The Difference Between 1080p vs 4K

Using Gears of War 4 on Xbox One S and PC as an example, the following video aims to show the differences between 1080p, upscaled 4K and native 4K. However, to get the full benefits of the differences it’s recommended that you view the video in 4K (by selecting the cog on the player) on as large a screen as possible. Laptops or mobile phones make it quite difficult to see any differences. Something else to consider is to focus on specific areas of the screen or objects such as foliage detail in the foreground. Watching the video on a 4K TV and it’s quite clear 4K has a massive edge over 1080p but everyone sees things differently, so can you spot the differences in visual quality between 1080p vs 4K even when viewing on a 1080p screen?

[kakashi81]

You definitely can tell the difference.

[Bahamut]

Of course you can? As long as you're using a 4k compatible display, anyway. Changing from 480p to 720p, you can definitely see a difference. Same with 720 to 1080, and the same (especially) goes for 1080 to 2160.

[Kreisen]

Its more the opposite actually. The higher you go the less of a difference you see. Put a modern game on 720p then switch to 1080, the difference will be night and day, yet if you do the same for 1440 to 2160........not so much.
Its the reason why i play on 1440, the extra fps is much more worth it.

[Aloren]

Agreed. The difference between 1080p and 1440p is there, but between 1440p and 2160.... it's barely noticeable.

[Darkwatchman]

@kreisen. The difference between 1440p and 4K is very noticeable. Differentiation resolutions only gets difficult for me once you get higher like 1800p to 4K. That's when I have trouble spotting differences without really looking, but 1440p to 4K is definitely noticeable

[QUIMICOMORTAL]

Wrong! I saw this on a 1080 display and you can still see the difference. Like for example how the little flowers look fine on 4K but blurry on 1080, or the sharpness of the log he's using for cover.

[Ravenor]

People with 1440 displays running around telling you 4k doesn't do anything. Funny.

@Kreisen

1440 vs 2160 is night and day, especially when you factor in that monitors running at lower than native always appear much softer than a native 1440 panel. So either admit that's all you got and don't want to pony up, or quit spreading fud. By your logic 1680*1050 and 1920*1080 should look identical (They don't btw), a palpable bump in pixel density is always going to bring a sharper image.

[Errorist76]

QUMI

So you didn't even watch in 4K. You just noticed some better AA via supersampling. Wait till you watch it on a real 4K screen.

[indysurfn]

Right on Bahamut...... so this statement many people think they can just look at it for a answer..... "to get the full benefits of the differences it’s recommended that you view the video in 4K (by selecting the cog on the player) on as large a screen as possible" WRONG it still requires you too view it with a 4k laptop/TV/ or monitor. Which most will not (the people with 4k tv's dont really surf n 4g on TV! a few of course but not most).

[Eonjay]

This comparison isn't right tho. They should have done both 1080p and 4k on PC. Too many other variables here like what settings and post processing effects are on

[KillBill]

Try changing your PC display down to 480P and then watching 480P and 720P video. The difference is far less noticeable when the display is not capable of showing the added advantage. When many users have only a 1080P display they will find it much harder to see any real advantages in 4K comparisons.

[Unspoken]

I used to go with the 1440p is just as good as native 4K until I purchased a card that could render in 4K and still give me high frame rate. I'll never go back now. The detail and crispness of a native 4K image is beautiful.

Another reason I can't pick up the Pro. It's just too weak.

[alb1899]

The real need for 4K comes with the size.
From 50" and down, from a recommended distance, is not necessary more than 1080p.
From 65" and up the difference is extremely clear.

[Princess_Pilfer]

Yeah, I can too. Sometimes in the textures but always in the lines.

[Soc5]

There's more of a difference using all that power for graphical effects and displaying at 1080.

[OB1Biker]

Id like to see an analysis comparing XB1 S on a 4K TV and standard PS4 on a 4K TV

[ninsigma]

That would be interesting because the xbox one S has 4k upscaling built in even though TVs already upscale the content. I'd like to see what the benefit of the xb1s doing upscaling as well is compared to the competitor that doesn't have it while testing on a game that performs almost identically on both. Would be an interesting experiment.

