Can someone explain "K" when discussing sensor/resolution?
- Thread starter Revsta
- Start date
commanderspike
Carbonite Member
I think it refers to vertical resolution but might be wrong as I have no interest in RED other than staring at something I can't afford 
My guess is that 1080p is 1k (K as in thousand), 2k is double that, 3k triple and 4k the highest of all which the RED ONE does.
My guess is that 1080p is 1k (K as in thousand), 2k is double that, 3k triple and 4k the highest of all which the RED ONE does.
Andrew McCarrick
Carbonite Member
Anything below 2k is measured vertically, once you hit 2k it's horiziontally.
1080 is 1920 wide by 1080 tall, so technically it is close to 2k, but is marketed as 1080.
2k is 2048 wide by 1024 tall
(for a 2:1 aspect ratio)
4k is 4096 wide by 2048 tall.
(for a 2:1 aspect ratio)
1080 is 1920 wide by 1080 tall, so technically it is close to 2k, but is marketed as 1080.
2k is 2048 wide by 1024 tall
(for a 2:1 aspect ratio)
4k is 4096 wide by 2048 tall.
(for a 2:1 aspect ratio)
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Martti Ekstrand
Veteran
Yup. Ah well - 96% of a 2K camera.
The two ways of denominate resolution come from two distant cousins: cinema and broadcast.
The two ways of denominate resolution come from two distant cousins: cinema and broadcast.
Barry_Green
Moderator
Well, let's start over.
Video is measured in terms of vertical resolution, so 1080p = 1920x1080. 720p = 1280x720. PAL = 576i, being 720x576. NTSC = 480i, being 720x480.
Digital Cinema (digitized film, or digi-cine cameras) have their formats represented in "K", which is shorthand for the horizontal resolution. So a frame that's 2048 x 1152 = "2K", since "K" is shorthand for 1,024 (or, sometimes, rounded off to 1,000).
Digital cinema scans are usually done at 4K (4,096 x 2304) or 2K (2048 x 1152).
Still photography usually doesn't use either nomenclature, they instead just refer to the total megapixels. So a 4096 x 3072 sensor would be called a 12MP sensor (since 4096x3072 = 12,582,912, rounded down to "12 megapixels"). And so stills shot at that size would be 12-mp stills.
So -- let's go back to the GH1 -- as a video camera, it's a 1080p camera. It records actual video files, at 1920x1080, hence 1080p.
As a still camera, it's a 14-megapixel camera.
And in terms of its sensor, if it were to be classified as a digi-cine sensor, it'd be about 4.3k (since its raw sensor resolution is something like 4352 x 3000).
Video is measured in terms of vertical resolution, so 1080p = 1920x1080. 720p = 1280x720. PAL = 576i, being 720x576. NTSC = 480i, being 720x480.
Digital Cinema (digitized film, or digi-cine cameras) have their formats represented in "K", which is shorthand for the horizontal resolution. So a frame that's 2048 x 1152 = "2K", since "K" is shorthand for 1,024 (or, sometimes, rounded off to 1,000).
Digital cinema scans are usually done at 4K (4,096 x 2304) or 2K (2048 x 1152).
Still photography usually doesn't use either nomenclature, they instead just refer to the total megapixels. So a 4096 x 3072 sensor would be called a 12MP sensor (since 4096x3072 = 12,582,912, rounded down to "12 megapixels"). And so stills shot at that size would be 12-mp stills.
So -- let's go back to the GH1 -- as a video camera, it's a 1080p camera. It records actual video files, at 1920x1080, hence 1080p.
As a still camera, it's a 14-megapixel camera.
And in terms of its sensor, if it were to be classified as a digi-cine sensor, it'd be about 4.3k (since its raw sensor resolution is something like 4352 x 3000).
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