在各种情况下，您通常必须在 720p、1080p 或 1440p（以及更多）等分辨率之间进行选择。这些选项是什么意思，什么时候应该选择哪个选项？
什么是分辨率？
首先，让我们快速了解一下什么是“分辨率”。数字(Digital)图像被分解为“图片元素”或“像素”。每个像素都有特定的颜色和亮度值，多个像素排列成一个网格，形成图片。
图像中的像素越多，图像就越详细。“低分辨率”图像呈现颗粒状，如果仔细观察，很容易看到实际像素。“高分辨率”图像看起来平滑而清晰，其中单个像素在不放大的情况下肉眼看不到。
分辨率是数字媒体（例如照片、视频或视频游戏）和液晶(LCD)电视等显示设备的属性。
屏幕的原始(Your Screen)分辨率(Native Resolution)
现代平板显示器具有LCD 或 OLED(LCD or OLED)物理像素（液晶显示器(Liquid Crystal Displays)和有机发光二极管(Organic Light-emitting Diodes)），这是显示器的“原生”分辨率。如果屏幕上的图像与原始分辨率完全匹配，那么屏幕上的每个像素都有对应的唯一值，这构成了理想情况。
显示器的分辨率和内容之间的不匹配可能会导致称为“缩放”的过程，这会损害图像质量。
内容解析
如上所述，内容有其分辨率。例如，标准蓝光(BluRay)电影的分辨率为 1080p (1920×1080)。
“p”代表“渐进式”，这意味着图像会随着显示器刷新率的每个周期而刷新。刷新率是显示器重新绘制您看到的图片的速率。
相比之下，1080i 是一种过时的图像再现方法，其中“i”代表“隔行扫描”。” 隔行扫描(” Interlaced)意味着每次屏幕刷新都会重新绘制奇数和偶数行的像素。
像 720p 或 1080p 这样的分辨率只提到图像的高度，而不是它的长度。1920×1080 的屏幕和 2560×1080 的屏幕都是 1080p，但总像素数更高，“纵横比”更宽。纵横比是水平和垂直像素线之间的比率。1920×1080 的屏幕每 9 个像素高 16 个像素宽，称为 16:9 屏幕。
视频(Video)和照片内容具有固定的分辨率，这意味着在 1080p 屏幕上播放的 720p 视频不会比在 720p 屏幕上播放的 1080p 视频有更多细节。
分辨率缩放
现在，让我们定义“缩放”。”想象一下在(” Imagine)2160p (4K) 显示器上播放 1080p 电影。4K 屏幕的总像素数是其四倍，因此您可以将四个 1080p 图像帧自然地放入一个 2160p 帧中。这意味着您需要将 1080p 图像放大四倍才能填满 2160p 屏幕。
在实践中，这很有效，因为 1080p 内容平均分为 2160p。当这种完美的划分是不可能的时，必须使用估计像素值的缩放方法，这会进一步降低最终图像的质量。
虽然现代缩放方法在保持图像质量方面要好得多，但在选择内容的分辨率时，请瞄准原生内容或均匀划分为屏幕分辨率的内容，以获得最佳缩放结果。
(Dynamic Resolution)视频游戏(Video Games)中的动态分辨率和图像重建(Image Reconstruction)
与照片和视频不同，视频游戏和其他渲染实时图形的软件可以以任意分辨率进行渲染。例如，如果您是 PC 游戏玩家，您可以选择以 720p、1080p 或 1440p 等分辨率渲染游戏。在分辨率输出方面，即使是主机游戏也为玩家提供了有限的选择。
然而，现代游戏会动态地改变它们的分辨率。例如，游戏可能以 1440p 或 2160p 为目标，但以较低的分辨率渲染单个帧以保持游戏性能。然后，视频游戏软件本身将较低分辨率的帧缩放到正确的输出分辨率。
对于玩家来说，这通常是难以察觉的，或者在图像中表现为短暂的模糊，但在动作激烈时不会显着影响图像质量。
720p vs 1080p vs 1440p：各自的用例
考虑到所有这些信息，哪种分辨率最适合什么用途？
720p 分辨率(720p Resolution)
720p 分辨率在现代仍然占有一席之地，但那个地方不在大型电视或电脑显示器上。仅在手机上查看内容时选择 720p。假设带宽不受限制，您应该为所有内容（包括平板电脑）选择更高的分辨率。
720p 适用于在低功耗硬件（例如集成显卡）上玩视频游戏，但请确保您没有动态分辨率选项或任何图像重建方法来清理图像。
1080p 分辨率(1080p Resolution)
1080p 是当今最常见的分辨率。大多数手机提供 1080p 或更高的屏幕分辨率；这是最常见的电脑屏幕和电视分辨率。1080p 在图像质量、文件大小、带宽要求和性能之间提供了出色的平衡。
对于大多数现代游戏 PC 来说，1080p 是一个微不足道的目标，现在被认为是主流游戏分辨率目标。
1440p 分辨率(1440p Resolution)
1440p 提供 1080p 图像质量和全开 2160p 4K 之间的中间地带。如果这是显示器的原始分辨率，则 1440p 的视频分辨率会很有帮助。对于游戏玩家来说，1440p 提供了图像质量和性能的最佳组合。这是高刷新率 1440p 显示器在 PC 和游戏机游戏玩家(console gamers)中流行的主要原因之一。
720p vs. 1080p vs. 1440p: Which Resolution Is Better and Does It Matter?
