CEA christens 4k as "ULTRA HD"

Ted Ramasola

Ted Ramasola

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"Sonoma, CA – 10/18/2012 – The next generation of so-called “4K” high-definition display technology for the home – giant-screen TVs with more than eight million pixels of resolution, four times the resolution of today’s high-definition televisions – will be called “Ultra High-Definition” or “Ultra HD,” connoting its superiority over conventional HDTV, according to the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA)®."

Part of press release from dpreview article.

http://www.dpreview.com/news/2012/10/19/CEA-confirms-Ultra-High-Definition-4k-video-spec-with-3480-2160-pixel-minimum
 
gandalfrodo said:
I thought Ultra HD was supposed to be 8K. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hT2XluvAjwQ
Click to expand...

Originally, NHK who first proposed the 8K format, called it "Super Hi-Vision", its only later that UHD was defined as having two levels (4K & 8K).

NHK always wanted to skip 4K because they thought that 1080p->4K wasn't a noticeable enough jump for consumers to justify buying new TV sets. The goal point was resolution equivalent of 70mm film. But the Super Hi-Vision proposal was always kinda out there. I mean the proposal was for Super Hi-Vision to be mated with a 22.2 Surround Sound system (24 speakers including two sub-woofers).

Eventually I'm sure they'll think of another marketing name for 8K. "Beyond Retina Definition" or something to that nature....
 
The problem with calling UHD 4K, is that its not 4K, close enough for me however, but its actually quad HD. The other component thats pretty much included in all these ultra expensive 4K units that have started to ripple through is they come equipped with surprisingly good 1080 upscale technology. Really surprisingly good results. The fact they have that tech however, isnt that surprising since there is a complete lack of 4k content available and youde be lucky to find maybe three networks globally around the world that will transmit any kind of 4k signal in the next 6 years if any.
 
Noel Evans said:
The problem with calling UHD 4K, is that its not 4K, close enough for me however, but its actually quad HD. The other component thats pretty much included in all these ultra expensive 4K units that have started to ripple through is they come equipped with surprisingly good 1080 upscale technology. Really surprisingly good results. The fact they have that tech however, isnt that surprising since there is a complete lack of 4k content available and youde be lucky to find maybe three networks globally around the world that will transmit any kind of 4k signal in the next 6 years if any.
Click to expand...


The real difference between 4096 × 2160(4K) and 3840 x 2160(quad-HD) is really just the aspect ratio. Obviously, home TVs aren't made for 1.9:1 aspect ratio. Yes, it really isn't "4K", but 4K was always a silly naming convention based on marketing to begin with. We went from vertical to horizontal resolution. 1080p was 1080p regardless of its aspect ratio. Clearly, calling 4K 2160p is less sexy. It only sounds like it has twice the resolution than 1080p, when it really has 4 times the resolution. For all purposes Quad-HD is 4K.

As far as the upscale technology. It really is amazing.

4K upscaling isn't just doubling the vertical & horizontal resolution like upscaling methods in the past have used, they actually are using algorithm that incorporates a huge database of known objects and associated signals to predict the pattern of what's on screen. It gets amazing results. It'll be a great stop-gap until 4K content starts coming out. The reality is that we likely won't see a massive shift to 4K like we saw with HD, primarily because mobile and web-based video has becoming so prevalent. This "super resolution" upscaling may also be useful for the eventual shift to 8K.

You can play around with Super Resolution here (its an older work, but you can get the general idea):
http://www.wisdom.weizmann.ac.il/~vision/SingleImageSR.html

Be sure to click on the blue "Our SR Results" next to the image to see the difference. The original image is the low-res pixelated image, and you can see the different filters by clicking the buttons to the left.
 
The big problem with 4K is the naysayers.
Don't buy 4k televisions there isn't any 4K broadcasts! I am sorry we have You Tube and 4K upscalling and consumer 4K cameras. 4k internet streaming is the only way we can get honest high definition quality.
Who needs 4k broadcasting for a 1080p monitor! I'm sorry interlace 1080i (1440x540) is only extended definition and not a format that the Olympics should be broadcasted in. 4K downscaled to 1080p is real high definition and the Olympic committee will never accept 720p or 1080p as our next generation high definition format because there is too little improvement.
Who needs 4K cameras when there are no 4K televisions! Sorry, what about the 1440p Ipads and computer monitors?
Blu-Ray isn't even 4K ! And neither is Blu-Ray 1080p60.
 
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