Can you really see 4K?

WhereHere1 · 26 Jul 2017 at 23:18

So a while back when 4K first started coming around I read reviews saying you can't actually see the difference in 4K and full hd on monitors. I read you can't even really see a difference on 4K on screens that are 50". 4K is more noticeable on large projections.

Is this true? Can you really see a difference in the 4K detail? And how much difference? 4K probably costs about £800 at the least I'm guessing with a 4K gpu and monitor. So can you see a difference for all that money?

Tom B · 27 Jul 2017 at 01:17

It likely depends on your own perception but for me, the answer is a hefty yes.

The 50" number is likely true for TVs, which you sit further away from.

Probably the easiest thing to do to see if you'll notice is to look at a full HD laptop screen. A 15.6 inch 1080p laptop screen has a similar PPI (pixels per inch) to a 28" 4k screen.

You'll notice that the PPI gives greater sharpness. Compare a 1080p laptop screen to the defacto standard 24" 1080p monitor and you'll see the kind of difference in sharpness you'd see on a 4k screen.

From a personal perspective, I much prefer higher PPI over higher screen size. However, I spend most of my time programming, writing and dealing with text. For gaming the difference is less obvious. Having used the following displays:

24" 1080p - 91ppi
15.6" laptop 1080p - 141ppi
15.4" 2880x1800 macbook pro retina - 220ppi
28" 4k - 157ppi
23.4" 4k - 188ppi

Moving from 28" 4k to 23.4" was a huge step up and totally noticeable. At 28" you can still see the pixels and fonts look very slightly blocky. Games require 2-4xAA. At 23.4" I can't tell if AA is on or off in most games.

I can't, however, see a noticeable difference between the macbook pro and the 23.4" 4k.

YMMV of course, best thing to do is to look at some displays and decide for yourself.

Evosparki · 27 Jul 2017 at 06:35

I noticed a difference upgrading from 1080 to 1440, so 4k should be noticeable.

Specifically, I upgraded from 1920x1080 to 3440x1440. Absolutely love ultra wide, never going back to normal wide.

clubb699 · 27 Jul 2017 at 22:12

Yup I borrowed a friends 4k 28inch the weekend on a 980ti

Once he picked it up i plugged in my old 1080p, from there i went out and brought a new monitor , i am known to be tight so this says it all lol

ttaskmaster · 28 Jul 2017 at 10:56

When I was in 1080, I could go round a friend's house and spot the increased quality on his 1440.
When I went into a shop and saw 4k, the difference was staggering.

And that's without having anything for a side-by-side comparison.
So another resounding YES, you can see the difference and it's as stark as.... a Game of Thrones reference.... yeah....

evilsooty999 · 28 Jul 2017 at 11:49

Definitely. I still see the jaggies in games on my 27 inch 1440p screen, but was round at a friend's house looking at a similar sized 4K screen and everything looked much crisper due to the increased ppi.

Dicehunter · 28 Jul 2017 at 14:45

Depends on the game but 4K in some games makes a nice amount of difference, Games that use photogrammetry like Battlefront it makes almost come to life.