1440 (2k) IPS or 4k IPS?

Lazee · 18 Oct 2018 at 05:42

I am getting a 1080TI considering how bad the 2000 lineup looks with price/performance.

But now that I no longer play competitively and want to enjoy games for fun, I want to get actual bang for my buck. I want the best possible picture quality. And yes, I considered 4k as well since I'm getting a 1080TI although I'd probably get sub par framerate in the coming years. With 1440p being the best place for me to be for the time being. I think atleast, I was wondering about getting the best possible Image quality on my monitor. That would mean I would have to get a IPS, but when I look for IPS most of the ones I'm getting are AHVA, from my understanding AHVA aren't perfect and are somewhat worse than normal IPS ones. Besides that, Gsync is also a feature that is only available on a few monitors that run around 500-700 Euros.

So my question is, what am I missing. Why can't I find reasonable recommendations on the net for 1440P IPS rather than 1440p AHVA Gsync monitors

I would also be down for a 4k Monitor if it's capable of downscale to 1440p without looking blurry or get a not too great image Quality, but afaik that's not possible from a few google searches.
Considering 4k monitors seem to be priced better than some 1440p monitors for some weird reason.

Legend · 18 Oct 2018 at 11:59

You can certainly run 1440p on 4K. I have done so on mine (an XB321HK) and it's fine. I also have no issues with the quality of my AHVA IPS panel... one of the better ones I've used, although I did have to go through several before finding one without horrible glow/bleed.

The below video should give you an indication as to what you can expect when it comes to image quality. There is certainly a difference, but it's not like there's anything wrong with 1440p, and the higher frame rates it allows is undoubtedly superior to 4K at 60Hz. It will come down to personal preference at the end of the day.

A 1440p ultrawide might be a happy medium given the added immersion it provides.

foster grant · 18 Oct 2018 at 14:18

I think the 1440 and the 2160 look very much alike , maybe its my eyes but I didnt see difference enough that would make me go 4K , but as I said , could be my eyes

tyler_jrb · 18 Oct 2018 at 14:33

1440 gysnc and 120hz+ in my opinion. Higher framerates isn’t just for fps games, any game you play will feel a lot more fluid and responsive.
4k looks a bit nicer although it isn’t huge. But to me I’ve had 4k monitors and always gone back to high hz monitors as it makes more of a difference to me than high resolution does.

And if your finding yourself wanting more looks in the future you can use nvidia dsr which will bring the resolution up.

Would be best to try both first hand as it is all a matter of preference.

Legend · 18 Oct 2018 at 14:34

foster grant said:
I think the 1440 and the 2160 look very much alike , maybe its my eyes but I didnt see difference enough that would make me go 4K , but as I said , could be my eyes

Not sure if you need to be on a 4K monitor to see it, but I can see a clear difference there on mine, 4K being far sharper. Probably would follow that unless you're on a 4K monitor this won't be so evident.

I would also say G-Sync was important at 4K, which limits monitor choice somewhat. 1440p G-Sync monitors are cheaper, easier to run and will still look great. Personally, I went 4K more for productivity reasons, with the benefit of gaming now and again.

Lazee · 18 Oct 2018 at 14:37

So difficulty making a choice here.
- 4k 60hz Gsync monitor . Aren't a lot of them out there tbh.
- 1440p 144hz Gsync Monitor also aren't a lot out there.

I wish 4k 144hz was more affordable so you could atleast switch between 1440/144hz and 4k/60hz.
But that's atleast going to take a few more years

I personally feel like i need Gsync after having used it on my AOC 1080p monitor, it's a blessing.
Sad to see that Freesync isnt an option because of the GPUs I'm seeing from AMD, that would've saved up a ton of money and made my selection bigger.

Being accustomed to 144hz/240hz for a fair few generations do you think it's going to be that much of a big deal for me dropping down to 60hz just to get that image quality you'd get out of 4k?
I mean, I always have my higher hz monitor nearby to switch if I decide to play a competitive game, where graphics literally mean squat to me.

Like personally I've been playing fallout series at 60hz locked for a few weeks now and I don't seem to take it too hard?
I do wonder what it would look like on a higher res IPS monitor though.

Also, yeah I mean I won't see the differences on a 1080/1440p monitor when it has been recorded at a higher resolution. unless you record it with a camera offscreen. I wish it did though, not sure if screenshots do either. original size ussually ends up being to big for the monitor anyway if you fit it its gonna lack the pixels.

Legend · 18 Oct 2018 at 14:41

I think if you're used to 144Hz, dropping down to 60Hz might be a bit hard to stomach. You'd adapt, but you'd probably always miss the higher Hz. It varies between games though, so while in one game you might be OK with it, in another it might be more of an issue. Ultimately though, no one can answer this for you, it's entirely subjective.

There are few G-Sync 27" 1440p monitors that are within your budget.

Lazee · 18 Oct 2018 at 14:52

Honestly I think I'll just stick to a 1440p for the time being and make the jump when the 4k 144hz is more affordable. 2k is just not in my pricerange.

Biggest decision now is 1440p or Ultra Wide now I geuss, most likely Ultrawide isn't ideal because a lot of games don't really support it. But I might be wrong.

I personally was looking at a ViewSonic XG2703-GS

Though, maybe there is a better or cheaper model around that I could potential look at.
Acer had out of the box color issues, maybe that can be solved maybe it can't I'm not sure.
That and dead-pixels apparantly.

Legend · 18 Oct 2018 at 14:58

Lazee said:
Honestly I think I'll just stick to a 1440p for the time being and make the jump when the 4k 144hz is more affordable. 2k is just not in my pricerange.

Biggest decision now is 1440p or Ultra Wide now I geuss, most likely Ultrawide isn't ideal because a lot of games don't really support it. But I might be wrong.

I personally was looking at a ViewSonic XG2703-GS

Though, maybe there is a better or cheaper model around that I could potential look at.
Acer had out of the box color issues, maybe that can be solved maybe it can't I'm not sure.
That and dead-pixels apparantly.

Most games support ultrawide... you can count on one hand the number that don't.

That Viewsonic isn't a bad shout, but don't discount an ultrawide. Added immersion is very nice.

You can solve colour issues for the most part... it's uniformity and dead/stuck pixels which you can't, along with IPS glow and backlight bleed... all issues which any monitor can suffer from (well, only IPS panels suffer from that type of glow as the name suggests). Just make sure you buy from a retailer with a friendly return policy!

The Viewsonic shares a panel with the Asus, Acer and AOC monitors of the same type, although the Asus seems to be the worst for QC issues. Check out this review for more info... https://www.limscave.com/viewsonic-xg2703-gs

Lazee · 22 Oct 2018 at 10:15

Actually, I looked at it a bit further but I think if I go for UltraWide wouldn'tr I have issues getting my stream to work.
Like downscaling to 1080p is out of the question because that will look terrible most likely. and I'm not sure 720p looks as good as it can be.