AuthorTopic: is there any future of pixelart due to monitor pixel size ?  (Read 3528 times)

Offline CyberDain

  • 0001
  • *
  • Posts: 8
  • Karma: +0/-0
    • View Profile
pixel size of monitors became smaller and smaller
so pixel art on 4k monitor looks not same as on 1080p

p.s. sry bad english

Offline eishiya

  • 0100
  • ***
  • Posts: 1266
  • Karma: +2/-0
    • http://pixeljoint.com/p/28889.htm
    • View Profile
    • Website

Re: is there any future of pixelart due to monitor pixel size ?

Reply #1 on: September 04, 2017, 05:02:09 pm
Is there a future for painting when we have photography? Obviously there is, just in a different capacity - we're no longer painting to record reality as it looks (because we have photos and video for that), but to produce images that photos cannot.

Pixel art done for strictly practical, non-aesthetic purposes has been steadily becoming rarer over many years, and pixel artists have instead moved on to exploring its aesthetic strengths. Not many people are bothering to pixel-polish icons and emotes anymore, and that'll be even rarer as higher resolutions become common. Is that really a loss worth worrying about? I say it's not.

The ease of creating high-res art hasn't killed pixel art, but has instead allowed pixel artists to focus on pixel art's strengths and incorporate those into their work. Pixel art has largely become an aesthetic rather than practical choice, and the "pixel" in pixel art rarely corresponds to actual physical pixels these days. We already view most pixel art games zoomed in rather than at 1x. As screens get larger, we'll just be zooming in more.

Something else to consider with larger resolutions is that even though the physical pixels get smaller, they largely retain their clarity. The clean, crisp colours and shapes of pixel art intended to be seen at 1x will remain clean and crisp even at 4k and 8k. And as I mentioned, art intended to be seen zoomed in and up close will just get zoomed more. With higher-res screens, zoomed in pixel art will probably actually look better because artefacts from uneven zooms will be less noticeable.
« Last Edit: September 04, 2017, 05:10:57 pm by eishiya »

Offline 32

  • 0011
  • **
  • Posts: 535
  • Karma: +1/-0
    • @AngusDoolan
    • http://pixeljoint.com/p/19827.htm
    • View Profile

Re: is there any future of pixelart due to monitor pixel size ?

Reply #2 on: September 04, 2017, 09:26:37 pm
Higher resolution screens also allow for more accurate reproduction of crt screen effects. So while for the last couple decades we have seen a shift in pixel art styles to very clean and clustered we may even find that ultra high resolution screens lead to a renaissance in old school approaches. It will certainly be good for re-releases of classic pixel at games which don't appear as intended on crisp displays.

And what Eishiya says about scaling is very true. Currently phone screen resolutions are at an ugly point for pixel art where they are all different but not high enough to comfortably upscale without artefacts.

You may also consider that other styles are EXPECTED to live up to the current screen standard, which is taxing on resources for small developers. Assets which are highly detailed and look great in 4k take a lot of time to make. Pixel art will always be perfectly scalable to the level of detail the project warrants. It doesn't require that you choose between a completely devoid of detail, flat shaded/vector approach and massively intricate HD graphics. Pixel art will stick around for all the reasons it is currently ;)

Offline EvilEye

  • 0011
  • **
  • Posts: 501
  • Karma: +1/-0
  • Game Developer Extroaordinaire
    • View Profile

Re: is there any future of pixelart due to monitor pixel size ?

Reply #3 on: September 14, 2017, 01:59:01 am
I'd say pixel art will always have a place as a style of art, but it is completely obsolete as a necessary skill for making computer art. The place where it had some resurgent use was once mobile phone applications, but the standard resolution on today's mobile phones now far exceeds the size where one needs to consider individual pixel efficiency.

For example, the game I am making ( remaking actually ) for both mobile phones and the PC uses a resolution of 1136 x 640, which is well below what my target platforms are capable of, and still I am making all of my art via painting and photoshop layer effects, no pixel art at all, and it looks quite good ( if I do say so myself ).

But still there are quite a few retro-style games out there making use of pixel art, as a niche style I think it will survive.

Offline Sersch

  • 0001
  • *
  • Posts: 87
  • Karma: +0/-0
    • @moi_rai_
    • View Profile

Re: is there any future of pixelart due to monitor pixel size ?

Reply #4 on: September 15, 2017, 03:46:52 pm
Pixel art games will just scale their pixel art up to the screen resolution. For example my game has a base resolution of 480*270. On Full HD (1920*1080) every ingame pixel occupies exactly 4*4 screen pixel. On 4k it will occupy 8*8 pixels.

Offline Ryumaru

  • Moderator
  • 0100
  • *
  • Posts: 1683
  • Karma: +0/-0
  • to be animated soonly
    • ChrisPariano
    • View Profile

Re: is there any future of pixelart due to monitor pixel size ?

Reply #5 on: September 16, 2017, 01:33:36 am
It's been a long time since the actual resolution of a screen mattered for pixel art. As long as people are looking at 2D screens, pixel art will be a viable, if niche, medium.