With the progression of technology, images are now capable of being generated in finer quality and improved sharpness. Novel terminologies like 4K or 8K are introduced, yet their meanings aren’t always clear to everyone. Typically, when the topic of a television, camera, or monitor arises, it is often defined by its resolution capability.
The resolution is how many pixels are on the screen, and megapixels are each one million pixels.
What Is 4K Resolution?
4K resolution is becoming increasingly popular today. It is a high-definition resolution that can be either 3840x 2160 pixels or 4096 x 2160 pixels. It is four times the pixel resolution of 1080p, which is high definition.
They use 4K resolution in commercial digital cinema. For this type of 4K, they use 4096 x 2160 pixels. Ultra HD or UHD is also 4K and is used for home theater. They use 3840 x 2160 pixels. It is technically 3.8K, but they call it 4K too.
How Many Megapixels Is 4K?
To find out how many pixels 4K is, you multiply the two values together. You can take 4096 x 2160, and you get 8,847,360 pixels. Since a megapixel is one million pixels, 4K is 8.85 megapixels.
If you have the UHD version of 4K, you can multiply 3840 x 2160. This gives you 8,294,400 pixels, which is 8.29 megapixels.
Why Do People Need 4K?
The main reason that people want 4K is that televisions are getting bigger and bigger, and higher resolution, or more pixels, gives you a more precise image. 1080p was popular for years, and it looks good on a screen up to 65 inches. However, 4K can produce an even sharper image because there are more pixels.
It is important to remember that the resolution doesn’t change. If you have a 4K resolution, it is the same number of pixels whether the screen is 32 inches or 65 inches. In contrast, the number of pixels stays the same, but the pixels per square inch change. As the screen size becomes more prominent, the pixels are spread further apart. This leads to a need for higher resolution to maintain the same crisp, clear image.
What Is 8K Resolution?
8K is the newest technology, meaning the screen has more pixels. It has 7680 x 4320. There are a few televisions with 8K on the market, but it isn’t very common yet.
The primary reason is that there isn’t much 8K content. No matter what resolution your screen is, it can’t make the content have a higher resolution than it is. 8K resolution has 33,177,600 pixels, which is 33.18 megapixels. However, it will take some time before these televisions become more common.
What Is the Difference Between 4K and UHD?
4K televisions have become the standard, and there are two terms that people refer to as 4K: 4K and UHD. UHD is also called Ultra HD. Although people use the term 4K for both, they aren’t the same.
It is easiest to understand the difference by looking at what they are. 4K is a professional production and cinema standard, and UHD is the broadcast and consumer display standard.
The Digital Cinema Initiatives coined 4K to produce 4K content. It is 4096 x 2160pixels, which is exactly four times the former standard, which is 2K (2048 x 1080). They coined the term 4K because the horizontal pixel count is about 4000 pixels.
UHD is a step up from full HD, which was the display of 1920 x 1080. It is four times that resolution, which makes it 3840x 2160. Televisions that are UHD are often sold as 4K. However, 4K screens have an aspect ratio of 1.9:1, while UHD screens have an aspect ratio of 1.78:1.
You may wonder why they are both called 4K, and the likely answer is that 4K is simpler for marketing purposes. They are starting to call UHD televisions 4K UHD. What’s interesting is that former resolutions went by the second number. So, 1080 is 1920 x 1080.
With 4K, they are using the first number instead. It is possible that they did this to create less confusion. 2160 is the second number for 4K, and it is twice as high as 1080. The issue is that 4K is four times the resolution, so they named it this way.
Does a 4K Television Show All Content in 4K?
Another question is whether their 4K television will show all content in 4K. Your 4K television can and will display content in a lower resolution if that is how it has been filmed. Most television programming is not broadcast in 4K, so your 4K TV will show the programming as it was filmed.
Final Words
A megapixel is equal to a million pixels, and the resolution of a screen refers to how many pixels it produces. 4K makes 8,847,360 pixels, which is 8.85 megapixels.
