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4K is going to really not matter much for a while simply because the average computer doesn't have good enough graphics to make good use of it. The resolution

4K is going to really not matter much for a while simply because the average computer doesn't have good enough graphics to make good use of it. The resolution jump is huge and so you need a lot more GPU memory and processing power to do the same things at a higher resolution. Games are now really taking good advantage of 1080p, so we are another 5-10 years away from 4k being a real thing in terms of mainstream gaming. Also, the average computer is not going to fare well in a 4k world. Sure, you might have videos on Netflix or some Blu-ray successor look nice in 4k, but good luck getting that to be a decent experience on the sub $500 laptop your parents just bought 2 years from now with a 15.6" 4k display with terrible viewing angles, a Celeron processor, integrated gfx, and a 5400 RPM 2TB Hard Drive... High resolution is great, but as an industry we don't seem to be willing to upgrade the related components - memory, GPU, SSD unless it's on a mobile phone.

alkonaut 12y ago
With g-sync and similar we will probably see smooth gameplay at lower refresh rates, meaning 4k gaming can be a little closer than it would be if we wanted 4k @ 60Hz. The real elephant in the room is the poor scaling of applications, on my 4k laptop screen on windows 8.1 I tried making it work for a few weeks using windows' scaling settings, but caved and just set it to 1/4 resolution and haven't looked back. On a small screen the benefit of more pixels just doesn't outweigh the downside of many apps being unusable.
- mark-r 12y ago
  It's a chicken and egg problem. Until enough people stop giving up on high resolutions, the application makers won't do adequate testing of those resolutions, ensuring that they'll continue to be unusable.
enos_feedler 12y ago
I think this makes it a perfect opportunity for Apple to swoop in with Retina-based iMacs. It plays right into their style of curating all the hardware components and support developers via their SDKs to create a beautiful 4k experience for end-users.
- alexqgb 12y ago
  A 27" 4k touch-screen iMac would be perfect.
robotresearcher 12y ago
The killer app for hi-res displays is text, not video or games, in my opinion. Text looks terrific at 4K and text is what most working users look at all day. I would certainly trade some frame rate for super-crisp text in my editor. If others agree with me, we'll see high-res-but-slow-rate catching on in business before the home gamers are ready to go 4K.

alkonaut 12y ago

With g-sync and similar we will probably see smooth gameplay at lower refresh rates, meaning 4k gaming can be a little closer than it would be if we wanted 4k @ 60Hz. The real elephant in the room is the poor scaling of applications, on my 4k laptop screen on windows 8.1 I tried making it work for a few weeks using windows' scaling settings, but caved and just set it to 1/4 resolution and haven't looked back. On a small screen the benefit of more pixels just doesn't outweigh the downside of many apps being unusable.

mark-r 12y ago
It's a chicken and egg problem. Until enough people stop giving up on high resolutions, the application makers won't do adequate testing of those resolutions, ensuring that they'll continue to be unusable.

enos_feedler 12y ago

I think this makes it a perfect opportunity for Apple to swoop in with Retina-based iMacs. It plays right into their style of curating all the hardware components and support developers via their SDKs to create a beautiful 4k experience for end-users.

alexqgb 12y ago
A 27" 4k touch-screen iMac would be perfect.

robotresearcher 12y ago

The killer app for hi-res displays is text, not video or games, in my opinion. Text looks terrific at 4K and text is what most working users look at all day. I would certainly trade some frame rate for super-crisp text in my editor. If others agree with me, we'll see high-res-but-slow-rate catching on in business before the home gamers are ready to go 4K.