New 4K resolution televisions and its relation with the history of digital cinema – Part 1

The latest in a line of broadcast and media resolutions, 4K is due to replace 1080i/p (1,920×1,080 pixels) as the highest-resolution signal available for movies and, perhaps, television.

Though there are several different standards, “4K” in general refers to a resolution of roughly 4,000 pixels wide and about 2,000 pixels high. That makes it the equivalent of four 1080p screens in height and length. Currently 4K is a catch-all term for a number of standards that are reasonably close to that resolution, and the TVs we’ll see this year labeled 4K will actually be Quad HD, defined below. But frankly, we think 4K is the catchier name.

Meanwhile, high definition (HD) itself has been with us for about a decade and is used in Blu-ray movies and HD broadcasts. There are three versions of HD: full high definition 1080p (progressive), 1080i (interlaced), and 720p (also called simply “high definition”).

Most television programs and all DVDs are encoded in standard definition (480 lines). Standard definition is the oldest resolution still in use as it began life as NTSC broadcasts, switching to digital with the introduction of ATSC in 2007.

When George Lucas was preparing to make his long-promised prequels to the “Star Wars” movies in the late ’90s, he was experimenting with new digital formats as a replacement for film. Film stock is incredibly expensive to produce, transport, and store. If movie houses could simply download a digital movie file and display it on a digital projector, they could save a lot of money. In a time when cinemas are under siege from on-demand cable services and streaming videos, cost-cutting helps to keep them competitive.

After shooting “The Phantom Menace” partly in HD, George Lucas shot “Attack of the Clones” fully digitally in 1080p. This was great for the future Blu-ray release, but the boffins soon found that 1080p wasn’t high-enough resolution for giant theater screens. If you sit in the front rows of one of these theaters as it’s displaying 1080p content, you may see a softer image or the lattice grid of pixel structure, which can be quite distracting.

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Posted by Usman Khalid on Jan 26 2012. Filed under Sci-Tech. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.