720p Content on 1440p Display

[orbster556]

Dear All:

I currently use a 2407fwp as a second monitor on which to watch 720p/1080p files and stream other content. I am thinking of replacing the monitor with a 1440p monitor but am concerned that the picture quality will suffer on account of the resolution of the files I will be viewing compared to the higher resolution of the monitor.

Is this a concern or will the monitor and/or video player (mostly vlc) upscale the content such that the picture quality won't suffer?

Thank you, in advance, for any information you might be able to provide.

Regards,

 

[KaRLiToS]

If your video is 720p and you run it on a 1440p monitor, you will still have a 720p video. No quality loss and no quality gain either.

 

[redzo]

Is that a Dell 2407WFP? So your current display is 1920 x 1200. This a little higher than 1080p.

So you're watching 720p and 1080p on a closer to 1080p screen.
If you upgrade to 1440p, 1080p content is going to look/feel like the 720p content on the 1080p screen.

EDIT:
720p on a 1440p screen approximates to 480p on a 1080p screen. Quite bad...

 

[orbster556]

If your video is 720p and you run it on a 1440p monitor, you will still have a 720p video. No quality loss and no quality gain either.

Apologies for the lack of clarity. I am concerned that the image quality will be quite if I try to watch 720p file in fullscreen on the 1440p monitor as compared to watching the same file or stream in fullscreen on a 1080p.

Thanks again.

 

[ShintaiDK]

720p will be better on the 1440p monitor than the 1080p. Since it can match pixels directly 1:4.

But its very minor in reality.

 

[Piroko]

Is this a concern or will the monitor and/or video player (mostly vlc) upscale the content such that the picture quality won't suffer?

Yes, the video player will upscale the content just fine.

There is a very small sharpness loss associated with content that isn't displayed on native resolution, but at the same time you can gain a lot of quality whenever you watch something that is native 1440p or 4k. And those formats are gaining traction quickly.

Additionally, if you watch content with overlay subtitles, those will look a bit nicer.

So you're watching 720p and 1080p on a closer to 1080p screen.
If you upgrade to 1440p, 1080p content is going to look/feel like the 720p content on the 1080p screen.

EDIT:
720p on a 1440p screen approximates to 480p on a 1080p screen. Quite bad...

What are you talking about? 720p content will look pretty much identical on a 1080p screen and a 1440p screen. Your source material does not look worse just because you can display it better.

 

[VirtualLarry]

I know that when I changed from a 22" 1680x1050 screen, to a 26" 1920x1200 screen, and watched DVDs (720x480), the quality seemed to suffer a bit more.

There's a definite loss of sharpness, when you attempt to scale up video like that.

 

[Piroko]

Nope there isn't. You just got used to the higher sharpness of your desktop experience and now imagine that the content is lower quality. But on a side-to-side screening you'd have a really hard time to see any difference between 480p content upscaled to 1680x945 or 1920x1080.

And the OP doesn't have the same problem because it's just the secondary screen for him.

 

[ShintaiDK]

I think my old 1920*1200 monitor next to my 2560*1440p looks completely trash now. But image on the 1920*1200 never changed. Classic example

I also remember Doom as something great, not like the fist sized pixels it is when I tried again.