The new video standard: 4K-resolution. 4K-resolution technology - what is it?

Today, almost every day you can see or hear such combinations of words as 4K-resolution. Many who agree, they say, yes, it's cool! Some are puzzled: why is it needed? And thus the solid part of the population does not even know what it is all about. Let's figure it out in order and put everything in order, so that everyone can understand what the concept "4K-permission" is.

A bit of history

In the 21st century, the technology has gone far ahead of yesterday, and if our grandparents, as well as parents, still remember the times when films (like many other information) were stored on magnetic tapes, the current generation and know about it Does not know anything. Today, massive bobbins have sunk into oblivion, giving way to the digital format of storage and data transfer. Audio and video cassettes with a magnetic film were gradually replaced by CDs, and those in turn also begin to descend from a distance, passing the baton to USB-carriers or high-speed hard disks SSD. And the further the technology develops, the more space becomes on our "pocket" media ... Once Bill Gates bequeathed that "640 kilobytes is enough for everyone for any needs." It sounds funny, does not it? Today, many even MMS-messages or ringtones on phones once in 5-6 exceed this size. Current smartphones can carry up to 128 gigabytes of information (and some more), pocket "flash drives" boldly grow to 250-500 gigabytes, and a home computer can safely store up to one and a half or two terabytes of data. And once people were happy buying a hard drive for 40 GB and believed that this is generally a horror as much! But nothing stands still. The further, the steeper. Ask, what occupies so much space today? Permission, comrades, it is the permission.

What it is?

Resolution is the number of points vertically and horizontally. It sounds kind of abstract, right? And try to look at the resolution of your monitor's desktop (at home or in the office). In fact, this is the rectangle to which the information you are looking for is displayed, whether it is a picture or a part of it, a piece of this article, or a video. And the more this rectangle, the more comfortable we are to perceive information. After all, you do not need to peer into the clarity of the frame in the film, you do not need to scroll the article down or away, sometimes it's not worth it to click the mouse in the picture to see what this or that part looks like. And doing constant "build-up" of resolution for our monitors or TVs, humanity has come to a dilemma: if the size of a picture or a film is less than the resolution of the display, then the image begins to stretch, and the details - to be smeared, deformed. Roughly speaking, the picture becomes distorted. Agree, it is not pleasant to consider a favorite family photo, where all faces will be squared or dull and stretched. But to try to consider all the individuals on a small display is also not interesting. And to solve such problems, it was decided to increase the original size of photos, pictures or movies. Gradually, the resolution of the screens became more and more, and after that the size and quality of the displayed data increased. Computer games also did not stay aloof, because the developers are trying to make the virtual world the most similar to reality. Accordingly, the detailing of the created picture (even if futuristic) grew as fast as the clarity of video clips with photos. Soon digital cameras began to take pictures in megapixels, video cameras learned to shoot stories in high-definition, and computer games got much more realistic graphics. But the consumer is always small - he wants to see more and more information at a time. And then, to the already existing and long-held notion of HD-picture and FullHD-screen, 4K-resolution was added. Let us consider this concept in more detail.

4K-resolution technology - what is it ?

Modern widescreen screen is able to display information in HD or FullHD format. The first type (High Definition) has the following characteristics: vertically, the picture usually has 720 pixels (pixels). For FullHD (Full High Definition) resolution, the number of vertical points has already grown to 1020. Horizontally, the number of pixels for these two modes is usually proportional to the pre-selected screen aspect ratio (16: 9 or 16:10, which is considered more widescreen). But, since the consumer wants more "bread and circuses", the manufacturer went even further and created a new display format that has a 4K screen resolution. In this case, the pixel conversion technology in this version has already changed. Now the number of points displayed on the screen is not vertical (as in HD and FullHD), but horizontally, and is approximately 4000. Ask what resolution 4K has in this case? The exact figure will be: 3840x2160 pixels. It is stated that this technology allows displaying about 4 times more information on the screen than in the FullHD mode (which until recently was considered the reference one).

Correspondence of possibilities

Naturally, immediately on sale appeared TV with a resolution of 4K. You can immediately think that it will be 4 times larger than the usual 40-inch giants. But this is not true: TVs in this category can be divided into several groups: 40-49 inches, 50-59 inches and over 60. The difference between such devices in the price is very significant, but if you can afford a good car, then why not For a home theater not to buy a decent technique? However, do not think that the 4K-resolution will be applied only for television.

