4k vs 1440p productivity

[Whaddup_Boosh]

Hello everybody, I am a college student who is going to taking data analytics and programming courses for the next few semesters. I recently switched from a 2014 macbook pro to a MSI GS63 stealth. Great investment, love this laptop for my schoolwork. I'm wanting to get a whole new setup to help make my homework sessions more productive and enjoyable. My current plan is to put my laptop up on a stand, have a mech keyboard and mouse, and get a monitor which will be next to my laptop. The monitor will be my main screen while my laptop is a secondary screen that can have my research pages on it. 

 

My GS63 has a GTX1060 with 6gb of ram in it, which I've read can support 4k. I know gaming at 4k is dumb because of the lower response time, but I would say 75% of this monitor's use would be for homework assignments and other things of that nature. I've heard that more resolution is better for productivity, but is there a diminishing return effect to that statement? For example: the jump from 1080p to 1440p may be massive, but the jump from 1440p to 4k isn't that much? I do plan on playing my Xbox on it (I know, pc is wayyy better for gaming but I've played console all my life) but I wouldn't factor that into my purchasing decisions unless 4k gaming on an Xbox is absolutely horrendous, but I've read from many places that it is not.

 

Now, I have a few concerns but everywhere I look talks about monitors and graphics cards and their gaming potential. I'm looking for more of a productivity setup. Can my GTX1060 support 4k for everyday use? I heard scaling is a concern for running 4k setups, I don't want extremely small text on my monitor for obvious reasons. Also, is 4k kind of pointless if I am sitting about 2 feet from my monitor? Would 1440p be a better option, since the higher response time will make things move smoother? Everywhere I look has 4k and 1440p monitors at around the same price point for similar values, is there a tradeoff for going either direction besides response time or resolution?

 

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Keep in mind, I am a college student. I'm not taking out massive loans and staying on campus, I have a place that I pay bills for. So a $1500 ultrawide 1440p monitor would be great, but I am looking to spend about $500ish dollars on it. I have been looking at this monitor, but are there any drawbacks to this type of monitor I'm not aware of? I am semi tech-literate, but not as much as I would like to be, so pleaseeee don't go into the super nitty gritty details. Last note, what the hell is an IPS panel and why do some people love it and others don't?

[WebPlayz]

7 minutes ago, Whaddup_Boosh said:

what the hell is an IPS panel and why do some people love it and others don't?

 

IPS is just better colors and viewing angles, But it is worse for gaming. TN is worse viewing angles but better for gaming. For productivity IPS would be fine 

[DakotaWebber]

I think youre confusing response time with refresh rate maybe?

6 minutes ago, Whaddup_Boosh said:

I know gaming at 4k is dumb because of the lower response time,

You want lower response times, and want higher refresh rates (when gaming)

9 minutes ago, Whaddup_Boosh said:

Can my GTX1060 support 4k for everyday use?

Yes

9 minutes ago, Whaddup_Boosh said:

Would 1440p be a better option, since the higher response time will make things move smoother?

Again I think youre confusing reponse time with refresh rate, however a normal 1440p monitor will have the same refresh rate as a normal 4k monitor, 60hz (or 60 fps if its easier to understand)

The only way youre gonna have a "smoother" experience is to go to a 144hz monitor at either 1080p or 1440p.

11 minutes ago, Whaddup_Boosh said:

the jump from 1080p to 1440p may be massive, but the jump from 1440p to 4k isn't that much?

The difference between 1440p and 4k is like the difference between 720p and 1080p, if you want productivity, and want to play games on your xbox, go 4k, since an xbox can upscale to 4k without issues

 

1440p is basically 4 720p screens aligned in a 2x2 grid, where as 4k is like 4 1080p screens aligned in a 2x2 grid, youre gettling ALOT more resolution and workable area

 

 

Scaling isnt much of a problem as you can change that easily in windows.

 

1080p is still probably one of the best sweet spots for gaming, especially since you can get better refresh rates/frames at that resolution

 

The monitor you chose would be great, however id actually look into going for a physically larger monitor maybe if you want 4k so you dont have to increase scaling

 

However ill still always stand by 3 1080p monitors

[Jurrunio]

1 hour ago, Whaddup_Boosh said:

've heard that more resolution is better for productivity, but is there a diminishing return effect to that statement?

Not really, it depends on the surface area of the monitor as well. If you're on a 27" 16:9 monitor then 1080p to 1440p's improvement will be noticeable, but not so much from 1440p to 2160p. If you're looking for 32" 16:9 though 1440p to 2160p will still be a noticeable gain (whereas 1080p are already considered as a TV which should be a few feet away from your eyes)

 

1 hour ago, Whaddup_Boosh said:

but I wouldn't factor that into my purchasing decisions unless 4k gaming on an Xbox is absolutely horrendous, but I've read from many places that it is not.

the problem with console gaming at 4K is their pitifully low frame rates. More demanding ones can't even keep 30fps and will dip to 15fps.

