HD

When the term "HD" came out it was loosely applied to two very different formats 720 and 1080. To confuse the public, flatscreen TVs were sold as "HD Ready" and buyers later found that both the new "HD" TVs and Camers were actually only 720. Newer HD TVs came out and were labeled "Full HD" meaning 1080 but were sold along side 720 "HD Ready" TVs which still confuses the public today. Cameras were later advertised "1080 HD" - a more accurate description and many consumers are still not aware of 1080p vs 1080i. Misleading advertising - say the least. But "let the buyer beware".

So what about "standards"? In 2005 an industry association known as EICTA (and since re-named DIGITALEUROPE) set down a standard for the term "HD Ready". For a television to qualify as HD Ready it needs to be capable of 720 horizontal lines of resolution. It also must accept certain inputs such as HDMI or DVI with copy protection (HDCP).

The term "Full HD" is often used in marketing materials across the globe. It is not, however, a standard that has been adopted by any government agency or trade organization. Full HD is used as a synonym for 1080p as a means of up-selling consumers looking at HD Ready TV sets. Since Full HD is only a marketing term, it does not indicate any particular qualities besides 1080p. A set labeled as Full HD may not be capable of 1-to-1 pixel mapping or might not be able to properly display all 1080p video sources.

4k/UHD

For those moving into the expensive world of "4k" involving new TVs, Monitors, and Cameras please note that the term "4k" is being used loosely, once again, to confuse the public. The differences are not as drastic as so-called "HD" but they are worth knowing before you buy. What is 4k? To confuse consumers even further the industry named 1080 resolution after image height (1920x1080), but named 4K after image width (4096x2160). For extra added fun, you also might hear 4k resolution referred to as 2160p. 4k Cinema Standard is 4096x2160 and the new Ultra HD (UHD) consumer format has a slightly lower resolution of 3840 X 2160. There is no real visual difference so we will skip the technical differences as both are four times HD resolution.

We have a UHD standard which is worth reading here: ITU global standard for international mobile telecommunications more commonly known by the abbreviations Rec. 2020 or BT.2020, defines various aspects of UHDTV such as display resolution, frame rate, chroma subsampling, bit depth, and color space

In brief there is more to 4k/UHD than resolution.

1. Rec. 2020 defines two resolutions of 3840 × 2160 ("4K") and 7680 × 4320 ("8K") - These resolutions have an aspect ratio of 16:9 and use square pixels.


2. FRAME RATE - Rec. 2020 specifies the following frame rates: 120p, 119.88p, 100p, 60p, 59.94p, 50p, 30p, 29.97p, 25p, 24p, 23.976p - Only progressive scan frame rates are allowed.


3. BIT DEPTH -Rec. 2020 defines a bit depth of either 10-bits per sample or 12-bits per sample.


4. COLOR SPACE -The Rec. 2020 (UHDTV/UHD-1/UHD-2) color space can reproduce colors that can not be shown with the Rec. 709 (HD) color space.


5. Transfer characteristics - Rec. 2020 defines a nonlinear transfer function that can be used for gamma correction with RGB and YCbCr.


6. Codecs - The Rec. 2020 color space is supported by H.264/MPEG-4 AVC and H.265/High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC). On December 22, 2014, Avid Technology released an update for Media Composer that added support for 4K resolution, the Rec. 2020 color space, and a bit rate of up to 3,730 Mbit/s with the DNxHD codec. DNxHD is actually not an additional cost if you edit in Premiere. The codec is provided free of charge and works all the way up to 10-bit 444, 080P. The 10-bit Rec. 2020 will quickly become relevant (and not just for film). With Windows 10, millions of people will have embedded support for accelerated 4K HEVC h.265 that will start to replace h.264 format. Both HEVC and WebM have announced support for 10-bit, and Rec. 2020 color space, offering a giant leap forward in picture quality. Link - More Info DNxHD codec


7. HDMI - HDMI 2.0 supports the Rec. 2020 color space.[16] HDMI 2.0 can transmit 12-bit per sample RGB at a resolution of 2160p (UHD) and a frame rate of 24/25/30 fps or it can transmit 12-bits per sample 4:2:2/4:2:0 YCbCr at a resolution of 2160p and a frame rate of 50/60 fps.

TVs/Monitors - 4k/UHD - You need a 50-65" screen to see the benefits of 4k for home viewing - and you need to sit close. Quality variesdue to differences in technology. UHD is still somewhat a work in progress. This year's models still don't conform to a number of pending, still in development or just announced highly-technical upgrades such as HEVC, HDCP 2.2, HDR and HDMI 2.0a. HDR brings a demonstrably higher degree of color, both in intensity and the number of colors and how accurately they're displayed. See HDR: the biggest advance in video for ten years and it has nothing to do with resolution! Dolby revolutionized sound and they are now doing it for video with HDR. See Dolby Vision (don't miss this!) Most UHD TV's use LED LCD and quality varies due to backlighting etc. OLED is here and a huge color quality improvement (12% over LED) but still expensive. Samsung and LG have announced new "quantum dot" LCD 4K UHD TVs. Quantum Dot LCD 4K UHDs do display significantly brighter, deeper colors — 30 percent more color than the current industry standard, compared with the mere 12 percent boost from OLED. See Beyond LCD: Which New 4K UHD TV Technology Is Best?

Bottom line - most UHD TVs don't yet do justice to 4k video. "UHD Ready" TV meant that it could display 4K video resolution footage downscaled on a HD screen. Also UHD could just use 8 bit color depth andthe color gamut of Rec 709. Many on the market are limited to 25fps - not good for viewing sports etc as they don't have HDMI 2.0. Most cannot reproduce the industry standard Rec2020 Color Space so you can't see the true UHD colors.(On April 6, 2014, Sony announced development of a 30 in (76 cm) professional 4K OLED display that will support the Rec. 2020 color space and is expected to be released in the spring of 2015.) See 4K TV and Ultra HD: Everything you need to know and 5 Reasons NOT To Buy a 4K UHD TV - Yet

CAMERAS

We have all seen the differences in HD camera video quality. Now you can record 4k on your new iPhone but it may not be the same as you get from a new $10k camera. One factor to look out for when you buy a 4k camera is that most 4K/UHD camera's, most of them don't comply to the minimum BT.2020 color specs as they are just Rec709 (8bit HD spec) camera's with higher resolution. So read the specs carefully if you want to see the true benefits of 4k/UHD and "let the buyer beware". (On September 4, 2014, Canon Inc. announced that with a firmware upgrade they will add support for the Rec. 2020 color space to their EOS C500 and EOS C500 PL camera models and their DP-V3010 4K display) but Rec.2020 is only available on Pro cameras so far.

This is rapidly evoloving technology and, like HD, is getting better and cheaper, but moving faster. Within a few years all TVs on the market will be UHD.

For those who knew all of this - sorry I bored you - but for those, like me, who didn't I know there is always newer technology around the corner but at least we can make a better informed (or less confused) decision when we buy. Your PDR13 cost is peanuts once you decide to go 4k!

Cyberlink also needs to give us access to new free codecs like that added support for 4K resolution, the Rec. 2020 color space, and a bit rate of up to 3,730 Mbit/s with the DNxHD codec. There are other free codecs like Grass Valley HQX and GoPro Cineform that currently support 10 bit and 12 bit color coding.

See also Massive upgrade to Blu Ray: 4K, HDR, 10 bit, Rec 2020 colour space and 4K Blu-ray Discs and Players Arriving in 2015

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