1440p vs. 4K: What's the Right Resolution for Your Monitor?

CNET

07-05-2025

There's a lot to consider when picking out the best monitor for your needs. Brands will hype up their features, their integration of AI and all sorts of trumped-up specifications that may mean little to the average monitor user (and might have little relation to real-world performance). But of all the specifications you'll encounter, resolution is often one of the first to consider. It's a question of clarity, and you don't want a display that's not clear.
These days, 1080p displays are a dime a dozen, and their clarity is really lacking at larger sizes. Meanwhile, 1440p and 4K monitors are now much more accessible -- in numbers and in price -- while significantly improving clarity. If you're on the hunt for a new monitor and struggling to choose between 1440p and 4K, I'll run through the key aspects of each and additional details to consider when making your choice.
What is 1440p?
At its most basic level, 1440p is an indication of the number of pixels a display has. In the case of a typical 16:9-aspect-ratio display, it indicates a resolution of 2,560x1,440 pixels: 2,560 pixels horizontally by 1,440 vertically (and that little "p" indicates progressive scanning along each of the 1,440 rows of pixels). Sometimes you'll see this written as 2.5K instead, denoting the horizontal resolution instead of the vertical. A typical 1440p display will have 3,686,400 pixels. Occasionally, you can find monitors with 16:10 aspect ratios as well, and in those cases, you'll likely see 2,560x1,600-pixel resolution. Ultrawide monitors have also become popular, and you'll find many with a 3,440x1,440-pixel resolution, effectively extending the horizontal aspect of a 1440p display without adjusting the vertical aspect.
The Innocn 49Q1R curved gaming monitor is an ultrawide 1440p display with a 32:9 aspect ratio and a resolution of 5,120x1,440 pixels.
Josh Goldman/CNET
What is 4K?
With the mainstream adoption of 4K, we saw a shift in the standard naming convention. Where 1440p (and 1080p before it) referenced the vertical resolution of the display, 4K switched to reference the horizontal resolution. For monitors, 4K (sometimes called Ultra HD, UHD or 2160p) has a horizontal resolution of 3,840 pixels (close enough to 4,000 for it to get its "4K" nickname) and a vertical resolution of 2,160 pixels. In the DCI cinema standards, the resolution is actually 4,096x2,160, but you won't find many displays with that resolution. Like 1440p, this is the resolution of a 4K monitor with a 16:9 aspect ratio. You can find different aspect ratios, especially on laptops, where 16:10 has become more popular in recent years, but these will still usually be referred to as 4K since the horizontal resolution remains unchanged. A typical 4K monitor will have 8,294,400 pixels.
Which is better: 1440p or 4K?
There's no easy answer for which is better. It would be easy to assume that 4K is better -- after all, why wouldn't more pixels be better? But more pixels won't always be beneficial. A 4K display may require more power than a 1440p display of the same size. A computer will have to work harder to produce 4K output than 1440p because 4K needs more than twice as many pixels rendered. And then there's the matter of diminishing returns: All the extra pixels won't do you any good if you can't even see them.
This has been a hotly debated topic for years, with Apple's introduction of Retina displays kicking off a lot of discussion -- and a lack of consensus -- on what resolution and viewing distances are best. Just dig through the Retina display Wikipedia page or CNET's TV size buying guide, and you'll see there's some heavy science involved and still plenty of room for debate. For example, the International Telecommunications Union recommends viewing a 4K display at a distance 1.6 times the height of the screen (e.g., 31.4 inches away for a 4K monitor with a 40-inch diagonal), meanwhile, Sony suggests a viewing distance 1.5 times the height of the display at 4K.
The LG 32GS95UE is one of the best 4K displays we've tested.
Lori Grunin/CNET
That may not make it any easier to choose the right display for you, but it does highlight some important details. The size of your screen and how close you plan to sit are key considerations in figuring out which resolution you should pursue.
A huge, 40-inch monitor situated at arm's length will look way better with a 4K resolution (though from that distance, 8K would be better). But if you sit three feet away, the difference between 1440p and 4K will shrink. Similarly, if you compare that 40-inch 4K panel (which has 110 pixels per inch) to a 27-inch 1440p panel (108 pixels per inch), the difference in clarity will be almost imperceptible; you'll get just more screen space with the larger monitor.
Sometimes 4K will result in icons and visuals that are too small to see easily. In these cases, you'll probably use scaling to increase their size. This might seem like it defeats the purpose of the extra resolution, but you will still benefit from the extra pixels because they inherently have smaller gaps between them. When viewed from close enough, those gaps can become apparent, giving the picture a "screen-door effect," and that's something you definitely want to avoid.
Which is right for you?
After you consider the size of the display you want and the distance you plan to sit from it, you'll also want to consider how you intend to use it.
If you're doing basic office work on the monitor, there's not much you have to worry about beyond making sure the display will be sharp enough at your viewing distance. A smaller monitor at arm's length will likely be fine at 1440p. But if you want to go with an extra-large screen, then consider 4K. That extra resolution will let you make the most of the screen space, effectively giving you four 1080p displays for some serious multitasking.
If you're gaming, you'll still want to make sure you're looking at a sharp display, as you want to be able to make out details in your games. But there's also the question of performance. As mentioned before, 4K resolution calls for more than double the pixels of 1440p. All those pixels demand a lot from a gaming system. It's a lot easier (and cheaper) to get smooth frame rates at 1440p than it is at 4K.
You can always lower the resolution of a game in its settings (on PC at least), and modern graphics processors have tricks to lighten the load with the likes of AMD's FSR, Nvidia's DLSS and Intel's XeSS, but these techniques have their drawbacks, sometimes making it simply look like you're running at lower resolution or introducing visual artifacts -- artifacts that are much easier to see with extra resolution. So, if you don't have a high-end graphics processor with plenty of VRAM, 1440p is generally the way to go.
If you're a creator, there's a better argument for 4K. Photography tends to be incredibly high resolution, and 4K video is much more accessible these days. Having a higher-resolution display will give you a better chance of viewing your work at its full resolution (or at least close to it), meaning you'll get an accurate representation of it. For instance, if you view a 4K video on a 1440p monitor, you actually won't be seeing more than half of the image. If there are unsightly artifacts in those unseen pixels, you might accidentally leave them in your final edit.
Also read: Best Gaming Monitor for 2025
Resolutions aren't all created equally
Even if you're looking at two monitors with the same resolution and screen size, they still may not be equally clear. For each pixel, there are a series of smaller subpixels, which provide the different color elements that create the pixel (for instance, if you want a purple pixel, you may see a red and a blue subpixel light up to create the purple). Alas, that subpixel layout can also play into a monitor's clarity.
An RGB subpixel layout is fairly common. This sees a row of three subpixels (red, then green, then blue). However, I've used a number of OLED monitors that have a different subpixel layout. And even though these monitors had the same 1440p resolution and 27-inch screen size as others I'd tested, they had issues with clarity in some contexts. For example, small text could have soft edges or unexpected colors showing up.
So, after you decide which size and resolution will work in your setup, be sure to check out reviews to get a fuller picture of a monitor's quality. In our reviews at CNET, you'll find more testing data on aspects of monitors that can have as much or even more impact on a monitor's quality than resolution, such as panel type, contrast and color gamut.