After you’ve reached 4K, can you use 4K textures on a 1080p monitor? Yes, you can! The biggest difference between high-resolution 1080p displays and 4K screens is the pixel resolution. 4K textures have more pixels to sample. This means that each point on a model will have a unique pixel, which can enhance the quality of textures for your models.
Table of Contents
Partially resident textures
For many gamers, the promise of partially resident textures is just too good to be true. But it’s not impossible, and it’s coming to gaming soon. In fact, partially resident textures are already being used by some games. For example, ID Software’s Rage uses virtual texturing, which is capable of handling 20GB of texture data. Virtual texturing analyzes what parts are missing and swaps them in. For gamers, partially resident textures offer the promise of a simple solution to giant textures. The GPU’s MMU is capable of handling these massive textures. And, as John Carmack noted, upcoming Doom 4 will support them.
Supersampling
If you’ve ever wished that you could run 4K textures on a 1080p monitor, you’ve probably wondered if it’s possible. Supersampling is a method used to increase the resolution of an image. It works by mapping each texel onto a smaller amount of pixels than the native resolution. As a result, the image appears to be sharper.
Supersampling is a method of reducing the aliasing that comes from playing games that are upscaled for a 4K display. Supersampling 4K textures onto a 1080p monitor enables the game to run at the same resolution as a 4K screen. It also improves lighting effects, making your PC appear more vibrant. However, it doesn’t work for all games. Some games are designed for ultra-widescreen displays, while others require a 4K screen.
Rastorized pixels
When you’re using a ten-thousand-pixel-per-inch (PPI) monitor, the size of rasterized pixels may not be exactly as you’d expect. The border of a pixel should be at least 3.125 device pixels wide. In a video, a rasterizer may cover three pixels fully, the 4th partially, or it may blend in with the background. To fix this, you can use anti-aliasing.
Resolution
While a 4K resolution will improve the quality of your game, you may not want to use it on a 1080p monitor unless you absolutely need a 4K display. The difference between resolution and texture is largely in how the texture is mapped to the screen. If the texture is spread over a large area (250m), then it will appear worse than if it is spread over a smaller area (25m). That being said, if you want to view 4K textures on a 1080p monitor, you should get a new one.
The difference between full HD and WQHD resolution is quite striking. Full HD is 1920 x 1080 pixels, while WQHD is 2560 x 1440, or 1440 pixels. The resolution of 4K games is roughly equivalent to the native resolution of 1080p monitors. But this doesn’t necessarily mean that a higher resolution monitor will give you a better picture. If you have a higher-end monitor, you might want to try integer scaling.
Memory requirements
Compared to a full HD monitor with a resolution of 1080p, a 4K display requires significantly more VRAM. This is because a single frame requires 32 bits of memory, while a 4K display requires 33.2 MB. Higher resolution monitors use more VRAM, so you may need more VRAM to play games that require high graphics. A 1080p monitor may be sufficient for less demanding games, but for games that require high graphics, you need more VRAM.
Fortunately, there’s a simple way to reduce this memory demand. Using an NVMe SSD for gaming is an excellent idea, and it will enable the GPU to get the most out of the I/O speed. The SSD will provide direct access to the GPU, meaning it won’t have to load the CPU or RAM to render 4K textures. However, this type of memory isn’t cheap.