FHD vs UHD in LAPTOP computer??? Important? Does it make that much difference?

[vindibona1]

I'm going to have to buy a laptop in short order as I expect to be away for a month and will have no access to any other computers or monitors. I tend to keep my computers for a fairly long time and my last laptop purchase (2013) was a huge disappointment in terms of image quality because I didn't pay attention to the graphics card and monitor specs. I have a few final candidates narrowed down, but many, in spite of having RTX 3060 or 3070 GPU cards are only 1920 x 1080/FHD resolution while a few claim to have 4k UHD resolution with the same graphics cards. At this moment I don't know if I will go with at 15.6" or 17" laptop. It the resolution relevant to the screen size.

Also important, when I am at home it will be hooked up via HDMI or display port to a 27" or larger monitor. How does the card or the FHD/UHD rating affect resolution on separate monitors when not using the laptop's screen for primary viewing/editing?

A good explanation of how GPU and monitor resolution work and go hand in hand would be appreciated. TIA

 

[brett8883]

I'm going to have to buy a laptop in short order as I expect to be away for a month and will have no access to any other computers or monitors. I tend to keep my computers for a fairly long time and my last laptop purchase (2013) was a huge disappointment in terms of image quality because I didn't pay attention to the graphics card and monitor specs. I have a few final candidates narrowed down, but many, in spite of having RTX 3060 or 3070 GPU cards are only 1920 x 1080/FHD resolution while a few claim to have 4k UHD resolution with the same graphics cards. At this moment I don't know if I will go with at 15.6" or 17" laptop. It the resolution relevant to the screen size.

Also important, when I am at home it will be hooked up via HDMI or display port to a 27" or larger monitor. How does the card or the FHD/UHD rating affect resolution on separate monitors when not using the laptop's screen for primary viewing/editing?

A good explanation of how GPU and monitor resolution work and go hand in hand would be appreciated. TIA

Once you look at a 4k laptop screen you can never go back so if you don’t want to spend the money be sure to never look at one. Beyond images text is super sharp and easier to read. Looking at a 4k screen side by side with a FHD (1080p) makes the FHD look like a relic. Get a 4k screen. Just go to Best Buy or Micro Center (best store in the world) to compare. It’s night and day. Of course 4k uses more battery life.

Unless you are a hardcore gamer you don’t have to worry about the GPU driving the display. Any modern discrete GPU is easily capable of driving dual 4k monitors and more. If you had some elaborate video wall which the image is is split up onto multiple screens then it becomes a factor but not for normal use. And no the size of the display doesn’t matter.

For your purposes the GPU is for accelerating editing performance.

 

[vindibona1]

Once you look at a 4k laptop screen you can never go back so if you don’t want to spend the money be sure to never look at one. Beyond images text is super sharp and easier to read. Looking at a 4k screen side by side with a FHD (1080p) makes the FHD look like a relic. Get a 4k screen. Just go to Best Buy or Micro Center (best store in the world) to compare. It’s night and day. Of course 4k uses more battery life.

Unless you are a hardcore gamer you don’t have to worry about the GPU driving the display. Any modern discrete GPU is easily capable of driving dual 4k monitors and more. If you had some elaborate video wall which the image is is split up onto multiple screens then it becomes a factor but not for normal use. And no the size of the display doesn’t matter. View attachment 133562

For your purposes the GPU is for accelerating editing performance.

Thanks. Will it make much difference if the laptop has a 3060 or 3070 card when it comes to editing?

For reference, my current desktop has a GTX 1070 card. The other specs on it is is an i7-8700 CPU @ 3.2ghz 6 core and 48 GB of RAM.

I was thinking going with a 15.6" but now am questioning if I should go with 17"? Again, some time later in the year I will be away for a month. Do you have any suggestions for a specific laptop I should be looking at? The last thing I want is buyer's remorse thinking couldawouldashoulda after the fact. I pretty much went down that road with my UAV's, though it worked out to my advantage in the long run.

 

[brett8883]

Thanks. Will it make much difference if the laptop has a 3060 or 3070 card when it comes to editing?

For reference, my current desktop has a GTX 1070 card. The other specs on it is is an i7-8700 CPU @ 3.2ghz 6 core and 48 GB of RAM.

I was thinking going with a 15.6" but now am questioning if I should go with 17"? Again, some time later in the year I will be away for a month. Do you have any suggestions for a specific laptop I should be looking at? The last thing I want is buyer's remorse thinking couldawouldashoulda after the fact. I pretty much went down that road with my UAV's, though it worked out to my advantage in the long run.

What kind of work are you doing and what programs are you using?

Bigger screens are always better so it’s just a matter of is it too big for you to comfortably carry around.

 

[vindibona1]

What kind of work are you doing and what programs are you using?

Bigger screens are always better so it’s just a matter of is it too big for you to comfortably carry around.

Photoshop and Davinci Resolve. Everything else I could do on any computer. Web/Word/Excel/Quickbooks. The question isn't even so much cost, but cash flow and what I might need out of a "secondary" and transportable computer. Or will I want it to supplant my current Alienware desktop at some point. In five years, how much more power will be required as we get into 6k and 8k and should I keep the extra $300-$500 in reserve to replace my desktop earlier should I transition into 6k or 8k video in a year, two or three?

 

[Dave Maine]

You need to decide on what video file format you plan to use. H.264 encoded formats are reasonably easy to handle on most recent computers. H.265 files are a different story entirely. They are much smaller In file size, but require much more computing horsepower to play back smoothly. For best editing playback, your computer needs a hardware decoder for H.265, or you need to transcode the file to an encoding that is easier for the computer to handle. ProRes is a good choice.