[darthv72]

That would be an interesting comparison. Add in HDR comparison as well. Are there any 3rd party games on both that support HDR yet?

[Aenea]

I would be more interested in a comparison between all the 4k TV's upscalers, the X1S's and the PS4 Pro's on 1080p content...

[ninsigma]

Both ff15 and deus ex support HDR on both ps4 and xb1 so those would be good candidates I think.

Aenea, that would be a good test as well. There's tonnes of experiments to do no it's pretty cool.

[BAMozzy]

If you still have an XB1, you can see if your TV upscales as well as the XB1s. Both of these consoles run games at exactly the same resolution, level of detail, levels of visual effects etc. Therefore if you plug both into your 4k TV, the only difference should be where the upscaling takes place - with the XB1s, its by the console where as with the XB1 its by the TV. I have tried this with my TV and I can't see any noticeable difference so my TV must upscale as well as the XB1s.

[Errorist76]

I'd also like to see a comparison of pure upscaling a 1080p game to 4K on X1S and Pro. Heard the Pro's upscaler is amazing and much better than any TV..could be the similar for the X1S..would like to know if it can keep up.

[Unspoken]

I performed the upscaling test with the XB1S on TVs from Sony and the Samsung and the upscaler in the Xbox was superior to the scalers on each TV even though Sony edged out the Samsung by a hair.

You do have to have a keen eye to tell the difference but it was most noticable in text. The scaler in the XB1S is pretty good.

[Kribwalker]

I can try it out, I just bought a Panasonic Tc-58dx800u yesterday, it's pretty awesome. I don't have similar games though, but I'm gonna try ratchet and clank on it. One thing for sure, playing FH3 on it with HDR is pretty amazing

[KillBill]

Pointless without the same game offering identical spec.

[Rude-ro]

The difference is ghosting on the image.
The upscale of the Xbox one s does not do it. Image quality is the same depending on the games native settings...
Ie if the native image is lower on the Xbox one s, it just looks a little more washed out

[BAMozzy]

Depends on the game and the quality of the TV. Games like Batman: Arkham Knight, Battlefront etc all look better on the PS4 as the game runs at higher native resolution. The XB1s doesn't increase the resolution but just upscales (stretches to fit) the 4K screen size before outputting to the TV. The PS4 will output at 1080p and then the TV will upscale that to 4k to fit the screen so the PS4 still has the edge over games which are running at a higher native resolution to start with. The only 'benefit' to the XB1s is maybe a few 'extra' frames per second.
The test though is whether or not the XB1s does a better job of upscaling or the TV and the only way to tell is to play the game on an original XB1 and compare that with the XB1s as both games are running at the same resolution. If you can't see a difference then it means the TV's upscaling is just as good as the XB1s.
Battlefront for example is still running at 720p on both the XB1 and XB1s. If you have a 4k TV and XB1, the game is upscaled twice - by the XB1 to 1080p and then by the TV upscaling it to 4k. If you own an XB1s however, its upscaling from 720p to 4k so only needs upscaling once. On a PS4, the game runs at 900p so looks better to start with and then is upscaled to 1080p by the PS4 and then to 4k by the TV. Its not stretched as much and looks overall better.

[thexmanone]

This video is pointless, considering most of us have 1080p monitors while we are viewing it.

[Gaming_Cousin]

2k monitor here Kappa

[TheGamingArt]

I didn't realize we had japanese water monsters commenting here o.o

[Sunny_D]

I checked it on my 1080p screen and I could actually see a difference. Look at the foliage and the close up of the wall he's covered behind. You can definitely tell the difference.

[Princess_Pilfer]

I have a 4k screen (and don't have a PS4 pro or Xbone S.) Wasn't pointless to me.

What does bother me is how much traction these types of articles get though. This is the kind of stuff that should generally be a product demonstration, running on loop on the TV at actual stores. Obviously people without 4k displays are going to be unlikely to spot the difference (or will see it but it will be indistinguishable from good AA). It's like all those stupid HDR comparisons. Either you already have an HDR capable machine/TV and don't need further demonstration, or you don't and it doesn't matter, so who are they trying to convince?

[ILostMyMind]

1080p and 4K upscaled are on XBS and 4K is on PC? What PC was used?

