Perhaps you’ve seen an image like the one in the header floating around online.
Video resolution has hit several significant milestones over the last few decades. In the late ’90s, 720p HD marked a major shift from the boxy 4:3 aspect ratio to the widescreen 16:9 format, and we haven’t looked back since. 1080p arrived about a decade later in the late 2000s, followed by 1440p, which became popular around 2010 with the rise of widescreen computer monitors. 4K TVs hit the market in 2013, and 8K models followed in 2018.
But what happens when you look at these resolutions from a live streaming perspective? We’ve already covered why 4K and 8K doesn’t make streaming sense, but what about 1440p? Is it an important or even relevant resolution for live streaming today?
What is 1440p Typically Used For?
1440p in Monitors, TVs, and Phones
Final Thoughts
1440p resolution is often seen as the Goldilocks option for computer monitors. It offers a sharper image and more screen real estate than 1080p, while demanding significantly less GPU power than 4K. For gamers who want maximum visual clarity without sacrificing frame rate or introducing lag, 1440p tends to feel just right.
When it comes to live streaming, though, 1440p is far less common, even on Twitch. Gamers who play in 1440p often downscale their broadcasts to 1080p or lower due to bitrate, encoding, and viewer bandwidth limitations. As one Twitch streamer put it, “Twitch doesn’t even allow you to use enough bitrate for a good 1080p quality broadcast, let alone 1440p.”
On the desktop side, Steam reports that 52.2% of gamers use 1080p as their primary display resolution, while only 20.5% play at 1440p. Another gaming source places that number even lower, at 18.99%. When it comes to TVs, 4K leads the way with 54.5% of users, followed by 1080p. Very few people own 8K TVs, and 1440p TVs are practically nonexistent.
If the average smart TV measures around 55 inches, the average computer monitor about 24 inches, and the typical laptop around 15 inches, then the average smartphone at roughly 6 inches sits in a completely different category. Because phones are so much smaller than the other devices that display streams, they have a much higher pixel density. As a result, lower resolutions actually look much sharper on phones than they do on monitors or TVs.
This is why many Android phones default to 1080p, even if they’re technically capable of higher resolutions. The choice is deliberate: it helps conserve battery life and reduce GPU strain during everyday use. With pixels packed so tightly together, both 1080p and even 720p can look impressively crisp on a handheld screen, meaning that for streaming there’s not really a need to upscale to 1440p on behalf of mobile viewers.
There’s a common assumption in both video production and live streaming that more is always better. Higher resolution, higher specs. But that’s not always true. When it comes to live streaming, the classic resolutions of 480p, 720p, and 1080p usually do the job perfectly. Most video content today still tops out at 1080p anyway, and many viewers either face bandwidth limitations or watch on screens small enough that 720p or lower still looks great.
If you really want to improve your stream’s visual quality, try increasing the frame rate instead of the resolution. Jumping from 30fps to 60fps delivers noticeably smoother motion for fast-paced content like gaming, sports, and concerts. Also consider increasing your live stream’s bitrate if you have faster internet speeds, this will ensure your viewers are able to experience flawless video if they’re watching from a solid network themselves.
At the end of the day, an exceptional streaming experience isn’t just about pixels. It’s about reliability and consistency. If you’re looking for a platform that helps you deliver both, we're here to help. Thanks for reading, and happy streaming.