In essence, the lower a display's maximum resolution and the closer you sit to it, the easier it is to see its individual pixels. Let's try to keep it simple, however.Ī good example of the pixel-pitch problem arises with virtual reality (VR) headsets and an issue known as the screen door effect. Getting serious about the question comes down to algebra and raises issues like pixel pitch, pixels per inch (ppi), and something called angular resolutions. It's not quite as simple with 4K monitors. When shopping in the HDTV aisle, the answer as to whether you should opt for a 4K model today is almost always yes, because it's hard to find TVs with other resolutions these days. But if one of these scenarios fits your needs, the next step is to figure out whether a 4K monitor is right for you for different reasons: your desk configuration and your eyesight.
The details of software enhancement and supported platforms and games for both Nvidia and AMD can and have already deserved their own articles, so we won't slow down to go over the nuances here. While they may not be true 4K gaming, to my eyes and many more they're the best that console and mid-budget gamers can do until hardware prices come down again. In a nutshell, these aim to allow PCs with midrange graphics cards or lesser integrated graphics (and gaming-console GPUs) to run at higher resolution while minimizing the performance hit and loss in visual quality. A crop of software technologies (image sharpeners, upscalers, and supersamplers) from both AMD and Nvidia have hit the market recently. Gaming at 4K resolution isn't strictly about your hardware nowadays. If you don't have such a card, gaming at 4K is going to demand compromises and may not be worth the splurge. These elite cards include models like Nvidia's GeForce RTX 3080, GeForce RTX 3090, and GeForce RTX 2080, as well as AMD's Radeon RX 6800 and RX 6700 series-all commanding steep prices that have been even more inflated of late. (And if you're turning down the detail settings to make a game run better at 4K, that defeats much of the point of 4K in the first place.) Right now, only a handful of high-end graphics cards can reliably drive a 4K display with leading game titles at top image-quality settings. While gorgeous to look at, playing modern games at 4K resolution takes a ton of graphics horsepower to get above 60 frames per second (fps), today's generally acknowledged minimum for serious gamers. (See our picks for the best TVs, now uniformly 4K models.)
That's because many 4K TV sets aren't beholden to the same standards that 4K monitors are, such as the need for boosted refresh rates (for gaming models), elite or specialized color accuracy (for content creators), or low input lag.
To 4K or Not to 4K: That's the Gamer's Dilemmaįor starters, if you want a really big 4K monitor solely for home-entertainment purposes that don't center on PC gaming, a 4K TV would likely be a cheaper option.