[Kokyu]

I can say other than being a bit clearer, when I watch 4k vide on my 4k LG i dont really see what the big deal is, I noticed a much bigger difference from standard to HDR much more than I do from 1080p to 4k honestly. For me people are right you almost cant tell the difference between 1080p and 4k you really have to nit pick an image to notice like he mentions stuff in the back ground.....who the hell is really paying attention to that when they play a game? I dont.

[Gaming_Cousin]

"For me people are right you almost cant tell the difference between 1080p and 4k"

Lmao almost can't tell the difference? That is the biggest bs I have ever heard

[Kokyu]

Sure its. Some people still amazes me.

[nitus10]

Of course you can tell the difference between a 1080p and a 4K display if you have the appropriate content and if you can't may I suggest a god eye specialist.

You should note that I said "if you have the appropriate content". For example if you used 1080p content to both displays you should still be able to tell the difference since the 4K display should upscale it although the differnce will not be all that significant.

It is also important to note that there are some factors (in no particular order) to consider when selecting a 4K display.

For a start, HDR is a nice feature which can enhance the picture if the content supports it and there are two formats to consider, those being HDR10 (XB1s and PS4pro) and Dolby Vision HDR.

the second consideration is your screen size and this coupled with viewing distance will be the main factors in choosing a 4K display.

The third and this is quite important, you have to consider your most comfortable viewing distance to screen size which will vary from person to person. Basically, the further you are from your display the more difficult it is to tell the difference between 1080p and 2160p (4K).

Fourthly is latency and the smaller the value is the better. Buy a 4K display for gaming and you do need low latency. You also need a high refresh rate (in Hz) to avoid eyestrain when playing fast moving games.

With good eyesight, you should be able to tell the difference between a 55" 1080p display and a 55" 4K display if your viewing distance is 1.54m (5ft) but it gets progressively harder to tell the difference the further you sit away from the screen. http://www.rtings.com/tv/re... Of course HRD can make a huge difference here.

Currently, there is very little 4K content compared to 1080p content. Yes you can get UHD movies which are anything from a half to twice the price of a standard 1080p Bluray movie but DVD still is by far the cheapest. Even TV content is predominately NTSC or PAL (depends on your country) followed by 720p then 1080p. You can stream 4K (again limited content) from providers like Netflix.

Sure 4K is great now if you are an early adopter, however 8K will be available for consumers 2017 and will initially be expensive however give it till 2020 we will see 4K being sidelined by 8K and I am very interested to see what video cards will be used for 8K gaming. The following video actually demos this and it does work. https://www.youtube.com/wat... Yes you can game with Crysis at 8k 55fps wth medium settings.

[Ravenor]

Oh Nitus you spread that fud.

No one, is looking to release 8k by 2017. Will you see the displays? Sure, but not in your average bestbuy. 4k is supposed to replace 1080p as the standard next year.

We already have 5k computer monitors, you're of course going to see much higher resolutions there. But 4k is the new standard to replace 1080p, they aren't going to just throw that out and say "whoops! 8k!".

@kokyu BS. The fine details absolutely demolish 1080p, quit lying. This is like people arguing 720p is just as good as 1080p all over again.

[Darkwatchman]

The instant I put in the last of us on ps4 pro, the native 4K resolution stood out. It was night and day. The difference between the 1080p standard ps4 version and the native 4K version blew me away so much that I played it through all the way again for like the 15th time because the difference between 1080p and 4k is that pronounced

[Errorist76]

Move closer to your TV lol

[gamerswin24]

Sorry I call bs. Call of Duty infinite is a great example. I always thought it looked OK on my 1080p TV on og ps4 but when I played it on the pro at the higher checkerboard resolution wow what a big difference and that's not even native 4K. The difference is astounding.

[ocelot07]

Watching this on my 4K TV. There is a night and day difference between 1080p native (for me anyhow). 4K upscale and native 4K there is a tiny noticeable difference but not much. You can also tell the FPS difference between 1080p/4K native to the 4K native. As the 4K native seems to be very janky.

