Collectively, the format was originally known as 4K, and while the CEA officially changed its designation to Ultra HD (UHD for short), the 4K label appears to be sticking. Either way, this is a different thing from 48-frames-per-second video, which made news last year thanks to Peter Jackson's The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. (For more on those, read 'The Hobbit' at 48fps: Frame Rates Explained.)
How Is 4K Different Than 1080p?Depending on the variety (discussed above), 4K generally offers four times the resolution of standard 1080p HDTVs. Even so, 4K content will still be compressed for home use, as an uncompressed two-hour movie playing at 30 frames per second would require 55TB of storage just by itself, according to an excellent post from Michael Cioni, who acted as digital intermediate supervisor on The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo.
4K video also takes a solid 1GB-per-second connection for reliable playback, which means fast hard drives and faster-than-usual Internet and network connections. The HDMI connections on your current devices might not be enough to show 4K video at its smoothest; most entertainment devices and HDTVs use HDMI 1.4 which supports an Ultra HD picture at 30 frames per second. HDMI 2.0, which is starting to appear on most 4K HDTVs, supports Ultra HD at 60 frames per second. Like the display technology itself, it will take some time for the HDMI standard to become common enough for both HDTVs and media players.
Do You Need 4K?Not yet, unless you're an early adopter with the cash to spend and plenty of patience. In which case, the answer is probably still not yet. Think of 4K as something mainstream consumers could be watching in the next several years. Early adopters and enthusiasts may be interested sooner, if the costs come down enough and there's enough content available.
It's already pretty clear 4K won't end up like the 3D fad in there not being enough good content available to watch, even years after the technology's debut. 4K has a much better chance of becoming mainstream, because it doesn't need special glasses, and because some movie studios are already defaulting to shooting in it and promising a broad base of available content down the line. Bottom line: For most of us, however tantalizing that 4K logo may seem, it's not a realistic proposition in the immediate future. It's something to keep an eye on further down the line
link:pcmag
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