For many years, resolution has been the main platform for improving TVs. We have now moved from HD to 8K. This may seem like an exaggeration, but outstanding television innovations would not be possible if it were not for high-definition technology. Let’s take a look at how resolution has changed over the years.
HD or High Definition with a resolution of 1280×720 was the first to appear. Here 1280 by 720 refers to pixels. Pixels are the basic units of display, tiny dots that change color depending on the content. So, an HDTV has 1280 pixels horizontally and 720 pixels vertically.
With the advent of larger TVs (50 feet and up), conventional HD resolution has become obsolete. That’s because HD resolution on a big screen will look grainy and pixelated. You’re unlikely to see TV manufacturers releasing TVs with a big screen and HD resolution.
Above HD is Full HD. Full HD is the minimum resolution you should expect from new LED TVs. Full HD TV supports a resolution of 1920×1080 .
After Full HD (or 1080p) comes 4K resolution. Interestingly, the 4K TVs on the market are not “true” 4K. That’s because consumer-grade 4K TVs have a resolution of 3840×2160 pixels. The Cinematic 4K is really 4K (4,000+ pixels horizontally) because it has a resolution of 4096×2160. But it’s for a movie theater, not a regular TV. If you notice, consumer level 4K, also called UHD (ultra-high definition), has the same pixels vertically, which is 2160. Only there is a slight difference of 256 pixels horizontally. This is because televisions have a 16:9 aspect ratio. The aspect ratio is the ratio of the width to the height of the TV screen. So to match that standard 16:9 aspect ratio, some pixels had to be cropped on the longer side, and hence, on consumer-grade 4K TVs, the vertical axis is 3,840 pixels.
While Full HD TV used to be the common resolution of LED TVs, more and more TVs are now being released with 4K resolution. In the next few years, 4K TV will become the standard. To truly enjoy 4K content, your TV screen size must be large enough. For anything under 43 feet, it doesn’t really matter.
4K resolution (3840 x 2160 pixels) is slowly gaining traction, and TVs with 8K resolution (7680 x 4320 pixels) stand out. If you’re keen enough, you’ll notice that 8K TVs are again not “true” 8K because there are fewer than 8K or 8,000 pixels on the longer side. But that’s how marketing works! Anyway, back to 8K resolution, it’s an ultra-high resolution that’s four times better in pixel count than 4K resolution and 16 times better than Full HD resolution. To truly enjoy 8K content, a screen size smaller than 55 inches doesn’t make much sense.