[joab777]

4k is nice for sure. I've played Skyrim, FF15, Ratchet and Infamous, 2 of which use HDR also, and it makes a definite difference. This is kinda the leap forward we wanted initially this gen. Now we have it.

[bamillington]

there is a difference but not much

[zb1ftw777]

1080p 60fps and less input lag, and better graphics all day, every day.

4k is currently useless compared.

[Errorist76]

We know you don't own a Pro...you don't even own a X1S. So why do you even state that?!

[CobraKai]

I wanna see how PS360 games look on 4K tv. Games where the norm was sub 720p to native 720p.

I remember 480p ps2 and Xbox games looked like crap on a 720p screen.

[InTheZoneAC]

was going to watch it in 4k on my 1080p monitor but it's taking forever to load. I guess I'll get back to you when internet speeds match the craze to display everything in 4k...

I have 50mb down, although it's normally 100, running on a congested 2.4ghz neighborhood doesn't help...

[TheOptimist]

Upscaled 4K looks far less detailed than Native 4K, what was the hype about?

[BenRC01]

But no one stops and stares while playing. Its nowhere near the jump from sd to full hd.

[Errorist76]

I'm actually just watching 4K HDR vids on my brother's new TV and boy I'm blown away and sitting here with my mouth wide open.

[nitus10]

What has watching UHD videos which cost from 50% to 100% more than the standard 1080p Bluray disk have to do with playing games on a 4K display?

[Errorist76]

I streamed everything for free on YouTube. The quality is stellar.

[SheikAshii]

Oooo I was expecting then to make it visible to everyone no matter what kind of screen they have but I guess not. (Zooming)

[Takwin]

I can absolutely tell the difference. It is so worth it to me.

Got a 65" KS8000 Samsung 4k HDR TV for all TV, movies, PS4 Pro, and upscaled Wii U.

Got a 34" LG 34UC88-B 34-Inch 21:9 Curved UltraWide for all PC games. I cannot wait for buttery smooth AMD Vega in a month or two. My 290x has had a good life, but I'm ready to replace it.

We are still a few years away from even remotely affordable 4K HDR ultrawide monitors. I will get one in maybe 3 years? By then, we can run two Vegas or 1080ti and pump out high frame rates.

Also, after having both and having some games on both platforms (Shadow of Mordor, Dying Light, Bastion, and a few others) - I can say that I prefer the ultrawide 1440p over the HDR 4K. Field of view, mods, more customization, Discord, edge it out. I still use my PS4 controller on my PC though, that thing is just the best.

[specialguest]

I could definitely see the difference. Just look at the blue light on the shoulder straps.

[Eyesoftheraven]

In games, the difference between 1080p and 2160p is very clear even on a 27" monitor. In movies, the difference is not quite as dramatic because even very high-end cameras and cinema lenses introduce artifacts, aberration, grain, exposure inconsistencies, 24fps, 180-degree shutter angle motion blur, etc.

[Hendog1981]

Huge difference between 1080p and native 4k.

[MecheSlays]

Yup. Native 4k looks much cleaner. As expected.

[gamerswin24]

The difference between COD Infinite 1080p and the pros upscaled version is ridiculously noticeable. I never knew what ppl meant by Vaseline bcus I didn't have a higher quality to compare it too but after pro cod infinite I can't go back.

[KillBill]

All this type of article does is push 4K TVs with hopes of then pushing 4K gaming and even that not so well without the capability to show 4K to non-4K users. As those that have 4K already understand the difference between visual quality and you are then preaching to the quire in that case.

Those that do not have a 4K TV can see that very little difference is observed when running games at 4K and watching them on their current (not 4K) display. So unless they are simply not satisfied with 1080P for some odd reason, they won't see the value because they don't have a true visual difference to see said massive edge over 1080p with this video.

That is the dilemma that 4K has in selling itself to consumers and is why we see 'visual representations' in ads because they are trying to give comparative examples to those without a device to view it.

[Tzuno]

Lol upscaled 4k is trash same as 1080p like 90%

[CodeNameTBW2]

i see no difference

[Bluemaster77]

My conclusion: Not a big enough visual difference to care about this whole 4k frenzy the industry seems to be in. I just wished they'd focus on making better games. Im tired of the pixel pushing.