4K resolution refers to a horizontal
display resolution
The display resolution or display modes of a digital television, computer monitor or display device is the number of distinct pixels in each dimension that can be displayed. It can be an ambiguous term especially as the displayed resolution ...
of approximately 4,000
pixel
In digital imaging, a pixel (abbreviated px), pel, or picture element is the smallest addressable element in a raster image, or the smallest point in an all points addressable display device.
In most digital display devices, pixels are the ...
s.
Digital television
Digital television (DTV) is the transmission of television signals using digital encoding, in contrast to the earlier analog television technology which used analog signals. At the time of its development it was considered an innovative adva ...
and
digital cinematography
:
Digital cinematography is the process of capturing (recording) a motion picture using digital image sensors rather than through film stock. As digital technology has improved in recent years, this practice has become dominant. Since the mid- ...
commonly use several different 4K resolutions. In television and consumer media, 38402160 (4K
UHD) is the dominant 4K standard, whereas the
movie projection industry uses 40962160 (
DCI 4K).
The 4K television market share increased as prices fell dramatically during 2014
and 2015.
4K standards and terminology
The term "4K" is generic and refers to any resolution with a horizontal pixel count of approximately 4,000.
Several different 4K resolutions have been standardized by various organizations.
The terms "4K" and "Ultra HD" are used more widely in marketing than "2160p". While typically referring to motion pictures, some
digital camera
A digital camera is a camera that captures photographs in digital memory. Most cameras produced today are digital, largely replacing those that capture images on photographic film. Digital cameras are now widely incorporated into mobile devices ...
vendors have used the term "4K photo" for still photographs, making it appear like an especially high resolution even though 3840×2160 pixels equal approximately 8.3 megapixels, which is not considered to be especially high for still photographs.
DCI Digital Cinema System Specification
![2160p DCI](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/44/2160p_DCI.svg)
In 2005,
Digital Cinema Initiatives
Digital Cinema Initiatives, LLC (DCI) is a consortium of major motion picture studios, formed to establish specifications for a common systems architecture for digital cinema systems.
The organization was formed in March 2002 by Metro-Goldwyn-Ma ...
(DCI), a prominent standards organization in the cinema industry, published the Digital Cinema System Specification. This specification establishes standardized 2K and 4K container formats for digital cinema production, with resolutions of and respectively.
The resolution of the video content inside follows the SMPTE 428-1 standard,
which establishes the following resolutions for a 4K distribution:
* 40962160 (full frame, 256135 or ≈1.901 aspect ratio)
* 39962160 (flat crop, 1.851 aspect ratio)
* 40961716 (CinemaScope crop, ≈2.391 aspect ratio)
2K distributions can have a frame rate of either 24 or 48
FPS, while 4K distributions must have a frame rate of 24FPS.
Some articles claim that the terms "2K" and "4K" were coined by DCI and refer exclusively to the 2K and 4K formats defined in the DCI standard.
However, usage of these terms in the cinema industry predates the publication of the DCI standard, and they are generally understood as casual terms for any resolution approximately 2000 or 4000 pixels in width, rather than names for specific resolutions.
SMPTE UHDTV standard
In 2007, the
Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers
The Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) (, rarely ), founded in 1916 as the Society of Motion Picture Engineers or SMPE, is a global professional association of engineers, technologists, and executives working in the m ...
published SMPTE ST 2036-1, which defines parameters for two UHDTV systems called UHDTV1 and UHDTV2.
The standard defines the following characteristics for these systems:
* A resolution of (UHDTV1) or (UHDTV2)
* Square () pixels, for an overall image aspect ratio of
* A framerate of 23.976, 24, 25, 29.97, 30, 50, 59.94, 60, 100, 119.88, or 120Hz with
progressive scan
* RGB, 4:4:4, 4:2:2, or 4:2:0 pixel encoding
* 10bpc (30bit/px) or 12bpc (36bit/px) color depth
* Colorimetry characteristics as defined in the standard, including color primaries, quantization parameters, and the electro-optical transfer function. These are the same characteristics later standardized in
ITU-R BT.2020. UHDTV1 systems are permitted to use
BT.709 color primaries up to 60Hz.
ITU-R UHDTV standard
In 2012, the
International Telecommunication Union, Radiocommunication Sector published
Recommendation ITU-R BT.2020, also known as the Ultra High Definition Television (UHDTV) standard.
It adopts the same image parameters defined in SMPTE ST 2036–1.
Although the UHDTV standard does not define any official names for the formats it defines, ITU typically uses the terms "4K", "4K UHD", or "4K UHDTV" to refer to the system in public announcements and press releases ("8K" for the system). In some of ITU's other standards documents, the terms "UHDTV1" and "UHDTV2" are used as shorthand.
