able to get a pro.
The pro seems to go brighter, would you say the actual screen quality is better forgetting the resolution difference or similar?

Ive tried 8 laptops over 18 months and the Legion 5 Pro is the best of the bunch.
Everything about the display makes it ideal for both productivity and gaming. The display brightness goes up to 500nits and it’s 100% sRGB. Pair that with GSync, 165Hz refresh, 16:10 aspect ratio and QHD+ resolution, there isn’t a better panel that can do it all.

As I’ve said before, if you are getting a 3070 or up RTX card then there is no point going for a lower resolution display, you don’t need to be pushing more than 165 FPS. The CPU will be your bottleneck at 1080P.

Plus, remember, this panel has GSync so even if your frame rates drop in the future, you will still get a smooth tear-free gaming experience.

Finally, whatever you do, do not get a TN panel, this isn’t 2015 when those panels were acceptable for gaming. IPS displays have much better colours than TN and the refresh rate and response times are excellent in 2021.

markoboyo11 · 25 May 2021 at 23:36

Kohaashi said:
Ive tried 8 laptops over 18 months and the Legion 5 Pro is the best of the bunch.
Everything about the display makes it ideal for both productivity and gaming. The display brightness goes up to 500nits and it’s 100% sRGB. Pair that with GSync, 165Hz refresh, 16:10 aspect ratio and QHD+ resolution, there isn’t a better panel that can do it all.

As I’ve said before, if you are getting a 3070 or up RTX card then there is no point going for a lower resolution display, you don’t need to be pushing more than 165 FPS. The CPU will be your bottleneck at 1080P.

Plus, remember, this panel has GSync so even if your frame rates drop in the future, you will still get a smooth tear-free gaming experience.

Finally, whatever you do, do not get a TN panel, this isn’t 2015 when those panels were acceptable for gaming. IPS displays have much better colours than TN and the refresh rate and response times are excellent in 2021.

Ha ha don't worrie about TN screen, not sure what that was about.

Think you have sold me on holding back for the pro, shame I might have a long wait tho.

olliej82 · 26 May 2021 at 01:12

I would be very careful, there's no way an rtx 3070 mobile will be pushing 165fps in the majority of aaa games at ultra settings, especially not at 1440p.
1080p will 100% last longer, and 1080p non native on a 1440p screen will not look good.

markoboyo11 · 26 May 2021 at 07:34

olliej82 said:
I would be very careful, there's no way an rtx 3070 mobile will be pushing 165fps in the majority of aaa games at ultra settings, especially not at 1440p.
1080p will 100% last longer, and 1080p non native on a 1440p screen will not look good.

Yeh that was my original dilemma, I'm not bothered about 165fps but definitely want it over 60.
I got tired of constantly adjusting and refining settings on my 1080ti at 4k and couldn't really lower the resolution as I was already at 110ppi and sitting quite close.
Think I need to see myself a decent 1080p 15" inch screen in use to make my mind up.
1080p sound a low resolution to me but on that size of screen its actually got a far higher ppi than I have at 4k on my 40".

Kohaashi · 26 May 2021 at 08:02

olliej82 said:
1080p non native on a 1440p screen will not look good.

It actually looks great. I just tried it on my Legion 5 Pro.
Anyone who says otherwise is just trying to justify their purchase of a FHD display over a QHD display.
Maybe the image would be noticeable worse downscaled on a much larger display but not at 15-16inches.
(Although technically I tried 1920x1200 because my monitor is 16:10 not 16:9 so I need the extra vertical otherwise the image is stretched).

In games I’d argue you probably won’t notice the difference, but for everything outside of games QHD and QHD+ makes a much bigger difference.

If you are happy with 1080P then I’d say a 3060 is plenty because you will be CPU bottlenecked above that, wasting money on GPU performance you won’t be getting the benefit of.

Minstadave · 26 May 2021 at 08:22

I've got a 15" 1080P Lenovo and the Legion 5 Pro.

The 1080P panel is acceptable but the 16" Pro is beautiful. I dont use any scaling and the extra real estate both from the res and 16:10 format is great.

hornetstinger · 26 May 2021 at 09:35

Yeah I prefer 16:10 over 16:9 for pc use the extra height is more useful than width. It means you have to buy a much bigger screen..if I went from 24" 16:10 to 24" 16:9 I'll lose fair bit in vertical height, so need to get bigger 27" to at least match or be higher vertically

Minstadave said:
I've got a 15" 1080P Lenovo and the Legion 5 Pro.

The 1080P panel is acceptable but the 16" Pro is beautiful. I dont use any scaling and the extra real estate both from the res and 16:10 format is great.

zAndy1 · 30 May 2021 at 07:58

Is the screen res and 16:10 ratio of the pro more important than the gpu though? Is a pro rtx 3060 a better option than a non pro 3070 especially considering the pro 3060 can be bought for about £300 less? Does it ultimately come down to how often you'll be using the laptop hooked up to a 1440p monitor or 4k TV? Surely the rtx 3060 in the pro is going to struggle at that laptops native res?