4k monitor looks blurry when consuming 1080p footage

[kanishkdudeja]

I have a 4K monitor (Dell U2718Q) and it works well with my Macbook Pro 15.

However, when I connect the same monitor to Dell Inspiron 3493 (through an HDMI cable), the text looks really blurry. The Dell Inspiron 3493 laptop can only output at 1920*1080 at 60hz.

I expected it to look decent since I believed the monitor would need to upscale by a factor of 4 (2*2)(integer, not fractional scaling), as a result of which things should look fine. However, the text looks extremely blurry.

I read this thread and this doesn't seem to suggest any concrete solutions too: https://superuser.com/questions/1449343/...resolution

The Dell laptop's graphic card supports 4k@60hz, however, it's a limitation of the motherboard that it can only output at 1920*1080@60hz. Therefore, I don't think upgrading the graphics card would fix the issue.

Is there a solution other than buying a 1080p monitor?

I needed to buy a second monitor anyway, so I would prefer to buy a 4k monitor which can support this upscaling perfectly? Since I would like to make a decision which is future proof (in case I get rid of my Dell laptop and purchase another laptop which can output at 4k@60hz).