CEA Ultra HD
In October 2012, the
Consumer Electronics Association
The Consumer Technology Association (CTA) is a standard and trade organization representing 1,376 consumer technology companies in the United States. CTA works to influence public policy, holds events such as the Consumer Electronics Show (CE ...
(CEA) announced their definition of the term Ultra High-Definition (or Ultra HD) for use with marketing consumer display devices. CEA defines an ''Ultra HD'' product as a TV, monitor, or projector with the following characteristics:
* A resolution of or larger
* An aspect ratio of 1.1 () or wider
* Support for color depth of 8bpc (24bit/px) or higher
* At least one HDMI input capable of supporting at 24, 30, and 60Hz progressive scan (though not necessarily with RGB / 4:4:4 color), and HDCP2.2
* Capable of processing images according to the color space defined in
ITU-R BT.709
* Capable of upscaling HD content (i.e. 720p / 1080p)
The CEA definition does allow manufacturers to use other terms—such as ''4K''—alongside the Ultra HD logo.
Since the resolution in CEA's definition is only a minimum requirement, displays with higher resolutions such as or also qualify as "Ultra HD" displays, provided they meet the other requirements.
2160p resolution
Some 4K resolutions, like , are often casually referred to as ''2160p''. This name follows from the previous naming convention used by
HDTV
High-definition television (HD or HDTV) describes a television system which provides a substantially higher image resolution than the previous generation of technologies. The term has been used since 1936; in more recent times, it refers to the g ...
and
SDTV
Standard-definition television (SDTV, SD, often shortened to standard definition) is a television system which uses a resolution that is not considered to be either high or enhanced definition. "Standard" refers to it being the prevailing sp ...
formats, which refer to a format by the number of pixels/lines along the vertical axis (such as "1080p" for progressive scan, or "480i" for the 480-line interlaced SDTV formats) rather than the horizontal pixel count (≈4000 or "4K" for ).
The term "2160p" could be applied to any format with a height of 2160 pixels, but it is most commonly used in reference to the 4K UHDTV resolution of due to its association with the well-known 720p and 1080p HDTV formats. Although is both a 4K resolution and a 2160p resolution, these terms cannot always be used interchangeably since not all 4K resolutions are 2160 pixels tall, and not all 2160p resolutions are ≈4000 pixels wide. However, some companies have begun using the term "4K" to describe devices with support for a 2160p resolution, even if it is not close to 4000 pixels wide. For example, many "4K" dash cams only support a resolution of (43); although this is a 2160p resolution, it is not a 4K resolution. Conversely, Samsung released a (
6427) TV, but marketed it as a "4K" TV despite its
5K-class resolution.
M+ or RGBW TV controversy
In 2015,
LG Display
LG Display ( Korean: LG 디스플레이) is one of the world's largest manufacturers and supplier of thin-film transistor liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD) panels, OLEDs and flexible displays. LG Display is headquartered in Seoul, South Korea ...
announced the implementation of a new technology called M+ which is the addition of white subpixel along with the regular RGB dots in their IPS panel technology. The media and internet users later called this "RGBW" TVs because of the white sub pixel.
Most of the new M+ technology was employed on 4K TV sets which led to a controversy after tests showed that the addition of a white sub pixel replacing the traditional RGB structure would reduce the resolution by around 25%. After tests done by
Intertek
Intertek Group plc is a British multinational assurance, inspection, product testing and certification company headquartered in London, England. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.
History
Int ...
in which the technical aspects of LG M+ TVs were analyzed and they concluded that "the addressable resolution display is 2,880 X 2,160 for each red, green, blue", in other words, the LG TVs were technically 2.8K as it became known in the controversy. Although LG Display has developed this technology for use in notebook display, outdoor and smartphones, it is more popular in the TV market due to the supposed 4K UHD marketed resolution but still being incapable of achieving true 4K UHD resolution as defined by the CTA as 3840x2160 active pixels with 8-bit per color. This negatively impacts the rendering of text, making it a bit fuzzier, which is especially noticeable when a TV is used as a PC monitor.
CinemaWide 4K
In 2019,
Sony
, commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professiona ...
was granted the CinemaWide trademark by the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO), in which the trademark covers 'Class 9' electronic devices, including smartphones. According to Sony and SID, the standard defines a CinemaWide 4K product with the following characteristics:
* A resolution of or larger
* An aspect ratio of
* Capable of playing back 4K resolution video (2160p) in an aspect ratio of
* Capable of upscaling non-4K content (i.e. 720p / 1080p)
Sony
Xperia
Xperia () is the brand name of smartphones and tablets from Sony. The name Xperia is derived from the word "experience", and was first used in the Xperia X1 tagline of "I Xperia the best".
