As laptop manufactures pack more and more pixels into
their screens, the question of "is it worth it?" arises. In most
cases, an Ultra HD laptop will look absolutely gorgeous, but
that doesn't translate to it being useful. There are some
serious trade-offs, including price, a lack of 4K content and
performance that need to be considered before spending the
money to move beyond 1080p.
When it comes to clarity, 4K could knock 1080p from the top
of the hill as the new resolution king and replace it in the
coming years. Increasingly, devices of all shapes and sizes
have taken the next step to go beyond traditional high
definition, but as these screens go beyond the limits of
traditional high definition, you may be left asking, is a 4K
laptop right for me?
More than meets the eye
As far as resolutions are concerned, most people would
agree at first glance that higher pixel density will give you a
clearer picture. But according to Dr. Bryan Jones, research
assistant professor of ophthalmology at the University of
Utah, this is only true "to a point."
"Assuming that you are sitting at 30-inches from your
display and your eyesight is 20/20, any more resolution
than about 220 pixels per inch is going to be
indistinguishable," he said. The two most common screen
sizes for 4K laptops are 13.3- and 15.6-inch. At those sizes,
pixel density exceeds the 220 ppi density by roughly 60 and
110 or more pixels per inch, meaning all those extra pixels
no longer add anything to what the human eye can perceive
at a normal laptop distance.
"If your vision is less than perfect or you find yourself sitting
further away from the screen, the pixel density can be far
lower [before noticing a difference]," Jones said, down as
far as 90 ppi per inch, or even lower if you are "sitting on the
other side of the room watching a movie."
Jones added another thing to note is "there is more to 'how
clear' an image appears than just resolution." Brightness,
contrast, color fidelity and viewing angle all come into play.
No amount of pixel density will compensate for poor color.
The drain game
One of the main reasons laptops even exist is because
they're portable, which means that they run off battery
power as needed. If you're the type of laptop user who
shuffles from meeting to meeting or to several different
locations with your computer tucked under your arm, battery
life is a serious concern. Somedays it's not easy to predict
when the next chance to plug-in will arise, which makes
battery life an important part of any laptop discussion.
The power required to push a QHD or 4K display is higher
than that of a vanilla HD screen, which naturally leads to a
decline in battery life. In our review of the MSI GS60 Ghost
Pro 3K gaming laptop, which is actually a 3K machine, we
lamented its lackluster battery life. In our tests, the battery
went flat in just over two hours. In fact, poor battery
performance seems to be the common thread among the
laptops we've reviewed. The Toshiba Satellite P50T only
lasted 2 hours and 40 minutes on battery, and its power-
saving screen-dimming feature while on battery makes the
computer virtually unusable outdoors.
Pushing more pixels in a display isn't the only added stress
on battery life. The power necessary to output such pixel-
packed visuals means most high resolution laptops require
discrete graphics cards rather than integrated graphics. The
need for a dedicated graphics card means the computer will
naturally require more power than a laptop with integrated
graphics.
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