[wtallis]

The Steam Hardware Survey samples the system when Steam is launched, not while a game is playing. For most users, Steam starts when they log in to the computer. I think the unfortunate reality is that a very large number of gamers are still using 1920x1080 as their everyday ordinary screen resolution for their primary display, though a few percent at least are probably on laptops small enough that 1920x1080 is somewhat reasonable.

[gruez]

>The Steam Hardware Survey samples the system when Steam is launched, not while a game is playing

Who's installing steam on their non-gaming computer?

[wtallis]

Not all gamers have a computer entirely dedicated to that purpose. Even among those that do, it's not uncommon to also play games or run Steam on another machine.

[ycombinatrix]

I have it installed on a non-gaming laptop. There are lots of lightweight games that I might play when traveling.

[dragonwriter]

I still have Steam installed on the laptop that was long ago replaced as my gaming computer but which is occasionally used for other purposes, because I have no particular reason to remove it.

[mvdtnz]

How is that relevant? The question was whether the resolution figure in the survey is hardware resolution or software settings, and it's the former.

[wtallis]

It's actually probably reporting the software-configured resolution, not the hardware capability. The important distinction is whether it's a system-wide resolution setting or a game-specific setting that may not apply to browser contexts (except for the ones used by Steam itself).

[DeathRay2K]

What makes you think that it’s more likely reporting a software-configured resolution? It is after all a hardware survey, and focused on what user hardware supports.

[wtallis]

It's vastly simpler, and more useful, for Steam to detect the current resolution. Trying to detect the maximum supported resolution is non-trivial, especially when there are devices that will accept a 4k signal despite having fewer pixels.