Skip to main content

4K Ultra High Definition: The next evolution in TV explained

A new kind of television will be taking over store shelves in 2015. It’s called 4K Ultra High Definition, or 4K UHD for short, and you’re going to be hearing a lot about it in the coming months. That’s because over the next few years, 4K UHD televisions are going to replace the 1080p HD televisions we’ve just become familiar with.

Just as we made a change from standard definition (SD) to high definition (HD) over the past few years, we’re now making another transition, from HD to 4K UHD. This new technology brings us higher resolution, sure, but 4K UHD brings other benefits as well.

In this video, we explain how 4K UHD works and what it means for the future of television, all in easy-to-understand terms, so you can be ready when the time comes to purchase a new television.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Caleb Denison
Digital Trends Editor at Large Caleb Denison is a sought-after writer, speaker, and television correspondent with unmatched…
Vizio’s first 86-inch 4K TV is coming soon, for $999
Vizio 86-inch 4K TV.

While much of the recent attention on Vizio has been connected to its imminent acquisition by retail giant Walmart, the TV maker has just announced its first TV to break the 75-inch screen size barrier. The new 4K TV model has an 86-inch screen and will be available on April 29 for $999, a price that undercuts almost every other 86-inch model from competitors.

Along with this new TV, Vizio has also announced a major rebranding of its TV model categories.

Read more
Belkin drops a $50 mount for iPhone video calls on Apple TV 4K
The Belkin iPhone Mount with MagSafe for Apple TV 4K.

We've previously written that the addition of FaceTime and Continuity Camera to Apple TV 4K is a perfect excuse to have some sort of tripod for your iPhone in the living room. Belkin just took that idea and made it a little easier (and less expensive than our idea).

Enter the appropriately named iPhone Mount with MagSafe for Apple TV 4K. Retailing for just under $50, it's ... well, it's a MagSafe iPhone mount to use in conjunction with video calls on your Apple TV 4K. No cables required. No power needed. Just a simple way to position your iPhone to use when on FaceTime, Zoom, Webex, or the "Sing" feature on Apple Music.

Read more
Next-gen optical disc can store over 14,000 4K movies
Panasonic DMP-BD91 BD blu-ray player tray

How many movies would you physically want to own if the events of Leave the World Behind were ever to come true? If your answer is around 14,000 or fewer, you may soon only need one optical disc to store them.

Scientists at the University of Shanghai for Science and Technology have developed a new "3D nanoscale optical disc" that's the same size and shape as a DVD or Blu-ray disc, yet it can hold an astonishing 1.6 petabits of data, according to a report by Charles Q. Choi in IEEE Spectrum. How much data is that in terms most folks can understand? It's about 200,000 GB or roughly the amount of space that 14,285 2-hour long, 4K movies would require, assuming each movie was 14 GB in size.

Read more