Compare Screen Real Estate | 2K and 4K Monitor | 27' vs 32' vs 1080 FHD | 2160 vs 1440 Resolution

3840×2160 and 2560×1440 and 1920x1080
LG 32UD59-B 32-Inch 4K UHD LED-Lit Monitor with FreeSync

[IstvanSzarka]

Great video! Very useful and practical comparison! Finally it's not about video editing or gaming ;)

[AndrewDuong]

This is a very useful video.


32" (31.5-inch) 8K (7680 x 4320p Ultra HD 2) is 279.73 PPI

43" (42.5-inch) 4K (3840 x 2160p Ultra HD) is 103.67 PPI Pixels Per Inch
32" 4K is 139.87 PPI
27" (27.0-inch) 4K is 163.18 PPI
24" (23.8-inch) 4K is 185.10 PPI
17" (17.3-inch) 4K is 254.67 PPI
15" (15.6-inch) 4K is 282.40 PPI


32" 2K / 2.5K / 3K (2560 x 1440p Quad HD) is 93.24 PPI
27" QHD is 108.79 PPI
25" QHD is 117.50 PPI
24" QHD is 123.40 PPI


27" 2K (1920 x 1080p Full HD) is 81.59 PPI
25" FHD is 88.12 PPI
24" FHD is 92.56 PPI
23" (23.0-inch) FHD is 95.78 PPI
22" (21.5-inch) FHD is 102.46 PPI
17" FHD is 127.34 PPI
15" FHD is 141.20 PPI
14" (14.0-inch) FHD is 157.35 PPI
13" (13.3-inch) FHD is 165.63 PPI
12" (12.5-inch) FHD is 176.23 PPI



20" (19.5-inch) (1600 x 900 HD+) is 94.14 PPI
17" HD+ is 106.11 PPI

19" (18.5-inch) (1366 x 768 HD) is 84.70 PPI
17" HD is 90.58 PPI
15" HD is 100.45 PPI
14" HD is 111.94 PPI
13" HD is 117.83 PPI
12" HD is 125.37 PPI

Regardless of resolutions and screen sizes. The lower the PPI, the less likely you would have to put your face close to the screen to read the text without scaling above 100% in Windows and Linux, but the more pixelated (the more of a screen door effect) you will have when you play games or watch movies or anime on your monitor. The higher the PPI, the sharper and smoother the games you play and the movies or anime you watch on your monitor, but the harder it is to read the text if you try to using scaling below 125% or even 150%.


There are hardly any 34" (33.5-inch?) 4K monitors out there and the 34" only slightly has less pixels per inch than the 32" (31.5-inch) 4K monitors, so it's slightly gonna be easier to read the text on on a 34" 4K than a 32" 4K. Hardly any improvements.

For PC users who want to make the most of out of using a 4K UHD resolution without scaling higher than 100% should get a 43" monitor. The PPI of a 43" 4K monitor is almost the same PPI of a 22" FHD monitor like the Dell P2217H I'm using. Just keep in mind that a 43" PC monitor would occupy a lot of desk space let alone a 32". Most 32" 4K monitors are quite more expensive than 27" 4K monitors, but the good news is most 43" 4K monitors are only slightly more expensive than most 32" 4K monitors. On occasion, you can even get a 43" 4K monitor for a little less than you would have to pay for a 32" 4K, I guess the demand for 43" 4K monitors are really low. I'm not gonna lie, 43" is too big for a PC monitor...


I am near sighted and my vision are bad. Around -3.25 diopters. I am 28 years old male. I can read almost every text on my 22" 1080p FHD monitor at 100% scaling without my glasses and my face around 8-10" from the screen, keep in mind my eyes are bad. My mom is 60 years old, she's also near sighted and her eyes are three times better than mine. She can read almost every text from my 22" FHD monitor at 100% scaling without her glasses and her face as far as 24" away from the screen.


