Is Full HD good enough for gaming and movie watching?

I’m looking into getting a new laptop and wavering over which screen option to get. My current display is a 3K 2560*1440 and I’m worried if I downgrade I won’t enjoy the resolution. Do you find full HD too much of downgrade in resolution?

 

For a laptop screen you're probably fine with FHD, but you really want to watch your movies on a larger screen and in 4k.

 

Thanks, I think you’re right on both accounts after considering it some. I haven’t really hooked up an external monitor to a laptop before, is it particularly different from a desktop?

 

Yes, there is a difference: it tends to be a bit easier It's just a matter of figuring out the connection
Most laptops have a HDMI port, and some have mDP which might need a special cable or adapter.

 

Oh ok, so it shouldn’t be too bad. Do you have any recommendations for 3K or 4K monitors?

 

For what purpuse? For a mixturw of work and entertainment I would recommend a 43 inch 4K monitor if you have the desk space.

 

Ok, I’ll look into those to see what I can find and afford. Thanks again for all your help.

 

Np, gl. To complete the thought: for pure entertainment I would gun for a 43-50 inch OLED.

 

I agree that you'll miss the screen real estate if you go down to full HD. These days 4K screens are readily available on most mid- to high-end laptops. The 4K screens also tend to be better quality panels.
Charles

 

IMO, for activities performed on the laptop, full HD is fine. 16:10 is always better, for both productivity and so any video controls aren't overlapping the video, so prefer 1920x1200 if you can find it - but if not, 1920x1080 is okay. Unless your eyes are much better than mine, or we're talking at least a 16" laptop display, you won't notice the difference.

(Though Chaz may have a point re: better-quality panels. I'm not as well versed in that as I used to be)

That said, depending on your physical space and budget, I'd highly recommend an external monitor (for gaming) or TV (for movies). You can watch a movie on a laptop, I've done it, it works... but why would you choose to do so when you can watch it on a 55" TV from your couch? 4K for movies is overrated even at 65"; a friend of mine has a 100" projector display, and even he admits it's only just at that size that you can practically tell a difference when watching from across the room. But any TV from the past few years is going to be 4K anyway, so go with a 55"+ TV for movies. Don't feel compelled to spend extra to stream it in 4K or buy the UHD Blu-Ray, though. If it's a buck, sure; if it's twice as much, it's not going to cause you to enjoy the film twice as much.

For games, I'd lean towards a 27"-32" monitor at 2560x1440 to 4K resolution, depending on how powerful the GPU is. Given your specs and that the 1080 appears to be your old laptop, that probably means 4K given what you'd need to buy for it to be a worthwhile upgrade. You'll be able to see the detail much better than on a laptop screen, but it won't be so overwhelming at desk distance as a 40"+ display would be. If you had to have one external monitor for everything, a 43-50" OLED would be a great choice, but IMO it's kind of like getting a Ford Ranchero when the ideal would be a Mustang for fun drives, and an F-150 for heavy tasks. The Ranchero will get the job done and require less space to store, but won't be as ideal for either task.

OLEDs are great for film, and especially if you have an area that doesn't have much external light (in a basement/out in the country without light pollution), I'd recommend one for TVs. Only CRTs can compete on black levels. I'd still be a bit hesitant to use one as a main computer monitor due to burn-in concerns, but that may be improving as the technology evolves.

Connector-wise, most new laptops come with HDMI, and all TVs and most monitors support HDMI. Make sure you get a 2.0 or later cable for 4K, and if it turns out your monitor only supports DisplayPort or something, you can get adapters inexpensively at Monoprice.