Sony Mobile was previously known globally as Sony Er ...
smartphones are the most widely known products that equipped with CinemaWide 4K display, such as
Xperia 1
The Sony Xperia 1 is an Android smartphone manufactured and marketed by Sony. Part of Sony's flagship Xperia series, the device was announced to the public at a press conference held at the annual 2019 Mobile World Congress event on February 25 ...
,
Xperia 1 II
The Sony Xperia 1 II is an Android smartphone manufactured by Sony Mobile. Part of Sony's Xperia series, the phone was announced along with the mid-range Xperia 10 II on February 24, 2020. Key upgrades over its predecessor, the Xperia 1, inclu ...
and
Xperia 1 III.
Adoption
Video sharing website
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...
and the television industry have adopted 38402160 as their 4K standard.
, 4K content from major broadcasters remained limited.
On April 11, 2013, Bulb TV created by Canadian serial entrepreneur Evan Kosiner became the first broadcaster to provide a 4K linear channel and
VOD content to cable and satellite companies in North America. The channel is licensed by the
Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission to provide educational content. However, 4K content is becoming more widely available online including on Apple TV, YouTube, Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon.
By 2013, some UHDTV models were available to general consumers in the range of US$600.
, prices on smaller computer and television panels had dropped below US$400.
ATSC
On March 26, 2013, the
Advanced Television Systems Committee
The Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC) is an international nonprofit organization developing technical standards for digital terrestrial television and data broadcasting. ATSC's 120-plus member organizations represent the broadcast, ...
announced new proposals of a new standard called
ATSC 3.0
ATSC 3.0 is a major version of the ATSC standards for television broadcasting created by the Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC).
The standards are designed to offer support for newer technologies, including HEVC for video channels of u ...
which would implement UHD broadcasts at resolutions of up to or .
The standard would also include framerates of up to 120Hz,
HEVC
High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC), also known as H.265 and MPEG-H Part 2, is a video compression standard designed as part of the MPEG-H project as a successor to the widely used Advanced Video Coding (AVC, H.264, or MPEG-4 Part 10). In compar ...
encoding,
wide color gamut
In color reproduction, including computer graphics and photography, the gamut, or color gamut , is a certain ''complete subset'' of colors. The most common usage refers to the subset of colors which can be accurately represented in a given cir ...
, as well as
high dynamic range
High dynamic range (HDR) is a dynamic range higher than usual, synonyms are wide dynamic range, extended dynamic range, expanded dynamic range.
The term is often used in discussing the dynamic range of various signals such as images, videos, au ...
.
DVB
In 2014, the
Digital Video Broadcasting Project released a new set of standards intended to guide the implementation of high resolution content in broadcast television. Dubbed DVB-UHDTV, it establishes two standards, known as UHD-1 (for 4K content) and UHD-2 (for 8K content). These standards use resolutions of 38402160 and 76804320 respectively, with framerates of up to 60Hz, color depth up to 10bpc (30bit/px), and
HEVC
High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC), also known as H.265 and MPEG-H Part 2, is a video compression standard designed as part of the MPEG-H project as a successor to the widely used Advanced Video Coding (AVC, H.264, or MPEG-4 Part 10). In compar ...
encoding for transmission. DVB is currently focusing on the implementation of the UHD-1 standard.
DVB finalized UHD-1 Phase 2 in 2016, with the introduction of service by broadcasters expected in 2017. UHD-1 Phase 2 adds features such as
high dynamic range
High dynamic range (HDR) is a dynamic range higher than usual, synonyms are wide dynamic range, extended dynamic range, expanded dynamic range.
The term is often used in discussing the dynamic range of various signals such as images, videos, au ...
(using
HLG and
PQ at 10 or 12 bits), wide color gamut (
BT. 2020/
2100 colorimetry), and
high frame rate
In motion picture technology—either film or video—high frame rate (HFR) refers to higher frame rates than typical prior practice.
The frame rate for motion picture film cameras was typically 24 frames per second (fps) with multiple flashes o ...
(up to 120Hz).
Video streaming
YouTube, since 2010, and
Vimeo
Vimeo, Inc. () is an American video hosting, sharing, and services platform provider headquartered in New York City. Vimeo focuses on the delivery of high-definition video across a range of devices. Vimeo's business model is through software a ...
allow a maximum upload resolution of
4096 × 3072 pixels (12.6 megapixels, aspect ratio 4:3).
Vimeo's 4K content is currently limited to mostly nature documentaries and tech coverage.
