You're about to record your screen and the settings ask for a resolution. Your monitor is 2560x1440 but you've heard 1080p is "standard." Should you record at full resolution? Half? Something else?
The answer depends on where your recording will be watched.
Know Your Screen First
Before choosing a recording resolution, know what you're working with. Use our Screen Resolution Checker to see your display's resolution, device pixel ratio (DPR), and effective pixel count.
Why DPR matters: A MacBook with a 2560x1600 display and 2x DPR shows content at 1280x800 logical pixels. Recording at "full resolution" captures 2560x1600 physical pixels — twice what most viewers actually need.
Resolution Guide by Use Case
Product Demos for Your Website
Recommended: 1920x1080 (1080p)
This is the sweet spot. Looks sharp on any screen, reasonable file size, and plays smoothly on all devices.
If your monitor is higher resolution, record a 1920x1080 window or downscale in post.
Internal Team Updates (Slack, Notion)
Recommended: 1280x720 (720p)
Nobody needs pixel-perfect detail for a standup update. 720p keeps file sizes small and uploads fast. Slack's 1GB limit goes further at lower resolutions.
Technical Tutorials (YouTube, Documentation)
Recommended: 1920x1080 or 2560x1440
Code needs to be readable. If you're showing IDE windows, terminal output, or small UI elements, higher resolution ensures text stays crisp. 1440p is ideal if your monitor supports it — YouTube renders it well and it's noticeably sharper than 1080p.
Bug Reports
Recommended: Record the relevant window only
For bug reports, capture just the window or region that shows the bug. Don't record your entire 4K display when the bug is in a 600px-wide dialog. Smaller capture area = smaller file + viewer focuses on what matters.
Social Media Clips
Recommended: 1080x1920 (vertical) or 1920x1080 (horizontal)
Twitter, LinkedIn, and other platforms compress heavily. Going above 1080p doesn't help — the platform will downscale it anyway.
Resolution vs. File Size
Higher resolution means exponentially more data:
| Resolution | Pixels | Relative File Size |
|---|---|---|
| 720p (1280x720) | 921,600 | 1x (baseline) |
| 1080p (1920x1080) | 2,073,600 | ~2.25x |
| 1440p (2560x1440) | 3,686,400 | ~4x |
| 4K (3840x2160) | 8,294,400 | ~9x |
A 2-minute recording at 720p might be 15MB. The same recording at 4K could be 130MB. Use our Video File Size Calculator to estimate before recording.
Retina/HiDPI Considerations
On retina displays (DPR 2x), your OS renders everything at half the physical resolution. This means:
- A 2560x1440 retina display shows content at 1280x720 logical resolution
- Recording at "1x" (1280x720) looks fine on standard displays but slightly soft on retina
- Recording at "2x" (2560x1440) looks crisp everywhere but the file is 4x larger
The practical choice: Record at 1x if the video will be viewed embedded on a page. Record at 2x if viewers might watch fullscreen on a retina display.
Recording Tips
Match Your Target
If your video will be embedded at 800px wide on a webpage, recording at 4K is pure waste. Record at 1600px wide (2x for retina) maximum.
Record a Window, Not Full Screen
Recording a specific application window instead of your full display:
- Eliminates desktop clutter
- Reduces resolution to only what's needed
- Hides notifications and other distractions
Test Before Committing
Do a 10-second test recording at your chosen resolution. Check that text is readable and the file size is reasonable before recording your full presentation.
The Easy Path
If you don't want to think about resolution settings, use a recorder that handles it automatically. Zumie records at optimal resolution for the content you're capturing and applies automatic zoom to the important parts — so even a lower-resolution recording looks detailed where it matters. Plus, beautiful backgrounds and smooth transitions make any resolution look professional.