Is 4k on a smart phone worth it?

[silva89]

thinking about how much its going to affect the price and battery life, is 4k really necessary for a 5 inch screen.

 

[Golfdriver97]

Re: Is 4k on a smart phoe worth it?

Maybe for tablets, but even then, I don't think so.

 

[belodion]

Re: Is 4k on a smart phoe worth it?

It may be desirable for VR applications, but for ordinary use, a 1080p surely gives all the sharpness you could wish for on a 5" display.

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[AustinIllini]

Re: Is 4k on a smart phoe worth it?

I'm not sure, but I would assume at some point the PPI would be hard to differentiate.

 

[silva89]

Re: Is 4k on a smart phoe worth it?

Pretty much what i was thinking, lets see what happens with sony's xperia premium.

 

[silva89]

Re: Is 4k on a smart phoe worth it?

Totaly forgot about the VR hype thats going on now. That cant be good for your eyes. Yea 7 inch phones are also coming back as XL's lol. I wonder whats next, an 8 inch phone with 8k firmly tightened with a screw on the forehead :-$.

 

[LeoRex]

Re: Is 4k on a smart phoe worth it?

Here's how I look at it. First, not going as high as 4K... under 5.5", a 1080P screen still looks pretty good. Going QHD on a screen that small really only helps if you stuff the thing in a Google Cardboard holder. You'll be hard pressed to see the difference between 1080P and QHD as even 1080 has a really high pixel density.

Above 5.5", the difference between 1080 and QHD starts to get noticeable. But between QHD and 4K? Yeah, if you hold the phone two inches from your face...

BUT.... in near every case, a 4K display really only has value when you bring VR into play. You are stuffing the phone into a chassis, splitting it in two and putting it under magnification. In that situation, screen size is almost irrelevant and it's all about how many pixels you have. With the QHD display on my Nexus 6, I can make out pixel grain.... 4K would look a lot better.

But other than that... I don't see a purpose.

 

[Andyvalver]

I think this is like everything. We don't think we need it but then after a few years it becomes the norm. It doesn't matter what we think. It will be coming our way regardless.

Posted via Sony xperia z2

 

[Arvaci]

Short answer is no. There's just no practical need to have that many pixels in such a small screen to appreciate it in everyday use. On top of that you're looking at lower battery life and a GPU processor that may struggle under heavy graphics processing (even the latest high-end PC graphics cards can struggle with 4K). Also people say if a phone shoots 4K, the screen has to be 4K - this is BS. Many professional video cameras that shoot 4K don't even have a 1080p viewfinder display.