High Efficiency Video Coding
High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC), also known as H.265 and MPEG-H Part 2, is a video coding format, video compression standard designed as part of the MPEG-H project as a successor to the widely used Advanced Video Coding (AVC, H.264, or MPEG-4 ...
(HEVC or H.265) should allow streaming 4K content with a bandwidth of 20 to 30
Mbit/s
In telecommunications, data-transfer rate is the average number of bits ( bitrate), characters or symbols ( baudrate), or data blocks per unit time passing through a communication link in a data-transmission system. Common data rate units are mu ...
.
In January 2014,
Naughty America
Naughty America is a pornographic film studio based in San Diego, California
History
The company was founded in June 2001 with a small staff under the brand name SoCal Cash and changed its name to Naughty America in March 2004. The date 1776 in ...
launched the first adult video service streaming in 4K.
Mobile phone cameras
The first mobile phones to be able to record at 2160p () were released in late 2013, including the
Samsung Galaxy Note 3
The Samsung Galaxy Note 3 is an Android phablet smartphone produced by Samsung Electronics as part of the Samsung Galaxy Note series. The Galaxy Note 3 was unveiled on September 4, 2013, with its worldwide release beginning later in the month. S ...
, which is able to record 2160p at 30 frames per second.
In the year 2014, the
OnePlus One
The OnePlus One (colloquially abbreviated to OPO and also known as OnePlus 1) is an Android smartphone manufactured by OnePlus. Unveiled in April 2014, it is the first product by OnePlus. The OnePlus One was designed to compare favorably – ...
was released with the option to record
DCI 4K () at 24 frames per second, as well as
LG G3
The LG G3 is an Android smartphone developed by LG Electronics as part of the LG G series. First released in South Korea on May 28, 2014, it is a successor to 2013's LG G2. Inheriting design elements from the G2, such as its thin screen bezels ...
and
Samsung Galaxy Note 4
The Samsung Galaxy Note 4 is an Android smartphone developed and produced by Samsung Electronics. It was unveiled during a Samsung press conference at IFA Berlin on 3 September 2014 and was released globally in October 2014 as successor to th ...
with
optical image stabilization
Image stabilization (IS) is a family of techniques that reduce motion blur, blurring associated with the motion of a camera or other imaging device during exposure (photography), exposure.
Generally, it compensates for panning (camera), pan an ...
.
In the year 2015,
Apple
An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple trees are cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, where its wild ancestor, ' ...
announced the
iPhone 6s was released with the 12megapixel camera that has the option to record 4K at 25 or 30 frames per second.
In the years 2017 and 2018, mobile phone chipsets reached sufficient processing power that mobile phone vendors started releasing mobile phones that allow recording 2160p footage at
60 frames per second for a smoother and more realistic appearance.
History
![Samsung UN105S9 20140127](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c2/Samsung_UN105S9_20140127.jpg)
In 1984,
Hitachi released the
CMOS graphics processor
A graphics processing unit (GPU) is a specialized electronic circuit designed to manipulate and alter memory to accelerate the creation of images in a frame buffer intended for output to a display device. GPUs are used in embedded systems, mobi ...
ARTC HD63484, which was capable of displaying up to 4K resolution when in
monochrome
A monochrome or monochromatic image, object or palette is composed of one color (or values of one color). Images using only shades of grey are called grayscale (typically digital) or black-and-white (typically analog). In physics, monochrom ...
mode.
[GPU History: Hitachi ARTC HD63484. The second graphics processor.](_blank)
(IEEE Computer Society
The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) is a 501(c)(3) professional association for electronic engineering and electrical engineering (and associated disciplines) with its corporate office in New York City and its operation ...
) The resolution was targeted at the
bit-mapped desktop publishing
Desktop publishing (DTP) is the creation of documents using page layout software on a personal ("desktop") computer. It was first used almost exclusively for print publications, but now it also assists in the creation of various forms of online ...
market.
The first commercially available 4K camera for cinematographic purposes was the
Dalsa Origin
The Dalsa Origin is the first camera designed and built by Dalsa Corporation to be used specifically for digital cinematography.
Overview
The Dalsa Origin is the first commercially available digital cinema camera to capture at 4K resolution ...
, released in 2003.
4K technology was developed by several research groups in universities around the world, such as
University of California, San Diego
The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego or colloquially, UCSD) is a public land-grant research university in San Diego, California. Established in 1960 near the pre-existing Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego is t ...
,
CALIT2,
Keio University,
Naval Postgraduate School and others that realized
several demonstrations in venues such as IGrid in 2004 and
CineGrid
CineGrid is a non-profit organization based in California that began in 2004 in order to distribute 1 Gbit/s to 1 Pbps ( Petabit per second) digital networks, utilize grid computing to manage digital media applications, and increase the demand for ...
