Need some general advice on what kind of monitor I should be looking for

Dimitri

Member
I don't play video games, the most important use of this monitor would be watching movies, apart from that I use it for typical desktop/internet browsing activity. I'm on a budget, so I'm looking to get off cheap here, say around $350-400.

Now, I have a few questions:

#1 How important is 4k?

Since 4k is the new thing, I thought maybe I should set that as my minimum, but should I?

Is there a significant difference to the human eye between 1080p and 4k?

I don't game, so this is mostly about movies for me - how many movies are released or will be in the future in 4k? Doesn't seem like there's even many Youtube videos right now that are in 4k.

#2 Pixel pitch

It seems like most monitors are exactly 4k in resolution whether they are 27" or 32", that gets me wondering, how much of a difference does it make to the human eye what must be a huge difference in pixel pitch between a 27" 4k monitor and a 32" one?

Should pixel density deter me from simply going for the biggest 4k monitor I can find?

#3 Any other criteria I should consider?

Besides resolution, pitch and panel type, I mean.

#4 Any specific recommendations?

Can you recommend me anything? So, again, I'm looking for $350-400, 4k, IPS and it will mainly be used for movie watching, no gaming.
 

Darren

Moderator
Staff member
I'd get a 4K. There's a very noticeably difference between 1080P > 4K, even at smaller screen sizes. I have a 25" 1440p and it's a night and day difference compared to the 24" 1080p it sits next to. There's less of a jump from 1440p to 4K, at least that you can perceive, but it's definitely still there. IPS looks the best IMO, and latency doesn't really matter with games where you just have a constant video feed and don't need reaction time.

Never heard of pixel pitch but looking at up and it basically seems like pixel density. If I were you, I'd try and get into a store that has many displays on sale so you can see for yourself. I wouldn't get anything smaller than a 27" for 4K though. Also have curved and ultrawide options if you're sticking to monitors only.

Any particular reason you're looking at monitors just for watching movies? Almost seems like a larger 4K TV would make the most sense but I don't know what your setup/use case is really.
 

Dimitri

Member
I'd get a 4K. There's a very noticeably difference between 1080P > 4K, even at smaller screen sizes. I have a 25" 1440p and it's a night and day difference compared to the 24" 1080p it sits next to. There's less of a jump from 1440p to 4K, at least that you can perceive, but it's definitely still there. IPS looks the best IMO, and latency doesn't really matter with games where you just have a constant video feed and don't need reaction time.

Never heard of pixel pitch but looking at up and it basically seems like pixel density. If I were you, I'd try and get into a store that has many displays on sale so you can see for yourself. I wouldn't get anything smaller than a 27" for 4K though. Also have curved and ultrawide options if you're sticking to monitors only.

Any particular reason you're looking at monitors just for watching movies? Almost seems like a larger 4K TV would make the most sense but I don't know what your setup/use case is really.

Yeah, I've seen people suggest that possibility and I'm open to it.

I watch movies on the same display I use for my PC, so whatever I get would have to be usable by my PC, but I assume that is the case with most modern 4K TVs.

Yeah, pixel pitch is pixel density and that's the only thing that worries me about potentially getting a larger screen, including potentially a significantly larger TV. I wonder whether greater pixel density would make a smaller 4k screen look better than a larger one. If anyone has thoughts on this, please do comment.

On the other hand, my setup is that I sit pretty far away from the monitor, so maybe pixel density isn't as important, IDK.
 

Darren

Moderator
Staff member
I wouldn't think too much about pixel density. Your ideal viewing distance is essentially a function of the pixel density and the screen size. Also you'll likely need to use resolution scaling regardless of the monitor size unless you run a 40+ inch TV as text and icons will be tiny without it. If anything, too small of a screen and you will basically negate the quality uptick to 4K.

TV's are designed to be viewed from a further distance, and generally are lower quality displays compared to monitors at the same size as you'll likely be further away and notice it less. A 32" TV is way cheaper than a 32" monitor, for instance, and the resulting image quality is evidence to that.
 
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