What's the point of 4K?

[DannyDem]

So before a bunch of 4K users start bashing me, I'm doing this question for a specific reason and not because I think 4K is bad or anything (that would be ridiculous)

 

The reason I'm asking this is because there's a bunch of software which can supersample your resolution to 4K similiar resolutions like Nvidia's DSR for example, but today I've seen something diffrent... As you'd probably know the battlefront beta is out and I noticed in the settings you can change the resolution scaling to 200% which pretty much gives a resolution similiar to 4K (and looks really good aswell)

 

So my question is, If one can do that with a 1080p screen what's the point of paying the extra $$$ for a 4K monitor with software like this? Is the real thing that diffrent?

 

Actually considered getting a 4K monitor since 4K... well it has a lot of pixels   but questions like these are making me think twice...

[Nasty]

There essentially isn't a point, it just for bragging rights as well as better quality picture. Although you are giving up more performance for the looks.

[AresKrieger]

There essentially isn't a point, it just for bragging rights as well as better quality picture. Although you are giving up more performance for the looks.

^This

[Scruffy90]

For multimedia creation it works well because you could have a massive workspace. For everything else, I see no point.

[spwath]

Software 4k is way different than hardware 4k

[eLucid]

So before a bunch of 4K users start bashing me, I'm doing this question for a specific reason and not because I think 4K is bad or anything (that would be ridiculous)

 

The reason I'm asking this is because there's a bunch of software which can supersample your resolution to 4K similiar resolutions like Nvidia's DSR for example, but today I've seen something diffrent... As you'd probably know the battlefront beta is out and I noticed in the settings you can change the resolution scaling to 200% which pretty much gives a resolution similiar to 4K (and looks really good aswell)

 

So my question is, If one can do that with a 1080p what's the point of buying the extra $$$ for a 4K with software like this? Is real thing that diffrent?

 

Actually considered getting a 4K since 4K... well it's a lot of pixels   but questions like these are making me think twice...

 

What's the point in gaming on a pc?

[Virtual01]

epeen

[thekeemo]

Big screens that will be pixelated at 1440p

[Jwolf7722]

Adobe Lightroom/Premiere Pro. The amount of stuff you can put on a 32 inch 4k monitor eliminates the 2-3 monitor setup (This only applies to those who like one display setups). 4k games look amazing. Played some NBA2k16 and Bioshock Infinite on 4k at my local microcenter. The clarity makes 1080p look really bad and 1440p look average. 

[Praesi]

For Gaming 4k is not worth it. You loose far too much Performance.

1440p is the perfect spot.

[Glenwing]

So before a bunch of 4K users start bashing me, I'm doing this question for a specific reason and not because I think 4K is bad or anything (that would be ridiculous)

 

The reason I'm asking this is because there's a bunch of software which can supersample your resolution to 4K similiar resolutions like Nvidia's DSR for example, but today I've seen something diffrent... As you'd probably know the battlefront beta is out and I noticed in the settings you can change the resolution scaling to 200% which pretty much gives a resolution similiar to 4K (and looks really good aswell)

 

So my question is, If one can do that with a 1080p screen what's the point of paying the extra $$$ for a 4K monitor with software like this? Is the real thing that diffrent?

 

Actually considered getting a 4K monitor since 4K... well it has a lot of pixels   but questions like these are making me think twice...

 

DSR and other supersampling methods look nowhere near the quality of 4K, don't let the marketing fool you. They're just glorified anti-aliasing techniques re-packaged under a different name which games have been using for years and years. Yes many anti-aliasing techniques work by rendering things at a higher resolution internally and then downsampling, that doesn't mean "you get 4K on a 1080p screen!!!" they're just re-advertising AA with a new focus on the "higher resolution internally" part because 4K is a nice buzz word now.

[GSTARR]

So before a bunch of 4K users start bashing me, I'm doing this question for a specific reason and not because I think 4K is bad or anything (that would be ridiculous)

 

The reason I'm asking this is because there's a bunch of software which can supersample your resolution to 4K similiar resolutions like Nvidia's DSR for example, but today I've seen something diffrent... As you'd probably know the battlefront beta is out and I noticed in the settings you can change the resolution scaling to 200% which pretty much gives a resolution similiar to 4K (and looks really good aswell)

 

So my question is, If one can do that with a 1080p screen what's the point of paying the extra $$$ for a 4K monitor with software like this? Is the real thing that diffrent?

 

Actually considered getting a 4K monitor since 4K... well it has a lot of pixels   but questions like these are making me think twice...

Because there's people like me who want the very fucking best.

Budgets are non-existant as is price to performance ratios

I want the fucking best

I will get the fuckin best'

No matter what

[GSTARR]

For Gaming 4k is not worth it. You loose far too much Performance.

1440p is the perfect spot.

Not with SLI titan X's

[Lays]

Not with SLI titan X's

 

Yes because spending $2,000 on graphics cards to run 4k properly, vs spending ~500-750$ on a GPU to run 1440p properly is totally worth it lol

[GSTARR]

Yes because spending $2,000 on graphics cards to run 4k properly, vs spending ~500-750$ on a GPU to run 1440p properly is totally worth it lol

Damn right it is

Future-proofing is real and it's alive

[typographie]

So my question is, If one can do that with a 1080p screen what's the point of paying the extra $$$ for a 4K monitor with software like this? Is the real thing that diffrent?

 

A 1080p monitor doesn't suddenly start showing you 3840x2160 frames just because the video card is sending them at that size. It's being sent images that are 3840x2160, but it still only has 1,920 pixels of width and 1,080 pixels of height at the hardware level, so some interpolation has to happen somewhere. The result is that DSR ends up being more like a very powerful AA technique than anything else.

 

Assuming my understanding is correct (read: someone please correct me if I'm an idiot), each block of 4 pixels at 4K has to translate to one pixel on a 1080p monitor. The monitor can only display one color per pixel—so if the original 4 pixel block had more than one color between them, some quality is probably lost as a result.

 

Additionally, a 4K monitor allows you to use a physically larger monitor without the DPI/quality sacrifice that comes along with blowing up 1080p to 27"+.

[brighttail]

If you have the hardware to drive true 4k, and with the montiors coming out with ultrawides, 4k, 100Hz, ect ect, then 4k gaming is worthwhile IMHO.

 

I'm in the middle right now with 2 GTX 980's which will run 4k at 60hz with little issues.  Going to a monior like the new Acer/Asus 34in 100hz monitors, should still work as the upgrade of 40Hz is done mainly by the g-sync chip within the monitor.

 

Stilly there are no ultrawides 34-35 inch monitors with G-sync, IPS with 2k resolution out there.   If there were I'd take that over a 4k montior no question.  I supposed I could get the 4k and downgrade the resolution to 2k, but that is a lot of extra cash to spend just to be able to do so.