.
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...
began supporting 4K for video uploads in 2010 as a result of leading manufacturers producing 4K cameras.
Users could view 4K video by selecting "Original" from the quality settings until December 2013, when the 2160p option appeared in the quality menu. In November 2013, YouTube began to use the
VP9
VP9 is an open and royalty-free video coding format developed by Google.
VP9 is the successor to VP8 and competes mainly with MPEG's High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC/H.265).
At first, VP9 was mainly used on Google's video platform YouTube. ...
video compression standard, saying that it was more suitable for 4K than
High Efficiency Video Coding
High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC), also known as H.265 and MPEG-H Part 2, is a video coding format, video compression standard designed as part of the MPEG-H project as a successor to the widely used Advanced Video Coding (AVC, H.264, or MPEG-4 ...
(HEVC).
Google
Google LLC () is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company focusing on Search Engine, search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, software, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, ar ...
, which owns YouTube, developed VP9.
Theaters began projecting movies at 4K resolution in 2011.
Sony was offering 4K projectors as early as 2004.
The first 4K
home theater projector was released by
Sony
, commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professiona ...
in 2012.
Despite this, few finished films have 4K resolution as of 2019. Even for movies and TV shows shot using 6K or 8K cameras, almost all finished films are edited in HD resolution and enlarged to fit a 4K format.
Sony is one of the leading studios promoting UHDTV content, offering a little over 70 movie and television titles via digital download to a specialized player that stores and decodes the video. The large files (≈40GB), distributed through consumer broadband connections, raise concerns about data caps.
In 2014,
Netflix
Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fi ...
began streaming ''
House of Cards
A house of cards (also known as a card tower or card castle) is a structure created by stacking playing cards on top of each other, often in the shape of a pyramid. "House of cards" is also an expression that dates back to 1645 meaning a structu ...
'', ''
Breaking Bad'', and "some nature documentaries" at 4K to compatible televisions with an HEVC decoder. Most 4K televisions sold in 2013 did not natively support HEVC, with most major manufacturers announcing support in 2014.
Amazon Studios
Amazon Studios is an American television and film producer and distributor that is a subsidiary of Amazon. It specializes in developing television series and distributing and producing films. It was started in late 2010. Content is distributed th ...
began shooting their full-length original series and new pilots with 4K resolution in 2014.
They are now currently available though
Amazon Video
Amazon Prime Video, also known simply as Prime Video, is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming and rental service of Amazon offered as a standalone service or as part of Amazon's Prime subscription. The service pr ...
.
In March 2016 the first players and discs for
Ultra HD Blu-ray
Ultra HD Blu-ray (4K Ultra HD, UHD-BD, or 4K Blu-ray) is a digital optical disc data storage format that is an enhanced variant of Blu-ray. Ultra HD Blu-ray discs are incompatible with existing standard Blu-ray players, though a traditional Bl ...
—a physical optical disc format supporting 4K resolution and
high-dynamic-range video (HDR) at 60 frames per second—were released.
On August 2, 2016, Microsoft released the
Xbox One S
The Xbox One is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. Announced in May 2013, it is the successor to Xbox 360 and the third base console in the Xbox series of video game consoles. It was first released in North America, parts of ...
, which supports 4K streaming and has an Ultra HD Blu-ray disc drive, but does not support 4K gaming. On November 10, 2016, Sony released the
PlayStation 4 Pro
The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013 in E ...
, which supports 4K streaming and gaming, though many games use
checkerboard rendering or are upscaled 4K.
On November 7, 2017, Microsoft released the
Xbox One X
The Xbox One is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. Announced in May 2013, it is the successor to Xbox 360 and the third base console in the Xbox series of video game consoles. It was first released in North America, parts o ...
, which supports of 4K streaming and gaming, though not all games are rendered at native 4K.
Home video projection
Though experiencing rapid price drops beginning in 2013 for viewing devices, the home cinema
digital video projector
A video projector is an image projector that receives a video signal and projects the corresponding image on a projection screen using a lens system. Video projectors use a very bright ultra-high-performance lamp (a special mercury arc lamp), Xe ...
market saw little expansion, with only a few manufacturers (only Sony ) offering limited 4K-capable lineups, with native 4K projectors commanding five-figure price tags well into 2015 before finally breaking the US$10,000 barrier.
Critics state that at normal direct-view panel size and viewing distances, the extra pixels of 4K are redundant at the ability of
normal human vision. Projection home cinemas, on the other hand, employ much larger screen sizes without necessarily increasing viewing distance to scale. JVC has used a technique known as "e-shift" to extrapolate extra pixels from 1080p sources to display 4K on screens through
upscaling or from native 4K sources at a much lower price than native 4K projectors.
