4K Technology
The TV tech term 4K describes an ultra high-definition screen resolution. You might also see this labelled as UHD, 4K or 4K UHD depending on which brand makes the TV. But they’re all talking about the same thing.
Right now, 4K has overtaken both HD and full HD to become the most popular TV resolution of choice for all major TV brands. The important thing to know here is that just because you’ve got a 4K TV doesn’t mean you need to have lots of 4K TV shows and movies. That’s because many of the best 4K TVs are able to display lower-resolution images. This means your favorite TV shows and movies that have been filmed in HD will play like they’re meant to on a 4K display regardless – some might even be upscaled by your TV, which means they’re improved to ensure they look normal on a 4K screen. Now a days 4K Tvs come up with Quantum dot and OLED tv panels with High Dynamic Range (HDR).
4K resolution, at least the way most TV companies define it, is 3840 x 2160 pixels, or 2160p. To put that in perspective, a Full HD 1080p image is only 1920 x 1080. 4K screens have about 8 million pixels, which is around four times what your current 1080p set can display.Think of your TV like a grid, with rows and columns. A full HD 1080p image is 1080 rows high and 1920 columns wide. A 4K image approximately doubles the numbers in both directions, yielding approximately four times as many pixels total. To put it another way, you could fit every pixel from your 1080p set onto one-quarter of a 4K screen. It's called 4K because the images are around 4,000 pixels wide. And before you ask, yes, the industry named 1080 resolution after image height, but named 4K after image width.
OLED stands for and that's Organic Light Emitting Diode. That might not make much sense on its own, but this refers to the panel that's used inside an OLED TV – or any other kind of OLED screen. This panel is what displays the things you can see on the screen, so think colors, images and light, the things that make up your favourite movies, TV shows and games. So it's the OLED panel makes OLED TVs stand out in comparison to other types of panels. You'll also find CRT (cathode ray tube), LED (light-emitting diode), LCD (liquid crystal display), or QLED (quantum dot). There are many benefits to OLED TVs. They bring you better image quality (think blacker blacks and brighter whites), faster response times and reduced power consumption.
HDR10+ is a video format that’s increasingly found on HDR televisions. HDR TVs might only be a few years old, but we already have a confusing handful of different HDR standards competing for prime of place on our TV displays. HDR10+ uses 'dynamic metadata' in order to enhance HDR images in each scene or shot. What this means is that viewers get the most out of every movie, documentary, or TV show.HDR10+(opens in new tab) might have 10-bit color compared to Dolby Vision's 12-bit, but this should at least make for a better balance between light and dark scenes.
Dolby Vision HDR, You’ll have likely seen the Dolby Vision label on premium televisions from brands like Panasonic, Sony, LG and more (although not Samsung). But it’s also included in next-gen games consoles, like the Xbox Series X, as well as in 4K Blu-ray players and smartphones, including the iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max and Xiaomi's Mi Mix Fold.Dolby Vision is a type of HDR (High Dynamic Range) – probably the second most popular after the ubiquitous HDR10 standard that's included on all HDR TVs and players.The main improvement from an end-user’s perspective is that it places an additional layer of information on top of a core HDR10 video signal which contains scene-by-scene information which Dolby Vision-capable TVs can use to improve the way they present their pictures. This means better brights and darker blacks, and this enables TVs to display the full range of colors in the Rec. 2020 standard.
Here’s a list of 4k channels available from cable and satellite TV services, as well as streaming services. 4k TV provides a video resolution of 3840×2160 (8.3 megapixels) which in effect is 4x the current HD standard of 1920×1080 (2.1 megapixels).
4k broadcasts are often enhanced by the use of the HLG (Hybrid Log Gamma) High Dynamic Range (HDR) specification to extend the color depth, luminance, brightness, and contrast of video. And, it’s common for 4k content to be upscaled from HD content. Still though, the higher resolution provides better video sharpness. Please also see our list of HD channels.
4k/HDR Live Streaming Channels
Right now, fuboTV and YouTube TV are the only live streaming services that offer 4k Ultra HD and HDR. Unfortunately, you can’t get live TV in 4k with DirecTV, Hulu, or Sling (as of Jan. 23, 2023). However, if you authenticate an app through a service you may be able to live stream in 4k. For example, FOX provides 4k UHD through the FOX Sports app for mobile devices and streaming media players.
4k/HDR on Streaming Services
Ultra HD content can also be found on streaming services such as Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV 4k, Disney+, and Netflix. The 4k content is often enhanced with Dolby Vision and HDR10 High Dynamic Range specs. And, some titles feature Dolby Atmos audio. Read: Ways to Watch 4k Ultra HD Movies & TV Shows
4k/HDR on Blu-ray Disc
There are hundreds of movies and TV shows available in 4k, HDR, and Dolby Atmos on Ultra HD Blu-ray Disc. The discs need to be played on a 4k Blu-ray player. and viewed on a 4k or 4k/HDR TV to fully experience 4k resolution and color. See a list of 4k Ultra HD Blu-ray titles.
Popular Streaming services with 4K
Apple TV
Hulu
HBO Max
Starz
Disney+
Netflix
Amazon Prime
Peacock
YouTube TV
Vudu
We require 25 Mbps internet speed with at least 3 HDMI ports on 4K TV. Here data trraffic is unusal in 4K HDR then normal internet TV shows and programs.
