This has been on my mind a lot with the whole '4k gaming' push from the most recent consoles.
4k gaming just doesn't make sense for a lot of people. I have a 55" tv and sit 8.5' away from it. This TV is huge and dominates the room. I cannot reasonably have a larger tv or sit closer without ruining the usability of my livingroom.
Most people simply sit too far away from to small of a TV to be able to tell 4k from 1080p. When people protest they can absolutely see a difference, what they're usually seeing is better color and contrast of newer tvs, not resolution.
Even when it comes to PC gaming, 4k is often not all it's cracked up to be. According to OSHA, most people sit about 30" away from their monitor. This lines up nicely with the visual acuity distance for a 27" 1440p monitor. To reach the visual acuity limit for 4k, you'd have to sit 20" away. That's a lot closer than most people are comfortable with. Even a 32" model only expands it out to 25". That's within the realm of plausibility but another thing to keep in mind is viewing angles. The main theatre certification companies recommend anywhere from a 35-55 degree viewing angle. The visual acuity distance for 4k puts you at a whopping 60 degrees which is considered high for just consuming content, much less playing a game where you're expected to see everything happening on screen and react to it.
TLDR: The hype of 4k for gaming is mostly just that. Most people would be far better served going for lower resolutions and higher refresh rates. The only people who really benefit from 4k are using it for productivity, coding, video editing, etc.
> a whopping 60 degrees which is considered high for just consuming content, much less playing a game where you're expected to see everything happening on screen and react to it.
Consider that the game is probably rendering at least 90 degrees to squish down into that 60.
Personally I sit back for content but I love to sit close for games, with the FOV set to max. The really important stuff fits in the middle of the screen, and outside of the middle I get near-peripheral vision instead of bezel and wall.
32" 4k monitor at a normal viewing distance (~30" seems like a good estimate without bringing out a measuring tape) is pretty comfortable for work at 100% scaling. At that distance 1080p video looks significantly worse when compared to 4k, although a large chunk of that may be due to bitrate.
Right, va for 1080p is something like 3.5' for a 24" monitor. Most people will be able to see a diff between 4k and 1080p, but I'd imagine 4k vs 1440p would be negligible.
4k gaming just doesn't make sense for a lot of people. I have a 55" tv and sit 8.5' away from it. This TV is huge and dominates the room. I cannot reasonably have a larger tv or sit closer without ruining the usability of my livingroom.
Most people simply sit too far away from to small of a TV to be able to tell 4k from 1080p. When people protest they can absolutely see a difference, what they're usually seeing is better color and contrast of newer tvs, not resolution.
Even when it comes to PC gaming, 4k is often not all it's cracked up to be. According to OSHA, most people sit about 30" away from their monitor. This lines up nicely with the visual acuity distance for a 27" 1440p monitor. To reach the visual acuity limit for 4k, you'd have to sit 20" away. That's a lot closer than most people are comfortable with. Even a 32" model only expands it out to 25". That's within the realm of plausibility but another thing to keep in mind is viewing angles. The main theatre certification companies recommend anywhere from a 35-55 degree viewing angle. The visual acuity distance for 4k puts you at a whopping 60 degrees which is considered high for just consuming content, much less playing a game where you're expected to see everything happening on screen and react to it.
TLDR: The hype of 4k for gaming is mostly just that. Most people would be far better served going for lower resolutions and higher refresh rates. The only people who really benefit from 4k are using it for productivity, coding, video editing, etc.