4K Ultra HD (ultra high definition) is the resolution that brings you more pixels than ever to your home TV.<\/p>\n
Not long ago, Full HD (full high definition) was the sharpest picture you could get. This brings four times as many pixels as HD. But now, enter 4K resolution, which has completely changed the level of visual detail and clarity we’ve come to expect from our screens.<\/p>\n
Whereas traditional HD is limited to 1920 vertical columns and 1080 horizontal rows of pixels, Ultra HD has a total resolution of 3,840 pixels by 2,160 – a slightly smaller resolution than the 4,096 x 2,160 pixels seen on most cinema screens (that, for the record, is called Cinema 4K).<\/p>\n
It’s pretty hard these days to get a TV that isn’t<\/em> 4K, with even budget small TVs<\/a> opting for the detailed resolution to entice viewers. And some of the truly premium sets out there are now opting for 8K resolution<\/a> instead – but 4K is still the king for now, and near enough all the new sets announced at this year’s CES 2020<\/a> expo are pushing the Ultra HD resolution.<\/p>\n At the end of the day, though, it might not be the raw resolution of 4K that tempts you into your next TV purchase, but the inclusion of other cool technologies like High Dynamic Range (HDR<\/a>), Quantum Dot and OLED<\/a> panels.<\/p>\n But before we get into the specifics of each technology, here’s a video outlining 4K in a nutshell.<\/p>\n Put simply, 4K means a clearer picture. To achieve this, it’s more pixels (8,294,400 to be exact) on the screen at once being used to create images that are crisper and capable of showing more details than standard HD. That’s it.<\/p>\n 4K resolution, at least the way most TVs define it, is 3840 x 2160 or 2160p. To put that in perspective, a full HD 1080p image is only a 1920×1080 resolution. 4K screens have about 8 million pixels, which is around four times what your current 1080p set can display.<\/p>\n Think of your TV like a grid, with rows and columns. A full HD 1080p image is 1080 rows high and 1920 columns wide. A 4K image approximately doubles the numbers in both directions, yielding approximately four times as many pixels total. To put it another way, you could fit every pixel from your 1080p set onto one-quarter of a 4K screen.<\/p>\n Because the images are around 4,000 pixels wide. And before you ask, yes, the industry named 1080 resolution after image height, but named 4K after image width. For extra added fun, you also might hear this resolution referred to as 2160p. Welcome to the future. It’s confusing here.<\/p>\nWhat is 4K?<\/h3>\n
What is the resolution of 4K?<\/h3>\n
Why is it called 4K?<\/h3>\n