Can someone please explain the difference

[Oldaccount1234123]

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[ZetZet]

2560x1440 is 16:9

3440x1440 is 21:9 or ultrawide

2560x1080 is 21:9 or ultrawide

[Sakkura]

4K is indeed 3840x2160.

1440p is 2560x1440.

 

Neither of those are ultrawide. Nor is FullHD = 1920x1080.

 

Ultrawide is basically taking one of the above formats, which have a 16:9 aspect ratio, and increasing the horizontal resolution. So you get 2560x1080 as the ultrawide extension of 1920x1080, and 3440x1440 as the ultrawide extension of 2560x1440. I don't think anyone's done this to 4K yet, but it's probably just a matter of time.

[Sakkura]

3 minutes ago, ZetZet said:

2560x1440 is 16:9

3440x1440 is 21:9 or ultrawide

2560x1080 is 21:9 or ultrawide

Side note: The ultrawide resolutions aren't exactly 21:9, that's just an approximation to make it easily comparable to the standard 16:9 aspect ratio.

[Glenwing]

13 minutes ago, Daanish said:

Hi,

 

This might seem like quite a silly question to ask, but can someone please explain the difference between the following things - I'm not even sure if difference is the right word actually...

 

4k - I know this is 3840 x 2160

1440p - is this 2,560 x 1,440? Can you get non ultrawide 1440p displays?

Ultrawide - I know they are wide monitors, but what is their resolution? Are they all 1440p? or are they 1080p?

 

Which is best to get? 1440p, ultrawide, 144hz etc. in your personal opinion?

 

Thanks,

 

Daanish

1440p refers to 2560×1440. The "p" shorthand implies a 16:9 ratio between the horizontal and vertical size. It shouldn't be used for resolutions of different ratios (2560×1600 is not "1600p" for example). If you're talking about an ultrawide display like 3440×1440, usually people say "1440p ultrawide" to distinguish between the two.

 

Ultrawide is not a resolution, it's a very generic term which has no specifically defined meaning. Examples of resolutions that people consider to be "ultrawide" are 3440×1440 and 2560×1080. These have approximately (but not exactly) a 21:9 ratio, which is very close to the 2.4:1 ratio used in cinema.

 

None of these terms have official meanings, there actually are very few resolutions that have "official" names, most resolutions don't, leading to endless arguments about which name is the "correct" name, when the answer is really that there is no absolutely correct name for most resolutions. It's all just convention. And the conventions are, well, the things I mentioned above.

[MegaDave91]

30 minutes ago, Glenwing said:

The "p" shorthand implies a 16:9 ratio between the horizontal and vertical size.

I thought the "p" stood for progressive or does that only apply to TVs?

[soup]

42 minutes ago, Glenwing said:

The "p" shorthand implies a 16:9 ratio between the horizontal and vertical size.

Eh !  The "p" just stands for Progresive scan it says nothing about the aspect ratio.

1440i can have the same aspect ratio it's just that the "i" stands for interlaced.

 

Edit to add :-

Wikipedias take on what all(?) the resolutions are

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graphics_display_resolution

 

 

[Godlygamer23]

15 minutes ago, MegaDave91 said:

I thought the "p" stood for progressive or does that only apply to TVs?

I thought there was something wrong there.

 

I remember 480p, 480i, 1080p, and 1080i. Progressive versus interlaced. I would imagine it's the same since a TV is usually just a fancier computer monitor that uses the same tech.

[Glenwing]

23 minutes ago, MegaDave91 said:

I thought the "p" stood for progressive or does that only apply to TVs?

It does, but in context that shorthand should only be used for 16:9 resolutions. The only actual defined terms are "1080p" and "720p", all other terms like 1440p or 480p are just words that people started using. But in general the convention is that it is only used for 16:9, because otherwise what does 900p mean? 1600×900 or 1440×900? Is 1050p 1680×1050 or 1400×1050? Every term could mean an infinite number of resolutions.

 

So a resolution is not just "1080p" because it's 1080 pixels vertically and scanned progressively. That's not what 1080p means. That's where the name 1080p comes from but it means 1920×1080, the term is explicitly defined in BT.709, the HDTV standard. Only 1920×1080 is "1080p", not just any resolution with 1080 vertical pixels and progressive scan. 2048×1080 and 2560×1080 are not "1080p". The term 1440p again is not actually defined anywhere like "1080p" is, but in order to maintain consistency and general sanity, the convention is that the same distinction should be respected, only the 16:9 resolution 2560×1440 is called 1440p, not just any resolution with 1440 vertical pixels and progressive scan. Again it's not because any sort of supreme keeper of resolution names said so, it's not defined in any standard, so calling 3440×1440 "1440p" isn't "wrong" per se, but I'm just saying, the generally recognized convention is that the term 1440p is only used for 2560×1440.

