"4k" Stupidest name ever, Should be 2160p

Forums › Home Theatre (including HTPC and EPG Collector) › "4k" Stupidest name ever, Should be 2160p

davidcole

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#119315 28-May-2013 10:02

So was watching a podcast the other day (home Theatre Geek) and there was a chap there who actually explained 2160p (I refuse to call it 4k now).

I liken it to calling 1080p 2k - which noone does. Since they seem to have latched onto 4k as a term by taking the horizontal resolution (and applying some generous rounding).

4k to me should be 4196p.

Anyone else think this, or am I just being a pedant?

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MikeB4
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#826827 28-May-2013 10:06

A Rose by any other name ...

Here is a crazy notion, lets give peace a chance.

chiefie

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#826830 28-May-2013 10:13

@DavidCole: Yup. *hehe*

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ubergeeknz

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#826832 28-May-2013 10:17

Agreed, it's almost as confusing as laptop screen resolutions: WU-XVGA what the hell is that?

noc

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#826833 28-May-2013 10:21

"4k" seems easier to say than "4196p" .... Yea, everyone seems to have latched on to the "4k" name, which is why I would refer to them as 4k. Can you imagine going in to a shop and asking the sales person; "Do you have any 4196p TV's?" .... They would probably stare at me with a blank expression

dolbyjr

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#826834 28-May-2013 10:24

Suspect they're trying to align with the way it is done in Cinemas with the Digital Cinema Projectors.

2K (1080p) projectors are the norm in most Cinemas these days, although some auditoriums are moving towards the 4K (2160p) resolution.

Auckland's Civic Theatre has a 4K projector and it does offer a very nice picture. At one of the Film Festival screenings last year I was easily able to discern the film grain on a movie that had been shot on film and transferred to the DCP format.

ubergeeknz

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#826835 28-May-2013 10:25

noc: "4k" seems easier to say than "4196p" .... Yea, everyone seems to have latched on to the "4k" name, which is why I would refer to them as 4k. Can you imagine going in to a shop and asking the sales person; "Do you have any 4196p TV's?" .... They would probably stare at me with a blank expression

Thing is - it's not 4196p. It's 2160p. Very misleading.

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Dunnersfella

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#826840 28-May-2013 10:31

I call the latest TV's 'ultra HD', while I refer to the cinema spec as 4k.
I think it's mainly punters who call it 4k, panel manufacturers are calling it Ultra HD (LG as an example).

noc

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#826843 28-May-2013 10:36

ubergeeknz: Thing is - it's not 4196p. It's 2160p. Very misleading.

Hmmm, true. Fair enough. So, retailers should really mention "2160p" if they want to use the "4k" when advertising "Ultra High Definition" TV's .... Ouch, my head... too many names

MikeB4

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#826846 28-May-2013 10:37

2K, 4K, 8K makes more sense than using 1080P.......... naming regime. Especially given that 4K and 8K are consumer targeted

Here is a crazy notion, lets give peace a chance.

Behodar

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#826847 28-May-2013 10:39

dolbyjr: Suspect they're trying to align with the way it is done in Cinemas with the Digital Cinema Projectors.

That makes sense. I'm only guessing here but maybe they thought about calling 1080p "2k" as well, but didn't like the sound of "1.33k" for 720p so they went for the "p" ratings for both types.

LookingUp

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#826848 28-May-2013 10:41

From Wiki -

Several 4K resolutions exist in digital television and digital cinematography. The term 4K refers to the horizontal resolution (instead of the vertical) of these formats, which are all on the order of 4,000 pixels.

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mclean

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#826870 28-May-2013 11:14

4k to me should be 4196p.

4196p is not very likely I think, but if it was it would be 8K. Less precise but much simpler.

macuser

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#826883 28-May-2013 11:22

First off, I think you're confused by horizontal/vertical width. 4096 is the horizontal width of a frame, 2160 is the vertical height.

There is also a 2k standard which refers to a frame that is 2048px wide, that is cropped down in post production to create a 1920px wide frame (1080P).

If someone was trying to say that 4K meant 2160, they're wrong, or probably referring to the vertical height of frame.

The 4k standard will revolve around two widths, 4096 and 3840 px wide. Sony is selling TV's now that are 3840x2160.

But yea - pretty confusing how they changed from vertical to horizontal in their branding...probably because all the pro film camera's call it 4k, not 2160p.

fahrenheit

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#826886 28-May-2013 11:28

OP, I don't think you are being pedant enough. There is no such thing as 4196. Its 4096

For me, 'UHD' brings with it the same problems as 'Full HD'. Its a totally meaningless description which becomes associated with one particular standard (in that case, 1080p). The problem exists in the USB world with High speed and Full speed, which confuses consumers no end as to which is which.
So what comes after UHD? SUHD (Super Ultra High Definition)? Pretty soon, you start to run out of superlatives... Or worse, as the case was with 'Full HD' vs '720p', it actually made some people think that 720p was not HD. Which wasn't the case at all.

In the cinema production world, the resolutions have traditionally been named after their horizontal resolution (2K/4K).
In consumer video production, resolutions are named after their vertical resolution. 480i/p, 576i/p, 720p, 1080p are all vertical values. For the next format to come along and abandon that naming tradition, I think is a step in the wrong direction.

2160p. Use it, or get used to it. Please.

davidcole

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#826893 28-May-2013 11:37

macuser: First off, I think you're confused by horizontal/vertical width. 4096 is the horizontal width of a frame, 2160 is the vertical height.

There is also a 2k standard which refers to a frame that is 2048px wide, that is cropped down in post production to create a 1920px wide frame (1080P).

If someone was trying to say that 4K meant 2160, they're wrong, or probably referring to the vertical height of frame.

The 4k standard will revolve around two widths, 4096 and 3840 px wide. Sony is selling TV's now that are 3840x2160.

But yea - pretty confusing how they changed from vertical to horizontal in their branding...probably because all the pro film camera's call it 4k, not 2160p.

No I'm saying it shouldn't be called 4k at all. We should either stick with names, ie HD (720p) Full HD (1920x1080) Ultra HD 3840x2160 and Whatever they will call next next one, super maxi HD?!?! 7680x4320 (this correct? I multiplied 1080 x 4)

And yes I know that broadcast/production use 2, 4 and 8k for the widths as they have never standardised on a vertical resolution. But I think production has been, and probably should be divorced from the consumer market in terms of naming.

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