This technology of non-native 4K entered its fourth generation for 2016.
JVC used this same technology to provide
8K flight simulation
A flight simulator is a device that artificially re-creates aircraft flight and the environment in which it flies, for pilot training, design, or other purposes. It includes replicating the equations that govern how aircraft fly, how they rea ...
for
Boeing
The Boeing Company () is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, telecommunications equipment, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and p ...
that met the limits of 20/25 visual acuity.
Pixel shifting, as described here, was pioneered in the consumer space by
JVC, and later in the commercial space by
Epson
Seiko Epson Corporation, or simply known as Epson, is a Japanese multinational electronics company and one of the world's largest manufacturers of computer printers and information- and imaging-related equipment. Headquartered in Suwa, Nagano ...
. That said, it is not the same thing as "true" 4K. More recently, some DLP projectors claim 4K UHD (which the JVCs and Epsons do not claim).
As noted above, DCI 4K is 40962160, while 4K UHD is 38402160, producing a slight difference in aspect ratio rather than a significant difference in resolution. Traditional displays, such as LCD or OLED, are 3840 pixels across the screen, with each pixel being 1/3840th of the screen width. They do not overlap—if they did, they would suffer reduced detail. The diameter of each pixel is basically 1/3840th of the screen width or 1/2160th of the screen height - either gives the same size pixel. That 38402160 works out to 8.3 megapixels, the official resolution of 4K UHD (and therefore Blu-ray UHD discs).
The 4K UHD standard does not specify how large the pixels are, so a 4K UHD projector (Optoma, BenQ, Dell, et al.) counts because these projectors have a 2718 × 1528 pixel structure. Those projectors process the true 4K of data and project it with overlapping pixels, which is what pixel shifting is. Unfortunately, each of those pixels is far larger: each one has 50% more area than true 4K. Pixel shifting projectors project a pixel, shift it up to the right, by a half diameter, and project it again, with modified data, but that second pixel overlaps the first.
In other words, pixel shifting cannot produce adjacent vertical lines of RGBRGB or other colors where each line is one pixel (1/3840th of the screen) wide. Adjacent red and green pixels would end up looking like yellow, with a fringe on one side of red, on the other of green - except that the next line of pixels overlaps as well, changing the color of that fringe. 4K UHD or 1080p pixel shifting cannot reveal the fine detail of a true 4K projector such as those Sony ships (business, education and home markets). Also, JVC has one true 4K projector priced at $35,000 (as of mid-2017).
So while 4K UHD appears like it has a pixel structures with 1/4 the area of 1080p, that does not happen with pixel shifting. Only a true 4K projector offers that level of resolution. This is why "true" 4K projectors cost so much more than 4K UHD projectors with otherwise similar feature sets. They produce smaller pixels, finer resolution, no compromising of detail or color from overlapping pixels. By comparison, the slight difference in aspect ratio between DCI and 3840 × 2160 pixel displays without overlap is insignificant relative to the amount of detail.
Some companies like
Kaleidescape
Kaleidescape, Inc. is an American multimedia company based in Mountain View, California. Founded in 2001, it designs multi-room home entertainment server systems that store and play back video and audio content (such as movies, television shows ...
offer media servers that allow for 4K UHD Blu-ray movies with high dynamic range in a home theater.
Broadcasting
In November 2014, United States satellite provider
DirecTV
DirecTV (trademarked as DIRECTV) is an American multichannel video programming distributor based in El Segundo, California. Originally launched on June 17, 1994, its primary service is a digital satellite service serving the United States. I ...
became the first pay TV provider to offer access to 4K content, although limited to selected video-on-demand films.
In August 2015, British sports network
BT Sport
BT Sport is a group of pay television sports channels in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Owned by Warner Bros. Discovery Sports Europe and BT Group, they first launched on 1 August 2013. The channels are based at the former International Bro ...
launched a 4K feed, with its first broadcast being the
2015 FA Community Shield football match. Two production units were used, producing the traditional broadcast in high-definition, and a separate 4K broadcast. As the network did not want to mix 4K footage with upconverted HD footage, this telecast did not feature traditional studio segments at pre-game or half-time, but those hosted from the stadium by the match commentators using a 4K camera. BT envisioned that if viewers wanted to watch studio analysis, they would switch to the HD broadcast and then back for the game. Footage was compressed using
H.264
Advanced Video Coding (AVC), also referred to as H.264 or MPEG-4 Part 10, is a video compression standard based on block-oriented, motion-compensated coding. It is by far the most commonly used format for the recording, compression, and distr ...
encoders and transmitted to
BT Tower
The BT Communication Tower is a grade II listed communications tower located in Fitzrovia, London, owned by BT Group. Originally named the Museum Radio Tower (after the adjacent Museum telephone exchange), it became better known by its unoff ...
