New television technologies
“Are you looking for a TV for your new apartment or simply changing the one you have? We recommend our ultra high-definition models. » You've probably already heard this phrase from the salesman of a store that sells this type of item.
On paper, this television model has it all with 4K or 8K screens, which have more pixels than a Full HD screen for example, which makes the image more detailed and sharper. In addition, these screens have technologies such as HDR (High Dynamic Range) or WCG (Wide Color Gamut), which will improve brightness, color contrasts and black depth.
Technical characteristics, certainly, but which aim to improve the viewer's experience. But are ultra high definition screens really suitable for our eyes? This is what a team from the University of Cambridge, in England, tried to see.
Our eye sees more details than we think
In a study published on October 27, 2025 in the journal Nature Communicationsthe research team explains having used a 27-inch 4K monitor, fixed on a mobile structure allowing the distance between the screen and the viewer to be modified.
They then submitted 18 participants, with normal or corrected-to-normal vision, to two types of images: an image with vertical lines one pixel wide, in black and white, red and green, or yellow and purple, and a uniform gray image. All images were presented in random order.
After collecting the data from the participants, who had to indicate which of the two images contained the lines, the results obtained showed that the vision of the latter had a higher resolution limit than what the expression “20/20 or 10/10 vision in Europe” suggests. The latter refers to normal visual acuity, that is to say the ability to see fine details at a standard distance.
Indeed, researchers have discovered that the human eye perceives more detail than we think: on average 94 pixels per degree (PPD) for grayscale images, 89 PPD for red and green patterns, and only 53 PPD for yellows and purples. Values generally higher than the 60 PPD which were associated with 10/10 vision.
This is not enough for Ultra-HD screens
According to IFLSciencethe difference in average PPD between a color image and a black and white image shows that for most of us, Ultra-HD television probably offers us more than we can actually perceive.
“At a certain viewing distance, the number of pixels added no longer matters. It's just, I suppose, wasteful, because the eye can't really detect it,” explained Dr. Maliha Ashraf, first author of the study from the University of Cambridge, in comments reported by The Guardian.
The researchers conducted another experiment, in which 12 participants looked at white text on a black background, and then the reverse, at several distances. They had to say when the text seemed as clear as a reference version.
This allowed them to develop a table that shows for each screen size and viewing distance the minimum resolution needed for the image to appear sharp to the human eye, as well as a free online calculator to allow users to determine whether a higher resolution screen, with more pixels, would improve their vision.
Source: The Guardian
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