1080 vs 1440 vs 2048 vs 4K vs 8K

What is the difference in real world terms?

When I upload a comic book into my I-pad I see no difference between the 1440 version and the 2048 version. How will more pixels affect gaming and general activities of everyday life? Oh if gamespot made a video discussing the different resolutions and what they mean post link :)

k thx that answers gaming, but not how does it apply to other activities.

So as far as tablets and digital photos are concerned, is the higher pixel density necessary? I mean if you are viewing a picture with the correct screen size and ppi, a 480 image could potentially look just as good as a 720 image right?

what's the difference? more pixels. In megapixels (10^6 pixels), 1080 is about 2 megapixels, 4k is 8, 8k would be about 26. on the flip side 720 res is only about 1 megapixel.

While the difference between 720 and 1080 is quite noticeable to most people, as you go higher it becomes more of a level-of-detail preference. If you zoom in you will be able to tell the difference. The higher the res, the more you can zoom in before you start to see the individual pixels and the image 'breaks down'

This affects gaming because the more pixels rendered, the more time it takes to render the entire frame. So more pixels require more power. There's also more aliasing (jaggies) on lower resolutions. For instance a nominally straight line at a 45 degree angle will appear to have steps in it from where it crosses the threshold from one row of pixels to the next. At higher resolutions, your eyes are tricked into believing that the reproduced line in pixels is closer to that original state

They would both have the same level of detail, but the 480 image would be smaller in size. If you stretch the 480 image to 720 you will see the detail break down.

It's pretty basic. The amount of pixels you'd ideally want is determined by three things...

1) Distance you'll be viewing the screen from
2) The size of the screen
3) How good your eyesight is

The ideal pixel density is the point where you can no longer distinguish the image getting any sharper. Any more than that is power going to waste. 4k is no doubt sharper than 1080P, but at that resolution you've gone far and long into the realm of diminished returns - so it's up to you to decide where you want to place the balance between IQ and hardware. To sustain a 4k setup you'd be paying probably at least twice the amount of money you would need compared to a 1080P setup and you're definitely not getting double the image quality - so it's not justified in my opinion, but if you have the money, why not?

So is 4K overkill for tablets and smartphones?

In real world terms, it means don't waste your money on 4K unless it's a 40' and above and don't waste money on 8K unless it's probably 60' and above.

Same thing goes about Smartphones, LG G3 is released with 1440p, is there really a reason for it? no, except for sucking your battery it does absolutely nothing compared to a 720p.

@PredatorRules:

Yep came to same conclusion after reading a bunch of articles. Every Journalist is trying to sound like an expert on the matter instead of answering the bloody question. Anyways yeah it would be cool if gamespot made a video about resolution and stuff:

• DPI
• PPI
• Angular resolution
• Viewing distance
• etc.

And explain what it all means.

check the other dude's vids that i linked. lots of sub 5 minute videos explaining various terms and whatnot related to technology.

Personally i would go for 1600p. It has what is known as the golden ratio (16:10 or 1.6). It is proven to be the most pleasing rectangle to the eye. Plus 4k has the resolution, but it doesn't really have the color depth, or contrast ratio to be that great looking, and many games simply do not support 4k. Not to mention 1600p is in the upper area of where you can still get decent performance.

@edinsftw: See no point getting a monitor since I don't intend on buying a new graphics card anytime soon.

Well the main reason behind this post was whether a 4K tablet be THAT much of an upgrade with regards to reading comics. Simply put, it's no since comics do not have that much level of detail and increasing more ppi isn't going to make a dull image look sharper + once you go past 400ppi overkill. However, if you do place them side by side and view them at the correct distance, it is slightly better and more life like. Lucky for me comics aren't exactly "life like" so I can do without.

Yes

on a 24" monitor from 3ft away.. anything higher than 1080 is just pointless.

I agree with you. AA is more important.

no

@evildead6789: LOL

@uninspiredcup: depends, more ppi you have less AA you need

Doesn't depend - more PPI = more power required than AA. Why waste power?