, where it was then transmitted back to BT Sport studios and decompressed for distribution, via 4K-compatible
BT TV
BT TV is a subscription IPTV service offered by BT; a division of United Kingdom telecommunications company BT Group, and was originally launched as BT Vision in December 2006. As of the end of June 2019, BT TV had 1.9 million customers ...
set-top boxes on an eligible
BT Infinity
BT Superfast Fibre (formerly BT Infinity) is a broadband service in the United Kingdom provided by BT Consumer, the consumer sales arm of the BT Group. The underlying network is fibre-to-the-cabinet (FTTC), which uses optical fibre for all excep ...
internet plan with at least a 25 Mbit/s connection.
In late 2015 and January 2016, three Canadian television providers including
Quebec
Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...
-based
Vidéotron
Vidéotron is a Canadian integrated telecommunications company active in cable television, interactive multimedia development, video on demand, cable telephony, wireless communication and Internet access services. Owned by Quebecor, it primarily ...
, Ontario-based
Rogers Cable, and
Bell Fibe TV, announced that they would begin to offer 4K compatible set-top boxes that can stream 4K content to subscribers over gigabit internet service.
On October 5, 2015, alongside the announcement of its 4K set-top box and gigabit internet, Canadian media conglomerate
Rogers Communications
Rogers Communications Inc. is a Canadian communications and media company operating primarily in the fields of wireless communications, cable television, telephony and Internet, with significant additional telecommunications and mass media ass ...
announced that it planned to produce 101 sports telecasts in 4K in 2016 via its
Sportsnet division, including all
Toronto Blue Jays
The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since 1989, the team has played its home games ...
home games, and "marquee"
National Hockey League
The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...
games beginning in January 2016. Bell Media announced via its
TSN division a slate of 4K telecasts to begin on January 20, 2016, including selected
Toronto Raptors
The Toronto Raptors are a Canadian professional basketball team based in Toronto. The Raptors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. They play their home games a ...
games and regional NHL games.
On January 14, 2016, in cooperation with BT Sport, Sportsnet broadcast the first ever
NBA game produced in 4K a
Toronto Raptors
The Toronto Raptors are a Canadian professional basketball team based in Toronto. The Raptors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. They play their home games a ...
/
Orlando Magic game at
O2 Arena O2 Arena may refer to:
*The O2 Arena (London)
*O2 Arena (Prague)
*The 3Arena
The 3Arena (originally The O2) is an indoor amphitheatre located at North Wall Quay in the Dublin Docklands in Dublin, Ireland. The venue opened as The O2 on 16 Decem ...
in
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
,
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
. On January 20, also during a Raptors game, TSN presented the first live 4K telecast produced in North America.
Three days later, Sportsnet presented the first NHL game in 4K.
Dome Productions, a joint venture of Bell Media and Rogers Media (the respective owners of TSN and Sportsnet), constructed a "side-by-side" 4K mobile production unit shared by Sportsnet and TSN's first 4K telecasts; it was designed to operate alongside a separate HD truck and utilize cameras capable of output in both formats.
For the opening game of the
2016 Toronto Blue Jays season, Dome constructed "Trillium" a production truck integrating both 4K and 1080i high-definition units.
Bell Media's
CTV also broadcast the
2016 Juno Awards in 4K as the first awards show presented in the format.
In February 2016,
Univision
Univision () is an American Spanish-language free-to-air television network owned by TelevisaUnivision. It is the United States' largest provider of Spanish-language content. The network's programming is aimed at the Latino public and includes ...
trialed 4K by producing a closed circuit telecast of a football friendly between the national teams of
Mexico
Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
and
Senegal
Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 𞤅𞤫𞤲𞤫𞤺𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭 (Senegaali); Arabic: السنغال ''As-Sinighal'') officially the Republic of Senegal,; Wolof: ''Réewum Senegaal''; Pulaar : 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 ...
from
Miami
Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...
in the format. The broadcast was streamed privately to several special viewing locations. Univision aimed to develop a 4K streaming app to publicly televise the final of
Copa América Centenario
The Copa América Centenario ( pt, Copa América Centenário, french: Coupe Amerique Centennaire, en, Centennial Cup America; literally ''Centennial America Cup'') was an international men's association football tournament that was hosted by the ...
in 4K.
