Difference Between 4K and 1080p Resolution

CES 2014 was practically centered around Ultra HD 4K, and so was media coverage. Therefore, many products are updated to 4K, like 4K TV, 4K camcorder. While being familiar with a technology is a big step forward, understanding it is entirely different - and a little confusing if you aren't a hard-core videophile. You may like to know what is the Ultra HD 4K and what is the difference between 4K and 1080p resolution. If you get some 4K videos for playing on TV, you may be confused on whether to update your 1080p TV to 4K, or just downscale 4K videos to 1080p. This article will pay attention on the difference between 4K and 1080p resolution so that you will know where to go.

What is 4K

In the professional world, 4K is a digital cinema standard that calls for a 4096 x 2160 pixel resolution. That first number is a horizontal measurement, the latter vertical, and they work out because they fit a 1.9:1 aspect ratio. The new standard renders more than four times higher image definition than 1080p resolutions.

What is the Right Resolution for you:

The higher the resolution, the more details the picture has. However, the resolution is not the only factor in picture quality. A few factors are currently limiting the appeal of buying a new 4k TV, like the size of your television, how close you sit to it and what kind of footage you are watching. The human eye of a person with a perfect vision can only distinguish a detail 1/60 of a degree apart. This means that at a certain distance, for a specific size, you cannot see perfectly the full resolution of a television. Check below picture, you will better understand the above words.

Availability of 4K Media

Currently, there are no widely available sources for 4K. Most TV shows, blu-rays and HD channels are not even produced in 4k yet. In fact, it will take a few years for production companies to upgrade their pipelines. At that time, you could enjoy the 4K videos on 4K TV freely.

1080p on a 4K TV

Some persons refer that since 4K videos are not widely adopted now, they can enjoy the 1080p videos on 4K TV directly in that they can upscale 1080p content to 4K resolution. But, this behavior doesn't really improve the picture quality, instead of making your HD 1080p videos blurry. It's horrible if users could not enjoy high quality videos on 4K TV.

Conclusion

By now you should get the point: 4K TV or displays aren't cheap enough or useful enough to recommend to the masses.That'll change in the future, but for now we recommend you wait. Even if you got some 4K videos from some camcorders and wanna play them on your 1080p TV, we suggest you to downscale 4K to 1080p first.