Do You Need A 4k Monitor For Xbox Series X

Answer:

For professional purposes and everyday use, 4K monitors are worth it since they've become very affordable lately.

When it comes to PC gaming, we don't recommend them as the 4K UHD resolution is very demanding and the improvement in image quality over a good 1440p display is rarely worth the performance hit.

For console gaming, 4K monitors make more sense as most games are intended to run at locked 30FPS or 60FPS at 4K, depending on the title.

With more and more content being available in 4K resolution each day, getting a 4K monitor seems like an inevitable move.

Higher resolution means more details and better image quality for your favorite TV shows, movies and games as well as more screen real estate for your spreadsheets and web-surfing.

Whether getting a 4K monitor for PC is worth it or not depends on what you're mainly doing on your computer.

Do you play video games, are you a content creator, or do you just want everything to be crystal-clear and sharp? Whatever it is, we'll help you decide.

4K Monitors For Gaming

If you have the Xbox One X or the PS4 Pro, then getting a 4K display is a no-brainer for you since you are already locked at 30 or 60 FPS at 4K UHD anyway.

With the PS5, you have a choice between 1080p 120Hz, 4K 60Hz and 4K 120Hz.

Of course, a 4K 120Hz monitor is ideal since it'd also allow you to game at 60Hz and 1080p 120Hz, but such monitors are rather expensive.

On top of that, you wouldn't be able to take advantage of 4K 120Hz in most games, except for some undemanding titles, such as Monster Boy And The Cursed Kingdom.

In most games, the 120Hz/FPS mode is only supported at 1080p on PS5.

So, if the majority of games you play support 120FPS, consider a 1080p 144Hz display, such as the BenQ EX2510. Otherwise, get a 4K 60Hz monitor for better image quality or a 4K 60Hz gaming TV that also supports 1080p 120Hz.

Now, for the Xbox Series X/S, you get the 1440p 120Hz option in addition to 1080p 120Hz and 4K 60Hz/120Hz.

In this case, we recommend getting a good 1440p 120Hz display, such as the Dell S2721DGF, rather than a 4K 60Hz monitor since, just like with the PS5, most games only support 120FPS at lower resolutions.

When it comes to PC gaming, it depends on your PC configuration and the type of games you play. For instance, in a game such as Anthem, a high-end GPU like the RTX 3080 would provide you with ~60FPS at 4K or ~100FPS at 1440p.

We find that the performance difference between 60FPS and 100FPS is much greater than the difference in image quality between 4K and 1440p on a 27″ monitor, for example.

However, if you prefer better graphics over smoother performance, a 4K display will suit you well.

4K Monitor For Professional Use

If you are a content creator, getting a 4K monitor can certainly sound tempting as you'd be able to provide your subscribers with the impeccable picture quality.

In fact, video and photo editing will also be more enjoyable due to the higher image quality with more vivid details and more screen real estate.

One thing you should take into account is your hardware. Rendering 4K content requires a lot of RAM, a strong GPU/CPU and you will need extra storage — depending on how complex your videos are and what format you're using.

So, even though you can get a 4K monitor cheap nowadays, hardware to properly power it for some purposes is still expensive.

And when you consider that most of your viewers will still be watching your content in 1080p, as it's still the standard and the most widespread resolution, you might want to ask yourself whether it is all really worth it.

In conclusion, if you can afford to edit in 4K, then getting a 4K monitor is worth it, but at the same time, you shouldn't feel like you have to rush to get one since 1080p is still the most popular resolution.

4K Monitor – Everyday Use

Simply put: if you're just looking for a monitor to watch 4K movies and TV shows, to web-surf and for other basic multimedia activities, a 4K monitor is a viable choice.

In fact, some 4K monitors are even cheaper than some 1440p displays! Unless you are gaming, you won't need a powerful system either.

The HD 630 integrated GPU of Intel's 7th Generation Core processors (or newer) supports 4K resolution, and you will be able to watch 4K movies without any issues.

You should also keep in mind that to watch 4K content online via streaming, you need a decent internet connection, at least 25 Mbps.

Conclusion

What's the bottom line?

Getting a 4K monitor can be worth it since there's an abundance of compatible content available nowadays.

However, if you want to play video games, you need to make sure your hardware will be able to handle it before you go out and purchase the monitor.