Need help?
What Is 4K?
Kamera Express
What is 4K?
You see it almost everywhere nowadays: 4K. Whether you are buying a new camera or looking for a nice TV, if your device supports 4K, you know the quality is good. But what exactly is 4K?
4K is a general term for several different video resolutions where the horizontal number of pixels is around 4000. The most common resolution referred to as 4K is 3840x2160. On both YouTube and in the television industry, this resolution is the standard for 4K. It is the successor to Full HD, also known as 1080p, which has a resolution of 1920x1080. 4K has exactly four times as many pixels as Full HD.
Advantages of 4K
Better quality
The high image resolution has one major advantage: better quality. Because a 4K video contains four times as much information as a Full HD video, your footage is much more detailed. That is why 4K is a must-have for demanding filmmakers and vloggers.
Advantages of 4K
Better quality
The high image resolution has one major advantage: better quality. Because a 4K video contains four times as much information as a Full HD video, your footage is much more detailed. That is why 4K is a must-have for demanding filmmakers and vloggers. Just place two TVs of the same screen size next to each other, one Full HD and the other 4K. In the space of one pixel on the Full HD TV, the 4K TV displays four pixels. This results in even sharper images.
Disadvantages of 4K
Large files
All that extra information in your video also needs to be stored somewhere. Videos in 4K have a much larger file size. This means your memory card fills up more quickly, and you will also need an extra hard drive sooner to archive all your videos. Your computer also needs enough processing power to edit your 4K videos.
Editing freedom
Because you have more detail, you also have more freedom during post-production than with Full HD. You can crop your footage more easily without losing much quality. For example, you can easily zoom in on something or create a pan shot.
Only useful on 4K screens
You can put a lot of time and effort into your 4K video, but someone who only has a Full HD TV will never see your film in its optimal quality. You also need to invest in a 4K screen yourself to edit your footage in its true quality.
Is 4K the same as Ultra HD?
Besides 4K, you will also often see the term Ultra HD, sometimes shortened to UHD. As mentioned, 4K is a general term for different resolutions where the number of horizontal pixels is around 4000. In practice, 4K and Ultra HD are often used to mean the same thing, but technically they are not exactly the same. The term 4K was originally created by Digital Cinema Initiatives, a partnership between major film studios, for the resolution 4096x2160. This served as the successor to the previous industry standard 2K, which had a resolution of 2048x1080. This version of 4K, called DCI 4K or Cinema 4K for clarity, has the same number of vertical pixels (2160) as ‘standard 4K’, but has slightly more horizontal pixels. This results in a wider image and a different aspect ratio, namely 17:9 instead of 16:9. Some advanced consumer cameras also support DCI 4K, such as the Fujifilm X-T4 and the Panasonic Lumix DC-GH5S.
However, when a manufacturer labels a product as 4K, it almost always refers to the previously mentioned ‘standard 4K’ with a resolution of 3840x2160, marked with * in the image below. A better and more logical name for this resolution would actually be Ultra HD. But because 4K has clearly become a lasting term, manufacturers are happy to use it. For clarity, some brands use the term 4K Ultra HD, so you know for sure that it refers to 3840x2160.
Choosing between DCI 4K and 4K Ultra HD
That remains a personal choice. One is not better than the other. However, 4K Ultra HD is much more common because it is used as the standard by YouTube and the television industry. Thanks to this wide use in online content, you are quite free to use any aspect ratio you want.
What about 8K?
Yes, we will probably be writing a similar article about 8K in the future. This resolution again has four times as many pixels as its predecessor, 4K, which results in an even higher resolution and image quality. All the advantages and disadvantages mentioned for 4K also apply to 8K, but the disadvantage of compatible equipment is even more important here. There are still very few people who have invested in a new TV with 8K resolution. The question is also whether this will happen, because this extra step up does not bring many direct benefits in a normal home situation. That is why you should ask yourself whether it is already worth shooting in 8K, if your camera can even do so.
The best video cameras with 4K
Have you become excited about filming in 4K? Then we have listed three different types of cameras that are very suitable for this.
Best TVs with 4K
Have you become excited about filming in 4K? Then we have listed three different types of cameras that are very suitable for this.
