Summary
1080p (Full HD) has been the standard display resolution for a long time. It’s had a good run, but its time is up. I upgraded both my monitor and TV this year, and I haven’t looked back. Now, I’m convinced it’s time to ditch 1080p for good.
1080p Just Doesn’t Cut It for Me Anymore
I held on to 1080p for a long time. While it became the standard in phones, monitors, and TVs back in the early 2010s, I was a bit late to the party. As a broke student, I didn’t get my first 1080p phone until 2016, my first 1080p TV in 2018, and my first 1080p monitor in 2020.
At the time, they all seemed fine. Movies looked okay on the TV, and games were infinitely sharper than with my old 1440x900p monitor. While I was often reminded of how good 4K (Ultra HD) TVs looked whenever I passed near an electronics store, the eye-watering prices were just too high for me.
When I replaced my 40" 1080p TV with a 55" 4K OLED, the difference was instantly clear. Games, movies, and even subtitles looked significantly sharper, cleaner, and more defined. If I had to describe it in one word, it would definitely be “crisp.”
I genuinely didn’t know what I was missing until I upgraded. Now, when I glance atmy old 1080p TV in the kitchen, the difference is obvious. The image lacks definition—while it’s fine for a quick YouTube video, it completely lacks the crisp detail you get with 4K, making it feel quite dated in comparison.
Upgrading my monitor told the same story. I had gotten so used to the soft text, jagged elements in games, and blurry textures that I didn’t realize how good games can actually look now. Gaming and working on the new 1440p (QHD) monitor was amazing, and I got used to the improved image andupscalingrather quickly.
When I eventually turned on my old monitor before selling it, it was quite the eye-opener. I’m rather sensitive to aliasing (jagged edges), so that’s the first thing that jumped out. Fences, wires, trees, and other thin objects were pixelated messes that resembled stairs. Even with anti-aliasing, things still looked worse compared to 1440p. I honestly can’t believe I used to play like that, now that I know how good a 1440p monitor looks.
In addition to everything looking sharper, one of the biggest advantages of a higher resolution is that you can go up in screen size while gaining sharpness instead of losing it. For example, thepixel densityof my old 24-inch 1080p monitor was ~92, while that of my new 27-inch 1440p monitor (theLG 27GR83Q-B) is ~109. Despite the larger screen, the image is noticeably crisper. The difference is even more dramatic when comparing my 40-inch 1080p TV to a 55-inch 4K TV.
LG Ultragear 27GR83Q-B
The LG UltraGear 27GR83Q-B is a 1440p 27-inch gaming monitor that delivers ultra-smooth visuals with a 240Hz refresh rate, 1ms (GtG) response time, and support for both NVIDIA G-SYNC and AMD FreeSync Premium via HDMI 2.1 and DisplayPort 1.4. The vibrant IPS panel has a DisplayHDR 400 certification and up to 95% DCI-P3 color coverage. Combined with the 240Hz refresh rate, it’s a stunning display for both competitive and immersive gaming.
To be fair, resolution isn’t a one-size-fits-all comparison across devices. A 1080p phone can still look sharp because you’re holding it close to your face. But the farther you sit from a screen (and the larger that screen), the more obvious the limitations of 1080p become. Still, once your eyes adjust to higher resolution, it’s tough to go back.
Why 1440p and 4K Are the New Sweet Spots
The evolution from 1080p to higher resolutions never stopped; it’s just that the resolution became a go-to because it was widely supported and cheap to produce, thanks to the widespread popularity. It was “good enough” for most users and across a wide range of devices. The latter point is particularly important, as cost is ultimately the driving factor both for consumers and manufacturers.
However, things have changed a lot over the years. 4K TVs and 1440p monitors have become quite affordable. They’ve effectively replaced the price brackets that 1080p used to fill, and 1080p is even cheaper now. If we were to account for inflation, the prices are even lower.
For example, you may get a 27-inch 1440p 180Hz IPS monitor, theAcer Nitro KG271U N3bmiipx, for a low price of $179.99. I paid slightly more for my 144Hz 1080p monitor in 2020, so this is an absolute steal.
Acer Nitro KG271U 27" IPS 1440p
The Acer Nitro KG271U is an affordable 27-inch 2560 × 1440 IPS monitor offering an impressive 180Hz refresh rate. Its IPS panel delivers excellent color accuracy that makes in-game visuals pop, while the 180Hz refresh rate combined with a 0.5ms GTG response time ensures smooth, responsive gameplay.
4K TVs have gotten very cheap, too. TheTCL 55-Inch Class S5is just around $320. TheHisense 55-inch QD6 QLEDis on sale for only $259.99 right now. Frankly, you’ll do yourself a disservice if you buy a 1080p monitor or TV in 2025. These are the kinds of devices you buy once and keep for years, so you might as well invest in something with a sharp resolution.
I believe 4K for TVs and 1440p for monitors (and phones) are the sweet spots for several reasons beyond just price. First, if you’re a gamer, playing on an 8K TV requires a seriously powerful gaming PC, and even then, the low frame rates often aren’t worth the sacrifice. While you can game on a4K monitorsince the workload is similar to that of a 4K TV, I think it’soverkill for most people.
I prefer playing games at native resolution or with minimal upscaling andframe generationon my 1440p monitor, and I can easily get over 100 FPS in most triple-A titles. On my 4K TV, I switch to a performance-focused upscaling mode, and since I sit farther away, the image quality remains excellent.
The second factor is your internet connection. Streaming 8K content requires about four times the bandwidth of 4K (around 60 Mbps for H.265 at 30 FPS). If your connection isn’t up to the task, expect buffering and complaints from family members whose internet use you’ve just interrupted. And that’s assuming you’re able to evenfind 8K contentto stream in the first place.
Abandoning 1080p Could Push the Industry Forward
1080p has had a great run. It became the go-to resolution for most devices in the early 2010s and quickly became the gold standard for all screen sizes. But here we are, over a decade later, and it’s still somehow the most common resolution in phones, monitors, and laptops. While I can’t find current, reliable data on adoption rates, it’s safe to assume that in households where TVs aren’t frequently upgraded, 1080p is still the norm.
Heck, even flagship phones seem to be regressing in this area. Samsung is a prime example. The Galaxy S8, released in 2017, came with a 1440p display. That trend continued through to the Galaxy S20 in 2020.
However, more recent models have reversed course. Samsung now reserves 1440p screens for its high-endPlusandUltravariants, while the standardS25ships with only a 1080p display. Considering that 1440p phones like the LG G3 have been around since 2014, this feels like a step backward.
If we were to vote with our wallets and start buying phones, laptops, and monitors with a resolution of at least 1440p, and 4K for TVs, the industry could finally ditch the beloved 1080p resolution for good. Greater demand would enable economies of scale, making higher-resolution displays cheaper and better over time.
That said, “abandon” doesn’t necessarily have to mean eliminating 1080p from existence. It should remain available as a fallback, especially in situations where bandwidth is limited, just as YouTube still offers streams as low as 144p. Lower resolutions can save data and are perfectly acceptable when you’re primarily listening rather than watching.
Gamers also benefit from lower resolutions. Running a game at 1080p allows consoles or PCs to push more frames per second, which is crucial in competitive settings or on lower-end hardware. Fortunately, thanks to advanced upscaling algorithms, you’re able to have your cake and eat it too.
In short, if you’re shopping for a new device, especially a laptop, monitor, or phone, don’t settle for 1080p if you have a better option available. It’s better to watch content or play games at 1080p on a high-resolution screen than to be locked into a 1080p panel. Let 1080p remain a useful fallback, not the default.
