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Executive Summary:
People have been dithering on this issue for years. And fair enough, too, as for a while it was all a bit of a quagmire.
But in 2023, I think it's time for 4K.
As long as you're using modern hardware and software, the issues are solved, and 4K is just a whole lot nicer to use.
First thing first - colour accuracy trumps more pixels, every time.
So if your choice is a lower quality 4K monitor vs. a high quality, colour accurate monitor of lower resolution - and you take your imaging work at all seriously - buy the lower resolution but colour accurate monitor. This will have a much greater impact on the quality of your work than more pixels.
But for most, the choice is more really 'should I pay the extra for 4K?'. I think the answer to that has changed from 'probably not' a few years ago, to, simply, 'yes'.
And note - this question has next to nothing to do with whether or not you do video work. This is what customers are always saying/asking - 'I don't do any video work, so I don't need 4K right?' or 'I don't want any 4K issues and since I don't do video...etc'. The only time your choice of 4K really depends on your video work (or lack of it) - would be if you are one of the super rare people who does frame by frame, 1:1 pixel level 4K grading work. Which is almost no-one.
For everyone else - 4K is mostly about all the other aspects of using your computer. It has some, slight, impact on photo and video work - but it's really very minor - so, again, buy the lower resolution but higher colour quality monitor, if that is the choice in front of you!
Image and Video Work
Your images - should they actually be high resolution and in focus - will render noticeably sharper on a 4K screen. This sharpness gives them more dimensionality, and makes them more lifelike.
But with a single image, displayed full screen, you'll honestly barely notice the difference. For years I moved daily between a 4K and a 2.5K screen, doing imaging work on both, and for that work I really did not notice any significant benefit, or detriment, when switching. It just didn't make a big practical difference. Sure, I could see the difference, but it never bothered me much either way for imaging work.
(You'll sometimes read on the internet that using a 4K monitor makes it harder to judge 'the real sharpness' of an image. God only knows what those people are looking at - on either a 2.5K or 4K screen, you'll need to zoom in to 100% to judge sharpness - as any modern digital camera easily out-resolves 4K - and I find it then equally easy on both resolutions to judge sharpness. I've always found this idea just bizarre - I suspect these folks are trying to judge sharpness not at 100% zoom, which is....well, just wrong).
You will notice your UI elements are much sharper - easier to read, more precise etc - on the 4K screen (see other column - this is very comfortable!). And you will notice smaller images - thumbnails in particular - are much easier to read into, and get a sense of the detail.
For video work - you'll almost always be working on a non full size proxy, in practise. When you preview the work at full size, yes it will be sharper on the 4K. But 4K downscales very nicely to 2K and, particularly with a moving image, at a normal viewing distance, the difference is very subtle.
Anyone who has upgraded from a 2K to a 4K TV at home would agree - sure it's a bit sharper, but what you really notice is the HDR side of things of 4K TVs (again proving the point that colour always trumps pixels!).
General Computing
Here, you definitely do notice a difference. (Particularly if you've got middle aged eyes like me!).
Anything text based - so that's all your email, your web browsing, spreadsheets, word processing, file management, graphic design etc etc. - is very distinctly improved.
Text simple renders more like a printed page. Gone are the blocky edges and slight softness you get from anti-aliasing. Text just looks....right. Nice. Pleasant. It's just easier on your eyes and you get less eye fatigue.
For me this makes an enormous practical difference, and it's why I now won't go back to a less than 4K display at work or home. I've just got used to this level of quality.
Basically, it's just more comfortable, particularly for longer sessions on the computer - which are all too common for all us, really, these days!
With the proviso that you should use nicely up to date hardware and software - there basically aren't any real issues with 4K anymore.
Forget the internet scare stories - I literally can't remember the last time I saw any practical issue with 4K on any of my own machines (I use 4K at both home and work) - or any client/customer machines. Indeed, it's been literally years since we've even had a 4K related support call here at Image Science. It's just not an issue anymore.
On the Mac, the hardware has supported 'retina' and high DPI screens - and since about 201617, 4K at 60Hz has been available.
On the PC there's no specific point as it depends on your video card, but most since about 2014 or so have supported 4K, unless they were very basic. Anything from the last 5 years will definitely support 4K at 60Hz.
You'll want to use USB-C if you have it, otherwise Display Port. HDMI at a pinch, but make sure your HDMI cables are up to date and note that some HDMI outputs on e.g. laptops are still sometimes limited to 2K options.
On both platforms, you will scale the user interface. In practise, no one uses a 4K screen at 4K. Definitely not if it's a 27 inch screen - which are the most popular size by a factor of about 50 to 1 over other sizes, at this point. Then you would see tiny fonts etc. Even with 32 inch screens, most people scale the UI, although less than with the 27 inch screens of course.
The Mac offers more limited scaling options than the PC, but we've literally never had someone who hasn't found a 4K screen completely workable on a modern Mac. Just go to the Apple menu -> System Preferences -> Displays and dial up a level you find comfortable. Best to reboot after doing this.
On the PC, it's just as easy and even more flexible as it supports basically any level of scaling. (If you're using dual monitors, Windows 11 is noticeably improved in this regard, with independent DPIs across panels should you be e.g. mixing 4K and non-4K panels). But, basically, just go to Settings-> System -> Display and choose a comfortable scale factor. Reboot. Done.
It's true, if you're using very old software, you might see some fuzzy text or some UI weirdness, very occasionally. This is mostly an issue on PCs, since they offer much more backward compatibility support, so you do see older software still in use.
You can probably solve this by e.g. using that software within a virtual machine or similar - but, honestly, just move to a modern alternative and get on with your life. Or - live with fuzzy text in that particular application, as a trade off against all the other 4k benefits.
Especially in the Mac world, there are monitors appearing offering 5K, 6K, and more.
For typical desktop monitor sizes (24 to 27") - the big step up is from 2K to 4K. Above 4K, the differences are marginal, in practise. And the demands on your computer definitely get higher as you go up.
And - more importantly - there's a lack of really high quality colour options in these higher resolutions. So - going right back to the original point - don't sacrifice the quality of your colour for more pixels.