Mass application

Lovers of large displays - for their powerful PC - can also safely purchase a monitor with a resolution of 4K. Designers, artists, designers or even ordinary users will appreciate the ultra-quality picture on this "monster". Especially happy gamers - games with a resolution of 4K will not leave anyone indifferent. The main thing - if only "iron" pulled this format, because for such a diagonal it will be enough to download your computer. Developers of game consoles (Sony Playstation, Xbox, Nintendo Wii and others) also did not stay aloof - a new generation of consoles (PS4, Xbox One, Wii U) from day to day will also learn how to support this resolution.

Other features

Surprise, but also on this technology application, when using the resolution of Ultra HD 4K does not end. For especially sophisticated users of gadgets, manufacturers of modern digital cameras and cameras are already preparing products that can capture any moment in the highest quality. But take care of wallets: such a camera 4K-resolution, of course, will be removed, but its cost while it will be palpably beat on the budget. The choice here, of course, is yours.

Reasons for buying

You ask, they say, why is this necessary? Today, in the age of progressive digital technologies, such a technique is actively used already in many developed countries, and with all its progress goes to the rest of the world. Even television in our country is already moving to the format of high-quality digital broadcasting, and the usual "squareness" of the broadcasts gave way to large-format broadcasts, and the faces of the leading ones have already acquired sharpness and clarity. Entertainment, too, did not stay aloof - many cinemas have long been "digitized" and now, with the transition to a new format, are actively changing their "hardware" to the newest new things and showing films in 4K resolution. The difference, I must say, is felt. It's not that I started to look straight from the first second, but it's there.

Household indicators

An ordinary consumer should ask about what are the advantages of 4K resolution? What gives this indicator to the TV, monitor and video camera? Firstly, this technology allows us to compact the number of pixels per inch of the screen, which generally improves picture quality and displays fine details. New TVs and monitors with this resolution can increase the refresh rate per second - up to 120 fps, which significantly improves the quality of playback of dynamic scenes. At the same time, the color rendering character increases - on the screen you can now easily distinguish a number of shades and do not strain your eyes. Fans of computer games and modern consoles are also not left out of work. After all, such a resolution will give an ultra-realistic picture quality, which will allow you to plunge into the virtual world and get a lot of new impressions. In addition, modern matrices of similar TVs or new generation monitors can freely form a three-dimensional image without using any additional 3D glasses. Are lovers plunge into the plot of the film with their heads still resisting such "yummy"? Hardly.

Camera formats

And what with such opportunities will be able to capture such new devices? As mentioned before, all the details are in the smallest detail. Any story can be studied up to the smallest nuances. Any frame or moment will be filled with information. How can you resist?

Doubtful virtues

So in general, the advantage of such technology, most likely, will be one: super-high definition of the visible image. It all comes down to quality - because we want to see all the details in the smallest detail. And the further - the more: the ordinary buyer has not yet mastered what is the resolution of UHD 4K, and already in full development and production of TVs Super Ultra HD 8K.

disadvantages

Nevertheless, the system also has shortcomings. The first is that, despite the constant progress and development of science and technology, 4K-resolution is still far from being used everywhere. The transition of television to a new format of broadcasting, the release of new media products in high quality - these processes are quite costly and resource intensive. So, the planet will move to a new level, not all at once. In some countries in the West already actively carry out large-scale re-equipment of machinery. With the current development of Internet networks, many TV manufacturers are even trying to provide their products in advance with good access to streaming video in ultra-quality. In the future, each future owner of such equipment will be able to safely switch several dozen digital channels. However, this is in the future.

State of the domestic market

I do not want to talk about Mother Russia. At us it is still too poorly developed, so that it would be possible to afford at least a dozen good channels in high quality. We can only hope for Internet TV (and here everything depends on the Internet connection only), or on media content on media (BD-disks, external HDD, etc.). Otherwise, we will have to settle for the unpleasant quality of conventional broadcasting on a high-quality TV with ultra-resolution. Imagine these dilated and vague faces of the leading ...

Stumbling block

Naturally, this is the price. Currently, such a system is still quite expensive toy, even for the West. But this, of course, is a matter of time: such devices quickly become cheaper. Gradually, the market will be filled with new products, the problem with access to the relevant content will be solved, and prices will fall. And then it will be possible to buy some not very expensive TV, possibly with a contract from the manufacturer for connection to several channels of UHD broadcasting. Or? yet again? Just connect the TV to the Internet, provide high-quality high-speed connection and learn how to "climb" on the web using the remote. So, if you decide to buy a monitor or a TV with a resolution of 4K, decide for yourself, are you ready to spend the requested amount for the purchase of such equipment?