How does 1080p look on a 4K GSync display

[jfael]

Hi,

 

How does 1080p look on a 4K display ?

(I mean the image quality between a native 1080p display versus on a 4k display running at 1080p resolution)

 

I've been interested in this topic for a while now and since my monitor has recently started to show signs of it's eventual demise this will definitely be a major factor in my future monitor choice.

 

I've researched this quite a bit and the conclusion is: "it depends".

 

Please read point 8 of the post bellow for a more detailed explanation.

http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/278610-display-technology-faqmythbuster/

 

Basically it depends on how the scaler on the monitor handles the interpolation, and since we don't usually know what the scaler in a given monitor is, we have no way to know the result unless someone else has tested that specific monitor.

 

However there is one exception.

 

It's my understanding that on GSync monitors, the scaler is the actual GSync module itself.

So now we have a set of monitors that should in theory behave the same way as far as the scaler is concerned.

 

Can anyone do a side-by-side comparison of the image quality between a native 1080p monitor and a 4k GSync panel ?

(if possible the monitors should be the same size, or at least close enough, since a bigger image at the same resolution will obviously be more "blocky" since the actual pixels are larger)

 

I'm only interested in real experience, I've seen too many people talking theory and unfortunately that get's me nowhere.

(unless you actually know how the GSync module is programmed  )

 

I understand that this is a question that probably few people can actually answer, I think it's important for people in the market for a new monitor and currently don't have the horses to run games at 4k (or don't want to deal with windows scaling issues )

[Maslofski]

depends on the screen size, ive its a 24" monitor itll probably look pretty much like 1080p 24" native, but on a 28" its wouldnt look very good

[Samsterstorm]

Well i guess it will look like 1080p just a fair bit worse thats all!

[Wano97]

Just like 1080p? It depends on the size of the screen... 1080p on a 24" when the native res is 4k would still look like 1080p...

[Glenwing]

Very good point! Wish I could tell you... But yes in theory all G-SYNC monitors should handle it the same way, whatever way that is.

I'm not sure this question can be answered by anyone here, since I don't know of any 4K G-SYNC monitors that can be compared directly to a 1080p monitor the way you can compare (for example) a P2415Q to a P2414H to immediately see the 1080p on 4K is not quite the same as native 1080p. The only 4K G-SYNC monitors is the one 28" Acer I think... And there are no 28" 1080p monitors at all, let alone one with a similar panel. So just eyeballing it probably won't work unless the G-SYNC module handles it really badly and blurs things to hell

The only way I could see this being verified is through some camera equipment that would let you examine pixels up close. Then you could duplicate your image from an Acer 4K G-SYNC panel in 1080p mode to any other 1080p display and look at the pixels.

[jfael]

Very good point! Wish I could tell you... But yes in theory all G-SYNC monitors should handle it the same way, whatever way that is.

I'm not sure this question can be answered by anyone here, since I don't know of any 4K G-SYNC monitors that can be compared directly to a 1080p monitor the way you can compare (for example) a P2415Q to a P2414H to immediately see the 1080p on 4K is not quite the same as native 1080p. The only 4K G-SYNC monitors is the one 28" Acer I think... And there are no 28" 1080p monitors at all, let alone one with a similar panel. So just eyeballing it probably won't work unless the G-SYNC module handles it really badly and blurs things to hell

The only way I could see this being verified is through some camera equipment that would let you examine pixels up close. Then you could duplicate your image from an Acer 4K G-SYNC panel in 1080p mode to any other 1080p display and look at the pixels.

 

The ideal test would be to have two monitors of the same size and same panel technology, (one native 1080p and one native 4k monitor of course), set the 4k monitor to 1080p resolution and tell the OS to mirror the screens.

 

From that point try to eyeball it or take a photo up-close with a camera and compare the results.

 

Of course if eyeballing you can't see the difference I don't really care much about the up-close macro photo of the screens 

 

It all comes to whether the scaler is intelligent enough to see that it doesn't need to do any fancy interpolation on 1080p, just do the 1:4 scaling and be done with it.

(might even get less lag due to less processing  )

[Badger906]

it looks good! not as good as native 1080p on a 1080p display but it's close.

I have the Acer xb280hk 4k g sync monitor.

I've messed around with games at 1080p and 1440p.to me 1440p scales better but again isn't perfect, but it's not exactly bad looking and not noticeable unless you're being super picky.

but I just play at 4k. even with my 770 I still get very acceptable frame rates in games at 4k medium to high settings.