The PS5 and Xbox Series X are shaping up to deliver incredibly immersive 4K gaming at high frame rates. But what about the people who want an upgrade but don’t necessarily want to go all the way to 4K?
Thankfully, it’s been confirmed the PS5 will be supporting 1440p displays this time around.
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Unlike the Xbox One X, which did support 1440p resolution, the PS4 Pro could only handle 4K or 1080p — and nothing in between. Why this was the case has never been made clear, especially since a number of PS4 Pro titles capped out at 1440p resolution anyway. It was also rather frustrating for the people who opted for a lower-cost 1440p display upgrade instead of jumping straight into 4K.
Thankfully things aren’t that way this time around, though not from Sony itself. The news actually comes from PC monitor maker BenQ, who revealed 1440p support in a blog post. However, BenQ later updated the post to remove specific mention of this feature, so it's possible that the company spoke to soon or that Sony is still waiting to reveal this info.
If this upgrade happens, gamers with 1440p displays will be able to enjoy PS5 games in something better than 1080p, and there may be some additional advantages. Often gamers have to choose between resolution and frame rate, and while both the PS5 and Xbox Series X can handle 4K and 120 fps, it's rare that a game can do both at once.
Some games won’t be able to run a full 4K 120 fps, or even 4K 60 fps. So if you value a silky smooth high frame rate, you’ll need to drop the resolution to accommodate it. 1440p support means you don’t have to drop quite so far, and could (in theory) enjoy a balance between resolution and frame rate. It’ll be interesting to see how that holds up with ray tracing as well, since we already know at least one PS5 game (Watch Dogs Legion) will run at only 30 fps when you have 4K and ray tracing switched on.
So if you have a 1440p display and plan on buying a PS5, you don’t necessarily need to get a new screen. Or, if you are in need of a new screen but can’t justify the cost of a 4K display, then don’t forget to check out the Black Friday sales on some of the best TVs and monitors out there. They’ve already begun, so you don’t need to wait around for your console to arrive either.