[Glenwing]

55 minutes ago, soup said:

Eh !  The "p" just stands for Progresive scan it says nothing about the aspect ratio.

1440i can have the same aspect ratio it's just that the "i" stands for interlaced.

 

Edit to add :-

Wikipedias take on what all(?) the resolutions are

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graphics_display_resolution

 

It actually does say something about aspect ratio. "1080p" is a term that is defined in BT.709, it does not mean "any resolution with 1080 vertical pixels and progressive scan". Like I said, that's where the name 1080p comes from but that's not what it means. It means 1920×1080 explicitly, with a 16:9 aspect ratio, as defined in BT.709. Strictly speaking "1080p" isn't even a resolution, it's a definition for an entire video format, including resolution and aspect ratio, pixel ratio, color space, framerate, scan type, etc., but in context of course people use "1080p" as a resolution name, meaning "the resolution used in the 1080p format". And that's 1920×1080. Not 1440×1080, not 2048×1080, not 2560×1080. 

 

"1440p" on the other hand is not defined anywhere, but for consistency it should only be used to refer to 2560×1440, that is just the convention. Hence it implies a 16:9 ratio, if you say 1440p people will infer from your implication a 16:9 ratio whether you meant it or not, and therefore a resolution of 2560×1440. If I say the new MacBook has a 1440p screen, there isn't a single person here who wouldn't immediately assume I meant 2560×1440, when in fact it is 2304×1440, a 16:10 ratio. For this exact reason it is considered bad practice to use the "p" shorthand for any aspect ratio besides 16:9. Can't say it's "wrong" since there is no definition for the term at all, but... just don't do it.

51 minutes ago, Godlygamer23 said:

I thought there was something wrong there.

 

I remember 480p, 480i, 1080p, and 1080i. Progressive versus interlaced. I would imagine it's the same since a TV is usually just a fancier computer monitor that uses the same tech.

I said implied, as in "pretty much everyone will assume that's what you mean unless you specify otherwise, which will probably be longer than just typing out the full resolution", not implied as in it's an official meaning of the abbreviation.

 

It is convention, not definition. But it should still be respected, like I said, for consistency and general sanity. The industry has enough confusion already without many official definitions to point to. If there's one thing the display industry doesn't need, it's more ambiguity in names and specs. They are the supreme overlords of this already.

 

Also that particular wikipedia page is not a good source for naming conventions, since there are no official sources and it's all convention, and wikipedia relies heavily on cited sources, a lot of that is subject to opinion which conventions are the most commonly used, and the names there change constantly and are by no means based on universally agreed information. I should know, since I edit that page  There are a lot of debates about "correctness" of names. A lot.

 

EDIT: My, my, how this post grew... lol

[MegaDave91]

1 minute ago, Glenwing said:

 

I said implied, as in "pretty much everyone will assume that's what you mean", not implied as in it's an official meaning of the abbreviation.

This is how I interpreted it; that's why it confused me. 

[soup]

1 hour ago, Glenwing said:

 "1080p" is a term that is defined in BT.709,

< big snip>

 There are a lot of debates about "correctness" of names. A lot.

 

This post just goes to show that, the "BT" stands for "broadcast television" not computer monitors which I assume the OP meant.

Looks like I took imply to mean 'state' not 'suggest'. 

Still feel for the absence of doubt both figures or AR plus one figure should be quoted, do not feel that stating the 'technology' a panel uses says anything about the AR

 

[Glenwing]

14 minutes ago, soup said:

This post just goes to show that, the "BT" stands for "broadcast television" not computer monitors which I assume the OP meant.

Looks like I took imply to state not suggest. 

Still feel for the absence of doubt both figures or AR plus one figure should be quoted, do not feel that stating the 'technology' a panel uses says anything about the AR

 

Well, if TV standards don't apply when talking about monitors, then we shouldn't be using terms like "1080p" at all. That entire shorthand was started in BT.709, it was not a thing before. I am not sure I understood your post correctly though, sorry if I misinterpreted

 

What could or should is really not relevant and neither are any technical definitions to be honest... For the OP as to what 1440p means... I think he just wants to be able to join the conversation, so if people say "1440p" to him he knows what they mean, and if he says "1440p" to someone else, that he knows what he's actually saying. And the answer to that is, if you say 1440p, 99% of people will interpret that as 2560×1440, and when other people say 1440p to him, 99% of the time they mean 2560×1440, you or I just kind of have to accept that's how the situation is right now. So from a practical standpoint, for all intents and purposes 1440p means 2560×1440, and not anything else. If you're in a conversation about monitor shopping, that's the conventional usage of this term.

 

Anyway, yeah ambiguity is a huge problem in this industry... Personally I'm an advocate for just writing resolutions out in full

[soup]

4 hours ago, Glenwing said:

 Personally I'm an advocate for just writing resolutions out in full

 

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...for the absence of doubt both figures or AR plus one figure should be quoted ...