1440p vs 4k: Pros And Cons - Planet HiFi (2024)

1440p vs 4K Pros And Cons

In the comparison 1440p vs 4K, we can define that 4K resolution is superior to 1440p (1) as it has more pixels (6) that are the objective measure to determine the technical difference under examination (4). With that said, we define that for certain user requirements (5) 1440p is the best option when we study the relationship between the costs and benefits (3), while 4K stands as the best option for some profiles of gamers, cinema, and television streaming as it fulfills better their user requirements (2).

In this 1440p vs 4K discussion, we will describe which is the best option for each type of user, as we describe below.

The resolution of a monitor is the amount of width and height in pixels (7). A 2560×1440 (1440P) resolution means the width is 2560 pixels and the height is 1440 pixels. And a 3860×2160 (4K) resolution means 3860 pixels width and 2160 pixels height (8).

We have studied 1080p resolution in this article. The older 720p resolution was analyzed in this article, along with its upscale to 1080p.

The 1440p monitor resolution is also known asQHD, WQHD, or Quad HD, while the 4K has alternative names like UHD, Ultra HD, or 2160P. These are two of the most popular resolutions in the industry. Where 4K is one of the latest resolution standards, the upgraded version is also introduced which is named8K.

Pros Of 4K

More Screen Real Estate

4k pros: The screen real estate: the screen real estate is four times the amount of pixels than 1080p.

1080p and 1440p are the resolutions most widely adopted by everyone these days whether it be on TVs (for example, the Pioneer Kuro) or monitors for games. These resolutions yield great performance while looking decent.

If you thought that 1080p was sharp and plentiful, 4k is a fantastic experience to get into. If you are an editor or designer, screen real estate makes a big difference when it comes to workflow. You can fit much more on the screen, and you can multitask more efficiently.

This applies to users in all areas: YouTubers, office workers, and designers. 4k makes everything run smoother for you I guess. You could say it is a better user experience.

Cons of 4K

However, despite all the positives of 4K, We have to analyze in detail many aspects.

Scaling Issues With Legacy Apps

1080p monitors at 24 inches have a great pixel density and it’s only slightly less than a 1440p monitor at 27 inches.

Why is that important? Well, when you are scaling one window to the next, it doesn’t really cause any issues when you go from 27 to 24 inches from the 1440p to 1080p.

However when you have a monitor that’s 27 inches and you go from 1080p to 1440p, and then to 4k you are creating a ton of issues in your pixel density and it is going to look visually bad on Windows 11, especially with legacy applications that do not support the updated scaling standards.

If you want to have a 4k resolution monitor, you want it to be at least 32 inches pixel density. These values, make text completely unreadable without scaling a lot, with many other things such as icons and even entire webpages that are rendered unusable.

Even on my 40-inch display, I’ve had to set the scaling to 150% for it to be usable, and this just does not work for applications with a lot of programs. Even games still will not scale, making menus and tasks pretty hard to utilize when we are trying to determine what you are clicking.

There is an issue with pixels per inch (PPI), and whereas Windows 11 does such a good job of scaling, all the legacy apps on Windows do a terrible job of scaling. So it created a lot of issues from one program to the next and from one monitor to the next.

1440p vs 4K For Gaming

In 4K, screen real estate is great which makes it fantastic for editing and work tasks if you’re going to be doing it for those reasons 4k is worth it to you but who else would 4k appeal to? In 4k gaming of course.

At a glance, we can say that 4K is the best resolution for gaming. However, you will depend on very strong hardware (large monitor, strong graphics card, strong CPU, and high refresh rates) to withstand the requirements of gaming in 4K.

If you get a 4k display and you have intended to gaming on it you’re in for a real treat because 4k gaming is great as we already mentioned before you have to get a display that is big enough to reap the benefits of 4k gaming on a 40-inch display sitting close to it I can see the benefits and they are clear.

To drive that fidelity, you need to have at least a GTX 1070. Something easy to reach today.

A gamer will need 60 FPS at a minimum. It can be fine with 30 FPS for an occasional player. Anyway, if you have decided to utilize a 4K monitor, you would not want your PC gaming experience to be limited to 30 FPS, no matter how good the visuals are.

So here is where we can see the shortcomings of the 4K standout. You also need a capable GPU. Otherwise, be prepared to lose interest in modern titles as you will not be able to run them on your 4K TV or monitor.

So if you want to edit and design efficiently and do work for the office, while also having access to a good gaming experience, then 1440p is the way to go.

Everyone preaches about 4K being the ultimate gaming experience, but I’m still sitting here wondering why this is: 4K is not widely supported and is still hard to run. There is not a huge amount of difference between 4k and 1440p anyway, even with a larger screen, but above all, 1440p is a much better gaming experience all around.

I’m almost sure all gamers, and also occasional gamers, (the readers of this blog are mostly audiophiles and not gamers), will prefer over a hundred FPS at 1440p, an already high resolution, to 60 FPS at 4k.

Cases Where 4K Resolution Is Clearly The Best Option

Nevertheless, I can definitely recommend a 4k display over a 1440p in a few scenarios. One of those scenarios entails if you have a 4k gaming console if you want to watch 4k blu-ray or stream from sites such as Netflix or Amazon in 4k.

If you are in the United States or in the European Union and can watch 4k TV channels if you already have a 1440p 144 Hertz setup or more Hertz, or if you’re doing primarily work tasks like photo editing, 3d animation video, editing large Excel spreadsheets, etc. Apart from that, it’s not worth requiring a 4k resolution.

Conclusions: 1440p vs 4K: Which Is Better For You?

1440p is a better resolution rate overall. You can run games easier on it, it still looks fantastic without having to get a huge TV that will occupy a large footprint in your desk, it’s still functional for editing and supports higher refresh rates.

Prices of 1440p displays are dropping very quickly now making them increasingly inexpensive. They are better for gaming due to them usually having a much faster response time and lower input latency, which is one of the most important things in competitive driven casual play.

These screen resolutions offer good graphics and efficient working abilities, but you need to consider the budget. When talking about gaming, then it becomes essential to consider a screen resolution that is important. It is because the resolution will not just affect the gameplay but would also play a significant role in selecting a perfect solution for PC.

If you use low range PCsprimary graphics cards then you can select the 1080p monitors with the 60FPS rate. For users having mid-range deviceswith slightly enhanced versions of graphics, the 1080p combined with 120 to 144Hz monitor will be an ideal choice. Also, you can select the 1440p monitors or 4k displays, but they need a huge task to blend with the frame rate capacity of the screen.

1440P is referred to as Quad HD due to the four times more resolution than a 1280×720 HD resolution. While using a 27” monitor with a 1440P resolution, you will get an increased refresh rate as well as a perfect resolution for gaming. It is a more popular version today, as it is available at affordable prices for the consumers while providing powerful hardware. If you got the new RX480 graphics card from AMD, then you will even get virtual reality support in your display! If your monitor has a refresh rate of 60Hz, then 1440P will be an ideal resolution for you.