32in 1440p vs 4k

[applegrcoug]

I've been running a 32in 1440p display at both home and work for about 18mo. I just sat down to my old display, a 32in 1080p and was amazed at how much grainier it was.

I've been thinking about getting a 32in 4k display at home...how much would that annoy me at work with "only" 1440p?

 

[GoldenTiger]

It would annoy you a lot . 4k is a huge step from 2560x1440.

 

[SeymourGore]

Yeah, it's quite the jump. 1440p at 32" was great before I knew what 4k @ 32" looked like.

However, that's for desktop use; For gaming I don't notice a difference and am considering going back to 1440p to prolong my 3080s shelf life.

 

[elvn]

For me, for my main rig: 60 PPD is a minimum, 70 ppd if I can get it depending on the display size/dimensions.

https://qasimk.io/screen-ppd/

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In a theater, the thx and other standards optimal viewing are 45 - 50 deg viewing angle still, so the pixels are smaller to your perspective even though the screens are large.

Living room tv viewing setups are usually only a 30deg - 36 deg viewing angle due to the viewing distance (for various reasons) - so the screen ends up shrunken to your perspective, and do are the pixels. So a 4k tv is already near "8k PPD" in way as far as the perceived pixel sizes goes.

For example:

. . 65" 4k screen at 98" viewing distance is 32deg viewing angle and ~ 119 PPD

. . 65" 8k screen 45 inch view distance (E.g. decoupled from desk on a slim spine tv stand) 64 degree, filling a few degrees more than your central viewing angle like monitor typical does = 119ppd

No matter what size screen, at the same viewing angle the same rez will look essentially the same pixel density (PPD, pixel per degree) to your perspective.

https://qasimk.io/screen-ppd/

For reference:

At the human central viewing angle of 60 to 50 degrees, every 8k screen of any size gets around 127 to 154 PPD..

At the human central viewing angle of 60 to 50 degrees, every 4k screen of any size gets around 64 to 77 PPD

..At the human central viewing angle of 60 to 50 degrees, every 2560x1440 screen of any size gets only 43 PPD to 51 PPD

..At the human central viewing angle of 60 to 50 degrees, every 1920x1080 screen of any size gets only 32 PPD to 39 PPD

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That said, I still use 27" 1440p and a 32" 1600p at times. The 27" screens are better looking than the 32" at nearer desktop distances. I also have a 1600p 15" laptop which looks decent because it really comes down to the PPD, not the PPI alone granularity wise. Higher resolution gets you a lot more desktop/app real-estate though as well, and makes the interfaces less "jumbo"/kiosk sized compared to 1080p, or at least smaller and more streamlined compared to 1440/1600.