2018.06.27_Comparison of high DPI vs. low DPI displays

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/id-3732526/comparison-high-dpi-low-dpi-displays.html


After much research, I recently bought a DELL SE2717H monitor and now, after one month of daily usage I would like to talk about pixel size and pixel density. There are many other factors that should be taken into account when buying a new monitor, like color accuracy, backlight bleeding, maximum black luminance (how deep the black is), glow, gamma, response time, refresh rate, adaptive sync, angles, and many, many others, but I will talk here only about pixel size and pixel density.

DELL SE2717H is a 27” monitor with 1920x1080 resolution. That means is a low DPI monitor as illustrated by https://www.sven.de/dpi/ :
Display size: 23.53" × 13.24" = 311.5in² (59.77cm × 33.62cm = 2009.68cm²) at 81.59 PPI, 0.3113mm dot pitch, 6657 PPI²

My dilemma was if I should go for a high DPI/small dotpitch monitor, or for a low DPI/large dotpitch one. I arrived at the conclusion that this choice must be made with monitor usage in mind.


Here are pros and cons of the two display types:

--- Monitors with high resolution, high DPI, small dotpitch (Ex: 4k: 3840x2160 = 0.1557mm dot pitch @27”;;; 2k: 2560x1440 = 0.2335mm dot pitch @27”):
PRO:
- Because many small pixels are crammed togheter, the image is very sharp and clear. Pixels are usually not visible by the user. You can use the scaling option in windows to make the text larger for almost all recent windows menus and programs and image looks beautiful.
- I say it again because is a big PRO: image is beautiful on a high DPI display.
CONS:
- If scaling is not used, the text, icons and all items are very small, forcing your eyes to read. This is very bad for eyes.
- If scaling is used, it don’t work right with all apps. Some will have parts that not fit right on their windows or some menus cannot be scaled. For me is such a bother that I prefer to not use scaling at all.
- Games look good on a high DPI display, but you will need a very powerful (and expensive) video card to run games with good details on the native high resolution of the monitor. Lowering the resolution in games is not an option because the image will look very blurry and overall a lot worse then on a low DPI/large dotpitch monitor that runs at its default resolution.
- Hi-res monitors are usually a lot more expensive.


--- Monitors with low resolution, low DPI, large dotpitch (Ex: 1080p: 1920x1080 = 0.3113mm dot pitch @27”)
PRO:
- Text is easy to read, icons and menus are large and easy to spot at native resolution without any scaling. I also noticed I can point the mouse easier with almost a pixel precision (subjective impression).
- Because of the lower native resolution, games can be played with max settings even with a mid-range video card. Also, if you have a high refresh screen, you can use the power of your video card to achieve really fast fps. I always prefer to have more fps then more resolution.
- Cheaper.
CONS:
- Large pixels means you can see them with naked eye. Image is not that sharp and even in games you can sometimes notice the rough edges even if anti-aliasing is used.


CONCLUSION:

If you plan to use the monitor for productivity applications and web browsing, go for a high resolution, high DPI, small dotpitch monitor. Activate scaling and all items should be well readible. These monitors can be used well for gaming too if you have a very strong video card able to fill all the pixels at native monitor resolution at a high enough refresh rate.

On the other hand, if you are using unusual programs or older games that do not work well with scaling, the low resolution, low DPI, large dotpitch monitor will be probably the better choice. Also, if you game a lot and want the max fps possible with highest details possible, the lower resolution monitor have a clear advantage, especially if your video card is not top of the top behemot every gamer dreams of.  :)