Can you use 1080P display on 4K monitor?

[Waigra]

I'm deciding whether I should buy a 24inch 1080p or a 24 inch 4k monitor, budget isn't a problem but I wonder if a 4k monitor allows you to actually use normal 1080p resolution, because sometime I want to use 1080p for running a graphic intensive software that needs to preserve graphic performance and not waste its performance on 4K resolution. I just need 4k monitor for future proof and use it for movies and games.

 

[Mello]

3 minutes ago, Waigra said:

I wonder if a 4k monitor allows you to actually use normal 1080p resolution

Yes, it does. 

[Waigra]

5 minutes ago, Mello said:

 Yes, it does. 

What about freesynce Gsynce features, and 244hz. Will this reduce my Gpu performance?

[Mello]

Is g-sync/free-sync going to reduce performance? No

Will 144hz reduce performance? No

[kirashi]

9 minutes ago, Waigra said:

I'm deciding whether I should buy a 24inch 1080p or a 24 inch 4k monitor, budget isn't a problem but I wonder if a 4k monitor allows you to actually use normal 1080p resolution, because sometime I want to use 1080p for running a graphic intensive software that needs to preserve graphic performance and not waste its performance on 4K resolution. I just need 4k monitor for future proof and use it for movies and games.

You can indeed run 1080p (or any common resolution) on a 4K display, but it will not look quite as sharp as it has to upscale it. While I understand the logic behind "futureproofing", it's kind of a waste of money if you're not going to use it to its' full potential soon. If you plan on immediately getting a GPU capable of decent 4K output (of which none exist yet) then maybe buy a 4K display.

 

[kirashi]

2 minutes ago, WikiForce said:

i thought 1080 ti was decent for 4k 60fps atleast at med to high settings. What about even more powerful 2080 ti?

I'll clarify; today's GPUs are capable of running 4K at acceptable framerates, but they're a far cry from running things at 144Hz, 120Hz, or even 90Hz (Hz ~= FPS in this instance) which we used to be able to achieve at 1080p. I'm not downplaying the epicness of 4K content, but IMO we're still really not fully seeing 4K in the mainstream market because the content just isn't there yet. It's not that it can't be there - it's just that cable providers and even film studios producing TV shows today still are only just starting to film and broadcast in 4K, and most AAA games just won't run smoothly above 60FPS on high or ultra settings yet.

 

For instance, the few cable providers that have 4K capable set top boxes don't really advertise that you'll need to replace your TV if it doesn't support HDCP2.2 and HDMI 2.0a if you hope to experience any 4K HDR content, due to DRM. They could (and should) educate consumers about this, but that would result in less subscribers and thus less profit. 4K is great if you're a content creator making creative assets for clients (or for yourself) and also if you have the cash to burn on it (totally cool, it's your money, spend it on whatever makes you happy) but it's not really being explained or marketed to consumers in such a way that there is an understanding that you need every link in the chain to support 4K for it to be worth the money.