 

1 hour ago, Whaddup_Boosh said:

Can my GTX1060 support 4k for everyday use?

yes

 

1 hour ago, Whaddup_Boosh said:

, I don't want extremely small text on my monitor for obvious reasons.

Windows does offer text scaling, but not all applications work well with it. You will have to adjust some apps in their settings menu (though most of them let you do that).

 

1 hour ago, Whaddup_Boosh said:

4k kind of pointless if I am sitting about 2 feet from my monitor?

again, depends on the monitor size

 

1 hour ago, Whaddup_Boosh said:

Would 1440p be a better option, since the higher response time will make things move smoother?

higher refresh rates are nowhere as valuable as screen size for doing homework imo

 

response time is another thing, but for productivity all monitors are good enough. It's only in gaming that some might fall short, but then again you need a high frame rate game to notice that. Not happening with consoles.

 

1 hour ago, Whaddup_Boosh said:

I have been looking at this monitor, but are there any drawbacks to this type of monitor I'm not aware of? I am semi tech-literate, but not as much as I would like to be, so pleaseeee don't go into the super nitty gritty details. Last note, what the hell is an IPS panel and why do some people love it and others don't?

IPS panel have great color reproduction and wide viewing angles, which is especially noticeable on big screens. The disadvantage will be high price for high refresh rate models (not in your case because it's just 60Hz) and backlight bleed.

 

VA panel have good color reproduction and often cheaper than IPS without the backlight bleed. Unfortunately their viewing angles are limited (i.e. color accuracy goes to hell when you look at it from an angle, including the edges when you're directly in front of the middle of the screen) which is very noticeable on big monitors up close.

 

TN panels are the cheapest, but color reproduction and viewing angles are the worst.

[Whaddup_Boosh]

2 hours ago, Jurrunio said:

Not really, it depends on the surface area of the monitor as well. If you're on a 27" 16:9 monitor then 1080p to 1440p's improvement will be noticeable, but not so much from 1440p to 2160p. If you're looking for 32" 16:9 though 1440p to 2160p will still be a noticeable gain (whereas 1080p are already considered as a TV which should be a few feet away from your eyes)

 

the problem with console gaming at 4K is their pitifully low frame rates. More demanding ones can't even keep 30fps and will dip to 15fps.

 

yes

 

Windows does offer text scaling, but not all applications work well with it. You will have to adjust some apps in their settings menu (though most of them let you do that).

 

again, depends on the monitor size

 

higher refresh rates are nowhere as valuable as screen size for doing homework imo

 

response time is another thing, but for productivity all monitors are good enough. It's only in gaming that some might fall short, but then again you need a high frame rate game to notice that. Not happening with consoles.

 

IPS panel have great color reproduction and wide viewing angles, which is especially noticeable on big screens. The disadvantage will be high price for high refresh rate models (not in your case because it's just 60Hz) and backlight bleed.

 

VA panel have good color reproduction and often cheaper than IPS without the backlight bleed. Unfortunately their viewing angles are limited (i.e. color accuracy goes to hell when you look at it from an angle, including the edges when you're directly in front of the middle of the screen) which is very noticeable on big monitors up close.

 

TN panels are the cheapest, but color reproduction and viewing angles are the worst.

All great information, this really helps a lot, thank you so much

[boggen]

4K and text.  if the monitor is physically large, sure, you can upsize the the text.  but reducing solution can also help. i get into issues when someone shows up and they can not read the text on screen, so i have to CTRL + WHEEL mouse most of the time to zoom out/in.  and end up needing a program that lets me do it. 

 

on other hand. if for what ever reason what i am working on requires me to be a few inches +/- in either direction. text size becomes a big issue. 

 

example 40" tv screen, at 1920x1080, then lower screen directly below it 1600x900 and it is i want to say a 17".  the 17" text is down right to small to read. but when i move it up to 40" text is just right. needless to say 17" is only gets used to display stuff with buttons that i can easily see without reading the text. and i do not want to adjust text on the 17" either, i need/want the resolution to display more stuff at once, but it means i need to "really lean in" to read what is on the 17" when it comes time to. 

 

refresh rates do come up with text, running down in 30hz range is not good, 60 is better, but some monitors get ugly at 120hz at a given resolution monitor is adjusted to.  others are awesome at 120hz, or perhaps 144hz. 

