Thursday, June 21st 2018
Your 1440p Monitor Could Be Using a 4K Panel
German site Prad.de reports that sources close to monitor panel manufacturers told them that the production cost of a 27" 4K 3840x2160 panel is lower or at least equal to that of a 27" 2560x1440 QHD panel. This drives monitor manufacturers to use 4K panels in monitors that are specified as QHD - when panel supply is low, or monitor demand is high.
The sources did not mention any specific monitor manufacturer or model, but it's highly probable that some 1440p monitors in the hands of customers today use a 4K panel. Obviously you're not gonna get 4K resolution when paying for a QHD monitor. Rather the panel firmware is configured to report its maximum capability as 1440p, and internally scale the input signal accordingly, which may result in reduced image quality.
In order to scale a 2560x1440 image to 3840x2160, the scaling factor is x1.5. This means that a single pixel in the lower-resolution original image gets mapped onto one and a half pixels, which increases blurriness. This is vastly different to a 4K display running with 1920x1080 input, where each pixel simply gets doubled in width and height, so a 1:1 mapping exists and everything stays sharp.
When looking closely, visual quality differences could appear in text, which does get smoothed by all modern operating systems, though, so it comes with some inherent blurriness anyway. Media playback and gaming shouldn't be affected in any noticeable way. One potential method to detect such a monitor is to look for the pixel size specification, which should be around 0.23 mm. For a 4K panel that number is 0.16 mm, so if the specification of your 1440p monitor lists that number, it probably comes with a 4K panel.
The image below (by Prad) shows a simulated monitor test image, with native 1440p on top and 1440p scaled to 4K on bottom.
Source:
Prad
The sources did not mention any specific monitor manufacturer or model, but it's highly probable that some 1440p monitors in the hands of customers today use a 4K panel. Obviously you're not gonna get 4K resolution when paying for a QHD monitor. Rather the panel firmware is configured to report its maximum capability as 1440p, and internally scale the input signal accordingly, which may result in reduced image quality.
When looking closely, visual quality differences could appear in text, which does get smoothed by all modern operating systems, though, so it comes with some inherent blurriness anyway. Media playback and gaming shouldn't be affected in any noticeable way. One potential method to detect such a monitor is to look for the pixel size specification, which should be around 0.23 mm. For a 4K panel that number is 0.16 mm, so if the specification of your 1440p monitor lists that number, it probably comes with a 4K panel.
The image below (by Prad) shows a simulated monitor test image, with native 1440p on top and 1440p scaled to 4K on bottom.
46 Comments on Your 1440p Monitor Could Be Using a 4K Panel
( many will hope this)
P.S. Good thing I went from 1080p to 2160p straight away. Even managed to overclock my monitor to 72Hz (can do FHD@90Hz, but no more...).
In other words we could/should have 27" 4K pannels for much cheaper !
The reason I suspect my monitor is one of the 4Ks in a 1440p package is both based on the information in the first paragraph and based on the fact that on occasion, my image is missing a single strip of pixels in the left center of the screen; a strip of pixels from top to bottom. Though they aren't really missing. Upon investigation (moving the mouse or a window makes this more obvious), I can see the single line of pixels that should be in the very left center of the screen all the way on the left edge of the screen while the right half of the screen is untouched and rendered perfectly! To remedy the situation, I go into control panel, change the resolution to 1080p and then back to 1440p. On occasion, I even have to reboot.
Occassionally, this same thing will happen with the center right line of pixels which then end up at the right edge of the screen. It's one or the other; not both.
Also, I do not notice a blurry image.
It's crazy when it happens because when I move my mouse across the center of the screen I can see a flicker of motion all the way at the left or right-hand edge of the screen.
I found the pixel pitch listed at .233 so it must be something else... It's worked this way through a couple of gens of video cards (980s and 1080s) and the frequency is around every two weeks. Again, I can remedy the situation through a res change or reboot.
well .... not all are limited to their max advertised resolution :D
mine is a 1440p60 advertised but does 1620p75 at max, not totally a 4k (rather a 3k) but well ... :laugh: that's awesome for a "budget" QHD screen.
-no gimmicks? check! (it's rather ... nice surprise when you notice the monitor is capable to do more than what specified for )
-good panel (IPS, resolutions, OC, okay reaction time)? check!
-build quality (more metal than plastic)? check! (outside the non vertically adjustable feet, although not an issue for me )
-excellent price without any premium? check! (well for a QHD IPS 32" that did just cost me 99$ more than a 27" FHD TN... hardly can do better)
-worldwide Disponible? *BEEEEP* .... actually that's the only issue there ...
tho i wonder if another brand has the same screen because i saw the exact same keyboard as i have from Medion but under Rosewill brand ... (only difference, need an extra software for macro and RGB parameter ... and foldable wristrest instead of magnetic, but mine has the hole for the same wristrest ) and at a similar pricing.
Now, if a 1080p display came with a 4K panel, that would be interesting, since the picture would remain perfectly sharp and it would reduce the screendoor effect. I'd keep such a monitor for the shear novelty.
This won't affect me, because I'm gonna jump straight to 4K when I'm ready to replace my main monitor. Now, if it uses an 8K panel...