You’ll often have to choose between resolutions sυch as 720p, 1080p, or 1440p (and more) in various contexts. What do these options mеan, and when should you pick which option?
What Is Resolution?
First, let’s get a quick understanding of what “resolution” is. Digital images are broken up into “picture elements” or “pixels.” Each pixel has a specific color and brightness value, and multiple pixels are arranged in a grid to form pictures.
The more pixels there are in an image, the more detailed that image will be. A “low-resolution” image appears grainy, and it’s easy to see the actual pixels if you look closely. A “high-resolution” image looks smooth and sharp where individual pixels are not visible to the naked eye without magnification.
Resolution is an attribute of digital media (e.g., a photo, video, or video game) and a display device such as an LCD TV.
The Native Resolution of Your Screen
Modern flat panel displays have LCD or OLED physical pixels (Liquid Crystal Displays and Organic Light-emitting Diodes), which is the display’s “native” resolution. If the on-screen image matches the native resolution exactly, then every pixel on the screen has a corresponding unique value, which constitutes an ideal situation.
A mismatch between the display’s resolution and the content may lead to a process known as “scaling,” which hurts picture quality.
The Resolution of Content
As mentioned above, content has its resolution. For example, standard BluRay films have a resolution of 1080p (1920×1080).
The “p” stands for “progressive”, which means that the image refreshes with every cycle of the monitor’s refresh rate. The refresh rate is the rate at which the monitor redraws the picture you see.
In contrast is 1080i, an obsolete approach to image reproduction where the “i” stands for “interlaced.” Interlaced means that every screen refresh redraws the odd and even-numbered lines of pixels.
A resolution like 720p or 1080p only mentions the height of the image and not its length. A 1920×1080 screen and a 2560×1080 screen are both 1080p, but one has a higher total number of pixels and a wider “aspect ratio.” The aspect ratio is the ratio between horizontal and vertical pixel lines. A 1920×1080 screen is 16 pixels wide for every nine pixels tall and is called a 16:9 screen.
Video and photographic content have fixed resolutions, which means that a 720p video playing on a 1080p screen doesn’t have any more detail than a 1080p video playing on a 720p screen.
Resolution Scaling
Now, let’s define “scaling.” Imagine playing a 1080p film on a 2160p (4K) display. A 4K screen has four times the number of total pixels so that you could fit four 1080p image frames into a 2160p frame natively. That means you need to blow up a 1080p image by a factor of four to fill a 2160p screen.
In practice, this works well since 1080p content divides evenly into 2160p. When such perfect division isn’t possible, scaling methods that estimate the values of pixels have to be used, which further degrades the final image.
While modern scaling methods are much better at maintaining image quality, when choosing the resolution of your content, aim for either native content or content that evenly divides into the screen resolution for the best scaling results.
Dynamic Resolution and Image Reconstruction in Video Games
Unlike photos and videos, video games and other software that render real-time graphics can do so at arbitrary resolutions. For example, if you’re a PC gamer, you can choose to render a game at resolutions such as 720p, 1080p, or 1440p. Even console games offer players a limited set of choices when it comes to resolution output.
However, modern games dynamically change their resolution. For example, the game might target 1440p or 2160p but render individual frames at a lower resolution to preserve game performance. The video game software itself then scales the lower resolution frame to the correct output resolution.
To the player, this is usually either imperceptible or appears as a brief fuzziness in the image but doesn’t significantly impact image quality in the heat of the action.
720p vs 1080p vs 1440p: Use Cases for Each
Taking all of this information into account, which resolution is the best for what use?
720p Resolution
The 720p resolution still has a place in modern times, but that place isn’t on a large TV or computer monitor. Choose 720p only when viewing content on a mobile phone. You should pick a higher resolution for everything (including tablets), assuming that bandwidth isn’t limited.
720p is suitable when playing a video game on low-powered hardware (such as integrated graphics), but make sure you don’t have a dynamic resolution option or any image reconstruction methods to clean the image up.
1080p Resolution
1080p is the most common resolution today. Most phones offer a 1080p or better screen resolution; it’s the most common computer screen and television resolution. 1080p provides an outstanding balance between image quality, file size, bandwidth requirements, and performance.
1080p is a trivial target to reach for most modern gaming PCs and is now considered the mainstream gaming resolution target.
1440p Resolution
1440p offers a middle ground between 1080p image quality and full-on 2160p 4K. 1440p for video resolution is helpful if that’s the display’s native resolution. For gamers, 1440p offers the best mix of image quality and performance. It’s one of the main reasons high refresh rate 1440p monitors are popular among PC and console gamers.
