Using a 4K display at 1080p/1440p all the time

I've been thinking about getting a 4K monitor but none of the hardware I'd be using with it is capable of 4K/60 (I refuse to do 30 Hz). Would there be any major issues with running the display at 1080p and/or 1440p all the time until I eventually upgrade to hardware that supports the maximum resolution?

 

Everything will look ab it blurry/fuzzy when not running on the native screen resolution. It would appear the same way as if you had installed Windows without a graphics card driver, utter garbage to look at.

 

In game 1080p looks great. On the desktop 1080p doesn't look too good. So if you have hardware that can do 4k @ 60hz but just can't play games at 4k @ 60fps right now then you'll be fine. But if you want to use it at 1080p even on the desktop, it's usable but doesn't look as sharp.

I'm using 1080p right now on my 4k display because I'm using a temporary R9 270 GPU until I get my next GPU.

 

I'm guessing 1080p looks just the same as a 1080p screen.
Because 4K is 4 times 1080p it's easy! Every square of four little pixels act as one big 1080p pixel. So you are not losing quality in theory.

1440p or any other resolutions aren't so clear. Because instead of having 4 pixels acting as a square (number of pixels on a 1080p screen * 4 = number of pixels in 4K screen) you'll have 5 or 6 pixels trying to act as one, and that translates in blurry image.

 

But it doesn't look like that in actuality, which is why people in this thread are saying it's blurry, and why threads like this exist.

 

You can run any resolution on the ancient CRT monitors, how I miss that kind of flexibility. When we are talking about LCDs, if you run them in any other resolution other than the native resolution they were designed to be run at, you are really just looking at one ugly screen as if someone put a plastic film on it

 

1080p looks better than 2560x1440 on a 4k display, at least on all the ones I've seen.

1080p will not be as sharp on a 4k display as it would be on a native 1080p panel, but it looks decent. It's not as bad as changing the resolution on a different display to a lower res.

 

I think that is 27" model, could be 28". To me it was borderline usable at 4K. For that user 1080p resolution was set and it looked just fine.
Personally I'd take a larger display if I had to use 4K. At least I'd want to use it at 100% scale to make use of the resolution

 

IMHO, the minimum screen size for 4K is a 34" screen. 4K on any laptop is a joke

just my 2 cents worth, take it or leave it

 

I'll let you know how 4k is once I get my laptop

 

I can tell you 4k is not that great on a laptop LCD. For desktop you have to scale 2x so effectively it's 1080p but not as crisp. If you run at 4k everything is so damn small you need to have Superman vision. It draws more power, and wouldn't recommend running higher than 1080p for any game anyhow since performance is in the tank.

They (whoever 'they' is) need to offer 2.5k (2560x1440) resolution displays at 120Hz. Stop with this 4k nonsense, especially on Windows laptops, because display scaling sucks.

 

Couldn't have said it better. When I look at my friend's Lenovo Yoga laptop with a 4K screen on a 15.6" screen it makes me wanna throw up! 4K on any laptop even if it was 18.4" is just so wrong! I wish I could shoot whoever made this an option for laptops even! The minimum screen size for 4K to be able to see things without resorting to the crappy scaling of Windows is 34" and above.

what next? 13" laptops with 4K screens? LOL

 

Appreciate the responses. I decided to go with an IPS 1080p display instead.

 

You'll be happy with the choice.

 

I think so, too, especially since it only cost $150 out the door brand new. The cheapest 4K monitor is about $350 IIRC.

 

To add a data point on the opposite side: I use 13" 3K screens just fine, at 100% scaling, and it's a noticeable productivity boost for me compared to 1080p. I haven't seen a 15" 4K screen in person yet but won't mind having one, maybe used with slightly large fonts. (I do use reading glasses, which helps through hours of work.)

Tolerance of small text/symbol varies a lot from person to person.


I do want to see 2.5K 120Hz screens on laptops, but only for gaming, not productivity.

 

How can you use 13" 3K with no scaling? That is the tiniest font. I'm using a 1080p 13" right now and it's borderline small. I can't imagine 50% smaller.

Personally I prefer a larger resolution too for productivity reasons, but going from 1080p to 4k is no the answer on 14-17" LCD's. 2.5K is the sweet spot for productivity, size, and even gaming performance.

 

i don't think so