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A screen is just a screen, surely? As long as your employees can discern words, images, write emails well enough, and so on, there’s not much more to consider. However, we’re way beyond the time of ‘good enough’ when it comes to display technology; there a dozens of different use-cases for all types of technology, and displays are no different. One aspect of the considerations businesses must take when choosing displays for their staff is resolution; the pixel density on the panel. 1080p, or full HD, is still the current standard for many displays – both on the desk and in our homes – but as 1440p (QHD), 4K, and even 8K resolutions continue to overtake 1080p, it’s important to understand why and how each resolution offers a different experience, and why that should matter to your business.

1080p: Full HD as Standard

Currently the standard for many monitors and displays across the globe, 1080p offers a consistent and high-definition image for any use case over previous resolution standards such as 720p and below. While 720p was a marked improvement over SD resolutions, it was quickly overtaken by 1080p, and for good reason; with display sizes quickly increasing, users needed monitors that provided little eye-strain, legible text sizes and clarity, not to mention that any business or user with an old 720p monitor looked to upgrade from panels that had long since suffered screen burn-in and other such issues. 1080p displays offer a variety of benefits:

• Typically cost-effective for businesses due to their ubiquity and availability.
• Offer higher refresh rates than 4K and above; 1080p panels with 144Hz and beyond are common, making the entire desktop work experience smoother.
• A larger variety of displays with their own unique features and product offerings.

1080p displays are ideal for most business environments, from the office, to the warehouse, creative spaces and beyond. High refresh rate displays are perfect for game development environments and other creative areas such as CAD, as the higher refresh rates enable creatives to enjoy more responsive and smoother design workflows. For normal business use however, these types of features aren’t necessary, and the standard 60Hz panels are more than sufficient. Make sure you stay tuned for our upcoming article on monitor specifications, where we’ll cover what Hz, Refresh rates, and other terms mean and why you should pay attention to them.

4K: Beyond High-Definition

The 4K resolution is rapidly becoming normalised in both business and consumer environments. Just a few years ago, 4K was reserved for gamers, consumers, and businesses that had higher budgets than most, and could forgive any technical shortcomings at the benefit of having the highest resolution displays available. The main benefit of higher resolution screens is the increased visual fidelity for the user. With more pixels in the same area on a display, imagery, presentations, and more will all look much crisper and more visually appealing to viewers. Naturally, this lends itself well to those business designing art, marketing assets, game development companies and more. With the majority of smartphone screens weighing in at 1440p (2K) and above now, it’s vital design departments have the correct equipment to deliver such high-resolution assets to users across the spectrum of devices and resolutions. Additionally, higher resolution monitors typically offer more screen real-estate; you need only view an article or word document on a 1080p panel vs. a 4K panel to see just how much more the display shows the viewer, thereby offering a productivity benefit. The benefits of businesses adopting 4K displays are:

• Better business productivity due to more on-screen real-estate.
• Higher visual fidelity in a variety of applications/scenarios.
• The capability to view and easily develop visual assets for 4K and 1440p (2K) customers.

For creatives, the increase in visual fidelity is a clear advantage and an obvious choice. The clearer and crisper the on-screen image is when designing, the more likely the final product will be exactly as the designer envisioned. Additionally, office-based workers can enjoy less tedium in their jobs; having more screen real-estate means less Alt-Tabbing as more documents, browser windows, and so on can be displayed at once, improving workflows for all. The obvious drawback to 4K displays is their cost. While 4K is becoming increasingly normal across business and consumer spaces, it still holds an additional cost over 1080p – a cost many businesses may not feel is justified at this time.

8K: The Future of Display Resolutions

8K resolution is still on the fringe of mainstream usage, similar to how 4K was several years ago. Creatives are already making use of 8K in their work, with videographers and editors utilising 8K video footage, with consumer-bracket cameras offering 8K resolutions starting to become affordable. Like 4K, 8K displays will offer a clear benefit over previous display resolutions, though 8K is still some time away before becoming a common offering. That said, there are 8K monitors already available, for businesses who require such high display resolutions for their work. Digital signage, digital billboards and so on are all making the move to 8k, and you’ll find such installations fairly commonplace in airports, stadiums, and convention centres, where digital advertising is at a premium. Expect to see more 8K resolution displays make their way to market over the next 18-24 months.

The Resolutions In Between: 1440p and 5K

So far, we’ve covered 1080p, 4K, and even 8K, but we’re missing a few resolutions; 1440p and 5K. These two resolutions are somewhat stepping-stones between each of the aforementioned resolution scales. 1440p has quickly become nearly as affordable as 1080p, and also offers high refresh rates for those that require them, while offering a significant display increase – perfect for productivity and creative use. 1440p, or QHD, is perfect for businesses who want a resolution bump, but aren’t quite ready to pay the premium cost 4K displays demand. Meanwhile, 5K is quite a niche resolution, and you won’t find many companies adopting it in their products, instead preferring the more mainstream 4K, and looking directly ahead to 8K.   As you can see, there’s a lot of consideration that goes in to choosing a display just its resolution alone; keep an eye open for our next article in this series, where we’ll look at the various nomenclature of display technology – Hz, refresh rates, sRGB, HDR, and more – and why they matter.