 

example: some text when it gets to small, the lines of a T are just in between 2 pixels or so, and the T will vibrate between the 2 pixels per say.  (not the best example but it is what it is) there is some vibration that you might pickup on. going with a lower resolution, with generall text set to 100% can help. (some fonts get nasty when the get squashed or stretched to fill in things)

 

another example of refresh rates and response time, when you scroll text, there is almost a "fading" of the text, higher refresh rates and response times can help reduce this fading effect.  ((if you ever saw in real life, a paper comic, were a bunch of images are drawn over pages, and then person "FLIPS" the pages to make it into an animated moving image)),  the effect is along those lines.  budget TVs for example might say 2K or 4K but offer lower 30hz, and longer response time for a pixel to adjust to a different color and were issue may show up and may strain your eyes,  were a higher end with a higher fresh rate and shorter response time will more likely not be an issue.   i tend to see this effect on many laptop screens. but plugging in external monitor in effect goes away.  ((BLOODY HECK)), i have taken a dish towel and some tape and made a "hat" per say to fit over laptop monitor because it hurt my eyes vs the external monitor. just the out of sync refresh rates was enough to cause headache. 

 

microsoft OS, with microsoft office, with google browser. VLC for video and audio playback,  apps that work for me in trying to get things better.

 

with above said, 4K vs say going with a 2K monitor might be better suggested if it really comes down to a budget 4K vs a better 2K doing. 

 

 

[Whaddup_Boosh]

20 hours ago, boggen said:

4K and text.  if the monitor is physically large, sure, you can upsize the the text.  but reducing solution can also help. i get into issues when someone shows up and they can not read the text on screen, so i have to CTRL + WHEEL mouse most of the time to zoom out/in.  and end up needing a program that lets me do it. 

 

on other hand. if for what ever reason what i am working on requires me to be a few inches +/- in either direction. text size becomes a big issue. 

 

example 40" tv screen, at 1920x1080, then lower screen directly below it 1600x900 and it is i want to say a 17".  the 17" text is down right to small to read. but when i move it up to 40" text is just right. needless to say 17" is only gets used to display stuff with buttons that i can easily see without reading the text. and i do not want to adjust text on the 17" either, i need/want the resolution to display more stuff at once, but it means i need to "really lean in" to read what is on the 17" when it comes time to. 

 

refresh rates do come up with text, running down in 30hz range is not good, 60 is better, but some monitors get ugly at 120hz at a given resolution monitor is adjusted to.  others are awesome at 120hz, or perhaps 144hz. 

 

example: some text when it gets to small, the lines of a T are just in between 2 pixels or so, and the T will vibrate between the 2 pixels per say.  (not the best example but it is what it is) there is some vibration that you might pickup on. going with a lower resolution, with generall text set to 100% can help. (some fonts get nasty when the get squashed or stretched to fill in things)

 

another example of refresh rates and response time, when you scroll text, there is almost a "fading" of the text, higher refresh rates and response times can help reduce this fading effect.  ((if you ever saw in real life, a paper comic, were a bunch of images are drawn over pages, and then person "FLIPS" the pages to make it into an animated moving image)),  the effect is along those lines.  budget TVs for example might say 2K or 4K but offer lower 30hz, and longer response time for a pixel to adjust to a different color and were issue may show up and may strain your eyes,  were a higher end with a higher fresh rate and shorter response time will more likely not be an issue.   i tend to see this effect on many laptop screens. but plugging in external monitor in effect goes away.  ((BLOODY HECK)), i have taken a dish towel and some tape and made a "hat" per say to fit over laptop monitor because it hurt my eyes vs the external monitor. just the out of sync refresh rates was enough to cause headache. 

 

microsoft OS, with microsoft office, with google browser. VLC for video and audio playback,  apps that work for me in trying to get things better.

 

with above said, 4K vs say going with a 2K monitor might be better suggested if it really comes down to a budget 4K vs a better 2K doing. 

 

 

Interesting... what program do you use to dedicate zoom to CTRL + mouse wheel?

[boggen]

wordpad, is quick and simple.

word, excel, for office

chrome, for browser

VLC, for subtitles. 

windows explorer, for files (interesting enough it works for file names)

 

google office apps will handle it as well for zooming. 

 

CTRL + mouse wheel more of a works in many apps. but sometimes it just does not work or has unintended results. and you hope CTRL + Z for undo works. 

 

[Zando_]

On a large screen 4K has a ton more real estate, on anything smaller than 32" I'd go 1440p though. You'd technically have more room with 4K, but you have to scale everything up so you can still read text, so you lose that. 

 

Here's Unigine Valley running at 1440p on my 49" 4K TV: 

 

Massive difference in resolution, but it's on a giant screen with everything scaled down, giving me more usable space.