In March 2016,
DirecTV
DirecTV (trademarked as DIRECTV) is an American multichannel video programming distributor based in El Segundo, California. Originally launched on June 17, 1994, its primary service is a digital satellite service serving the United States. I ...
and
CBS Sports
CBS Sports is the sports division of the American television network CBS. Its headquarters are in the CBS Building on W 52nd Street in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, with programs produced out of Studio 43 at the CBS Broadcast Center on W ...
announced that they would produce the "Amen Corner" supplemental coverage from the
Masters golf
Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible.
Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping ...
tournament in 4K.
In late 2016,
Telus TV
Telus Optik TV is a product of Telus Communications, a subsidiary of Telus Corporation, that provides IPTV service in the Canadian provinces of British Columbia, Alberta, and Quebec. The service offers over 630 digital channels, including more ...
announced that they would begin to offer 4K compatible set-top boxes.
After having trialed the technology in limited matches at the
2013 FIFA Confederations Cup, and the
2014 FIFA World Cup (via private tests and public viewings in the host city of
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a ...
), the
2018 FIFA World Cup was the first
FIFA World Cup
The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...
in which all matches were produced in 4K. Host Broadcasting Services stated that at least 75% of the broadcast cut on each match would come from 4K cameras (covering the majority of main angles), with instant replays and some camera angles being upconverted from 1080p sources. These broadcasts were made available from selected rightsholders, such as the
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in the United Kingdom, and selected television providers in the United States.
The resolution of is the dominant 4K resolution in the consumer media and display industries. This is the resolution of the UHDTV1 format defined in SMPTE ST 2036–1,
and is also the minimum resolution for CEA's definition of ''Ultra HD'' displays and projectors.
project for their 4K broadcasting standard, UHD-1.
This resolution has an aspect ratio of 169, with 8,294,400 total pixels. It is exactly double the horizontal and vertical resolution of 1080p () for a total of 4 times as many pixels, and triple the horizontal and vertical resolution of 720p () for a total of 9 times as many pixels. It is sometimes referred to as "2160p", based on the naming patterns established by the previous 720p and 1080p
standards.
In 2013, televisions capable of displaying UHD resolutions were seen by
companies as the next trigger for an upgrade cycle after a lack of consumer interest in
.
This resolution is used mainly in digital cinema production, and has a total of 8,847,360 pixels with an aspect ratio of 256135 (≈1910). It was standardized as the resolution of the 4K container format defined by
.
The DCI specification allows several different resolutions for the content inside the container, depending on the desired aspect ratio. The allowed resolutions are defined in
* 40962160 (full frame, 256135 or ≈1.901 aspect ratio)
* 39962160 (flat crop, 1.851 aspect ratio)
* 40961716 (CinemaScope crop, ≈2.391 aspect ratio)
The DCI 4K standard has twice the horizontal and vertical resolution of DCI 2K (), with four times as many pixels overall.
Digital movies made in 4K may be produced,
is used.
In the digital cinema production chain, a resolution of 4096 × 3112 is often used for acquiring "open gate" or anamorphic input material, a resolution based on the historical resolution of scanned Super 35 mm film.
Various other non-standardized 4K resolutions have been used in displays, including:
* 40962560 (1.601 or
); this resolution was used in the LG UltraFine 22MD4KA 4K monitor, jointly announced by
monitors, released in 2001 and 2002 respectively. This resolution is also referred to as "WQUXGA", and is four times the resolution of WUXGA (19201200).
* 38401920 (2:1 or 16:8); this resolution is largely used by 360 videos as they largely use a 2:1 aspect ratio. The reason is to represent a 360° on the horizontal axis and a 180° on the vertical.
* 38401600 (2.401 or
); a number of computer monitors with this resolution have been produced, the first being the LG 38UC99-W released in 2016. This resolution is equivalent to WQXGA (25601600) extended in width by 50%, or 38402160 reduced in height by ≈26%. LG refers to this resolution as "WQHD+" (Wide Quad HD+), while Acer uses the term "UW-QHD+" (Ultra-wide Quad HD+) and some media outlets have used the term "UW4K" (Ultra-wide 4K).
* 38401080 (3.1 or 329); this resolution was first used in the Samsung C49HG70, a curved gaming monitor released in 2017. This resolution is equivalent to dual 1080p displays (19201080) side-by-side, but with no border interrupting the image. It is also exactly one half of a 4K UHD (38402160) display. Samsung refers to this resolution as "DFHD" (Dual Full HD).
The main advantage of recording video at the 4K standard is that fine spatial detail is resolved well.
Individual still frames extracted from 3840×2160-pixel video footage can act as 8.3
still photographs, while only 2.1 megapixels at 1080p and 0.9 megapixels at 720p. If the final video quality is reduced to 2K from a 4K recording, more detail is apparent than would have been achieved from a native 2K recording.
.
.
, which records color information at only one quarter the resolution as the brightness information.