The “More is better“It is the general line of thought of us, PC gamers. It does not always apply, of course, but there is no doubt that the bulk of the platform’s player population likes the aforementioned philosophy; more titles available on the platform, more options Within these titles, more performance for all of them, more power in the pieces that go on the market, and so many other phrases that we could circle around that philosophy, but this is not always the case.
In the case of performance, for example, those who read our old text on the refresh rate vs. The FPS on our screens, they could see how excessive power without a hardware to protect it is useless in many cases.
Today we want, in a line relatively similar to that of said text, to talk about one of these cases, curiously, also related to our screens. On this occasion, the subject in question is the Pixel Density (Pixel Density) and its effects when viewing our screens, some effects that we believe give rise to an interesting topic. Let’s go there!
Pixels: the limited canvas of our screens
Let’s start with the basics, as many of you already know, since the abandonment of screens based on CTR technology in favor of digital models, the images we see on these screens are made up of a pixel mesh fixed that not only determine the maximum resolution of these screens, but also configure the formats that it can reproduce physically.
The higher the maximum resolution of a screen, the greater the number of pixels within the aforementioned mesh, having normally a positive relationship between the increase in resolution with respect to the increase in image definition; but this is only in gross terms.
Many other factors come into play to determine this proper “definition” within a screen, one of the most prominent elements being the size of the screen, usually represented in inches, or the viewing distance.
In this way, given a specific size for a screen, if we place ourselves at the same distance of a group of screens with different resolution, the one with a higher pixel count will be the one that, except for factors that we will see later, we find that it has a more defined image.
“PPIs describe the amount of detail in an image based on the concentration of its pixels”
This happens because the hypothetical higher resolution screen has a higher density of pixels per inch (PPI) in the final image, or what is the same, the pixel mesh we are talking about, is more difficult to perceive because it is smaller. Instinctively, the higher the PPI of a screen, the sharper the final result will be, since the concentration of information in the space given by the screen will be greater.
In the same way, as with resolution, the increase in a PPI is quadruplicative, for each number that rises or falls, we will be gaining or losing four times the density of our pixels; for example, about 4 ppi represents 16 pixels per inch, while 8 ppi represents 64 pixels per inch.
Our eyes have a lot to say (Viewing distance and sub pixel)
With the information in the previous section, we could think “the higher the resolution the better the image” without any reservations; however, as you can imagine from the mere existence of this text, Things are not so simple.
“The limitations and peculiarities of our sight play an important role in how we perceive the quality of an image”
Much more comes into play than resolution to define the quality of an image, especially when our perception comes into play, and we can take advantage of these elements to “optimize” the density we need to properly view our images.
Going back to the previous example, our starting point was a series of screens with the same size, viewed from the same distance and with increasing resolutions. What if we shake up these principles?
If in our hypothetical case we move the higher resolution screen about 30 cm away from our viewing point, it is more than likely that we will be unable to discern which of the last two has the most defined image; Furthermore, if we exaggerate the lower resolution screen and the higher resolution screen, it is quite likely that it will be easier for us to identify the image on the lower resolution screen.
This happens because, like so many other things in our being, our vision is not perfect, and we lose definition through distance. It is estimated that a healthy human eye can distinguish, at a stable 76 cm distance, a 300ppi image with a 576ppi total on a 10-inch screen, but both can be identifiable without straining your eyes.
In the same way as with distance, screen size, as we can imagine from the definition itself one ppi on screen, it changes dramatically with size. For reference, according to this PPI calculator, a 24-inch panel with a 1080p resolution is around 100 ppi, while a 32-inch 1080p panel lowers its density up to 68 ppi on average, also lowering its definition at the same distance.
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And even with everything we are leaving behind another important element, because, although the measurement that we use for the members of the aforementioned mesh is pixels, like electrons in atoms, pixels are composed of a lower unit, the sub-pixels, whose geometry can significantly influence the final appearance of the image, a topic that we would love to talk about in the future.
Why optimizing the display of our screens is interesting
If both the distance and the size have a direct influence on the final image, it is interesting to ask ourselves where is the perfect point to stop.
That was the same Raymond Soneira, from the DisplayMate portal, in a text reinterpreted by Brian Chen in Wired. Soneira defended the ability of our eyes to distinguish the definition of two small images (in the text they spoke of the screen of Apple’s iPhone 4) at a medium distance; but it also dealt with how this image could be perceived well with a lower bead.
This statement is something that we can verify on the screens of portable consoles, or small devices such as the Valve Steam Deck, in which the low inches and the distance at which the screen rests on these devices works in their favor to mask a relatively low resolution, which hides a good pixel density when we adjust the accounts.
Both distance and size play a crucial role in determining the effects of a panel’s resolution, making this feature an element of great importance, but that is governed by the conditions in which it is played.
Take these conditions into account it’s primordial to make the most of both our gaming space and our budget. We hope that this text, in addition to having provided some curious information, has managed to ensure that those users who have not raised these cases until now, find a way to materialize said information. See you very soon!