My dad is 62 years old, he's farsighted, and his nearsight vision is extremely bad by now. His eyes had not changed that quickly over the decades, just exponentially slower. He still uses his old pair of prescriptive reading glasses that he obtained 15 years ago every time he uses his desktop PC up till this day. The desktop monitor he uses is a 17" (1280 x 1024 SXGA+) which is 96.42 DPI. My dad is able to read almost everything on my 22" FHD monitor at 100% scaling with his 15 years old prescriptive reading glasses.

[matthewdillon]

Super helpful. I have been work from home for a while now and have limited desktop space and usually use dual monitors. This vidie showed me exactly what I wanted to see and it looks like an upgrade to a 32 “ 4K is in order

[DiscoveryNewsNow]

This is exactly what I was wanting to know. I could care less about most of the things reviewers focus on. I need to know how much screen real-estate I will gain from going from a 1080p and a 2k monitor getting rid of the 1080 and getting a 4k monitor so one 2k and one 4k instead of a 1080 and a 2k

[jasonjones]

Damn, I thought FINALLY someone who actually showed what web browsing looked like on a 32” 4k then you do not do it full screen!!! Why?!

[tturing]

The best illustration of the difference between different screen sizes and how to pick the best fit for your work/computer needs. You are the only one I found who did this. Great illustration

[domagojoinky]

I use 28in 4K, at 125 percent scaling, it is perfectly fine, I can see all things at 100 percent, no problem. It took some time to adjust from 1080p to 2160p smaller icons but i like it cause I can fit more items on the screen . I may go up to 32in so to have even more screen real estate when mixing music and for more immersive gaming.

[Tb]

This is still very relevant and useful in Apr 2022, as I am thinking of upgrading from my 27’ FHD to a 32” 4K monitor (which I will be using a lot for office work). Nice !

[TheGeoDaddy]

Looks like 27” is optimal for us Old Farts who just deal with text, code, email, chats... of course, for most professional gigs today you are stuck with the LOCKED down laptop video card the companies issue.

[anhnguyentuan]

How useful this video ! Damn i wasted like 5 hours b4 find this to understand clearly. Thanks mate.

[genomeprojekt]

1440p is not 2K.
1440p is QHD, as in quad HD, as in you can put four HD screens in a 1440p. Just like you can put four 1080p's on the 4K UHD.

[gh]

As a programer is just that i need, thank you

[andrews]

So, for coding, for seeing the text / font in a laptop of 15.6" size in double, needs to get a 34" monitor.
Also gets surplus real estate

[dayya]

Nice comparison . Thats what i needed .unlike those who always think we play games on our screens. Thank you

[suryarahardian]

Thanks.. I am planning to buy 32" 4k monitor, and I want to know that will scaling windows affect the pixel? For example, I choose to scale 200%, will the pixels still remains as 4k or is just like 1080p in 32" monitor?As you know, 1080p in 32" monitor (full screen) is not sharp..Thanks

[___Karma__]

Bigger isn't always better... 1080p at 27"+ inch would look like dog poop compared to 1080p at 22 or 24"...if your screen is a bucket, the bigger you go in terms of quality (1080, 1440, 4k) the more water you need to fill the bucket....the bigger you go in size the less dense the pixel arrangement is and the only thing to compensate that is stronger hardware. I guess if all you are doing is using excel or word and checking email its ok...

[justinhalen]

stop calling 1440p 2k... 2k is the cinema resolution of 1080p.. .. so in consumer terms it would refer to 1080p, not 1440p

[coffeebean]

I would love to have 4k. I can still read but I is hard for me and 32" for 4k is still small as you mentioned. I guess 27" QHD (or even 32"QHD for blurry eyes) is the current gold standard like FHD was 10 years ago. Also if you consider gaming QHD is the best choice.
EDIT: Unless you specifically need a 4K.. For 4k I would look at about 40"... 17, 3" for FHD is small for me. Some websites still use size 8 arial, calibri characters and have 50% blank page so I need 125 to 150% zoom.

[ashwinramesh]

This is exactly what I was looking for! Thank you so much!!!

[lifeok]

Very professional and excellent video, 😎