4k or FHD for 15.6" laptop?

[imin]

I'm planning to purchase a new 15.6" laptop, but I'm not sure which one will suit my needs the best. Honestly speaking, I've never seen a 4k laptop using my naked eye, so I have no idea how the display really look like. I will be using the laptop mainly to do programming using Android Studio. My assumption is that a higher resolution display will give me much better and larger work space, but at the same time I'm worried that with 4k, the texts and fonts will be very small. Not to mention the tolls that it will take on the battery life.

Thanks

[Saracen]

I'm planning to purchase a new 15.6" laptop, but I'm not sure which one will suit my needs the best. Honestly speaking, I've never seen a 4k laptop using my naked eye, so I have no idea how the display really look like. I will be using the laptop mainly to do programming using Android Studio. My assumption is that a higher resolution display will give me much better and larger work space, but at the same time I'm worried that with 4k, the texts and fonts will be very small. Not to mention the tolls that it will take on the battery life.

Thanks

You're right to be concerned. My brother has a new high-end 4K laptop bought mainly for Photoshop, and is having exactly that fight, with it currently seeming to be an argument between Adobe and MS both suggesting it's a driver issue and it'll be resolved .... eventually. Meantime .... ???? Microscopic icons?

NOTE : I'm not suggesting everybody has this problem with Photoshop and 4K laptops. No doubt, plenty don't. But he's near to wishing he hadn't paid out for 4K.

[GoNz0]

End of the day if you really really had to you can change the resolution to 1080, Otherwise my 4k XPS screen is simply stunning and makes photo editing a breeze.

Programs with small fonts = lazy developers.


Photoshop had a scaling fix many updates ago. This a screenshot of mine

[cptwhite_uk]

4k on a 15.6" has a similar pixel density to an iPad. I have one.

Looks great but for scrolling on websites is stutters on anything other Microsoft's Edge browser, so I tend to run it at 1080p for better website performance.

Honestly if it's a decent panel - 300+ nits brightness, 100 sRGB, good colour accuracy...ideally with good viewing angles / frame rate sync tech. I think a 1080p panel is ample for a laptop.

4k panels, unless going for Dell XPS / Razor Blade options tend to be a little flawed at the cheaper end of the market.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

I find qHD perfectly fine on a 25" display. Colour accuracy,panel coatings,backlit consistency,colour depth,colour consistency,viewing angles,etc are more important metrics than just the number of pixels for image editing IMHO.

[EndlessWaves]

but at the same time I'm worried that with 4k, the texts and fonts will be very small.

They're designed to be used like high res phone and tablet displays are, so you set the scaling to 200% and everything is the same size as 1920x1080 but programs can use the extra pixels to add more detail like less blocky/blurry text.

While programs that use the standard Windows GUI APIs are automatically compatible, some programs that use custom GUI APIs, adobe being a notable example, have been slow to implement support.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Its getting ridiculous now - like the stupid MP race. A phone might need a higher DPI display since you have it closer to your face - as the screen size gets bigger its less of an issue as you will be further and further away.

[Saracen]

End of the day if you really really had to you can change the resolution to 1080, Otherwise my 4k XPS screen is simply stunning and makes photo editing a breeze.

Programs with small fonts = lazy developers.


Photoshop had a scaling fix many updates ago. This a screenshot of mine

Yes, you can turn down the res, but it makes it pointless having bought the 4k model, then.

The problem my brother was having with PS was approx 2 weeks ago. I don't know if he solved it.

[imin]

Ok, thanks a lot everyone for the info... so maybe for the time being, I don't really need 4k screen yet. I just thought that if the Android Studio work space that I will have in 4k is much larger than FHD, then it will be worth it. If in the end I need to upscale to 200%, well then I think that somehow removes the purpose right?

[GoNz0]

Not at all if 9 out of 10 work fine in 4k until the developers fix the application in question, end of the day they will go out of business if they think everything only needs to work in 1080p the way things are going.
Adobe did take a long time to fix scaling but it has been 250% scaling ready for probably a year now?

Maybe he had an older version?

[EndlessWaves]

If in the end I need to upscale to 200%, well then I think that somehow removes the purpose right?

It's an unfortunate name for the setting, Microsoft would have been better off calling it sizing.

It only scales up legacy applications. .NET, UWP and other modern apps aren't scaled but told to render at twice the size so they use the extra pixels to add detail and generally look better.

[scaryjim]

... I just thought that if the Android Studio work space that I will have in 4k is much larger than FHD, then it will be worth it. ...

I think the issue might be how you define "more work space". A monitor of the same size but higher resolution only gives you more work space if you're happy working with smaller icons and text. Otherwise you'll end up scaling everything and you'll end up with the same amount of work space with finer detail. If you're already working with the smallest icons and texts you think you're comfortable with, the only way to get more work space is to increase the size as well as the resolution.

What's interesting though, is how quickly you can get used to higher resolutions on the same size screen. I used to think going much higher than 1366x768 on a 13" - 14" laptop would be excessive, but I got a 1080p 14" laptop in my current post and I've already got used to the increased pixel pitch and smaller UI elements, without relying on scaling. I think the only way you could be sure i9f a 4k panel would work for you would be to use one for a few weeks and see how you get on ... probably not a very practical option though

[imin]

I think the issue might be how you define "more work space". A monitor of the same size but higher resolution only gives you more work space if you're happy working with smaller icons and text. Otherwise you'll end up scaling everything and you'll end up with the same amount of work space with finer detail. If you're already working with the smallest icons and texts you think you're comfortable with, the only way to get more work space is to increase the size as well as the resolution.

What's interesting though, is how quickly you can get used to higher resolutions on the same size screen. I used to think going much higher than 1366x768 on a 13" - 14" laptop would be excessive, but I got a 1080p 14" laptop in my current post and I've already got used to the increased pixel pitch and smaller UI elements, without relying on scaling. I think the only way you could be sure i9f a 4k panel would work for you would be to use one for a few weeks and see how you get on ... probably not a very practical option though

Yes, actually I was thinking of this too... but couldn't find someone near me who has 15" laptop with 4k panel.. haha

[Dashers]

Last night, I used a 15.6" XPS with the HD IPS panel and tbh, that was so nice. I'm not really sure it's necessary to bother with 4K unless you have a particular requirement - especially given the extra cost.