Your QHD (1440p) Monitor Could Actually Be A “4K Display” With Lower Resolution

Sometimes, you may feel that the high-end monitor you bought doesn’t have the satisfying sharpness and quality for the big hole it made in your pocket.

A German website prad.de claims that some manufacturers (unnamed) are providing consumers 4K display panels under the guise of promised QHD pannels (1440p).

QHD monitors have always been the first preference of gamers. Majorly because of their high refresh rates and better compatibility with graphics cards. But, don’t get too excited about the revelation, thinking manufacturers did you a favor.

The 4K panels downscaled to the resolution of 1440p by manufactures leads to loss of image sharpness and blurry text. And the report called “Wolf in sheep’s clothing” mentions that the reason behind this is merely cost-cutting since 4K panels are more affordable than QHD ones.

Apparently, there is no way to upscale your monitor from QHD to 4K since it’s locked with the firmware.

To check if you have been duped in a downscaled monitor, focus on the text and small icons; They would tend to be a little blurry instead of being sharp and clear. Another way to find the truth is to go behind the specifications of the monitor and check the pixel width.

A 2560 x 1440 QHD panel has a larger pixel width than of 3840 x 2160 4K panel. If your QHD monitor has a pixel width of .233mm or something similar along the lines, then you’re have received the product as promised. And if it’s got a 0.16mm pixel pitch, the same as a UHD monitor, you’re probably working with a downscaled display.

Also Read: Difference Between HDMI, VGA, DisplayPort, DVI, Thunderbolt, And MHL