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UHD is what is now considered the standard for modern image quality and provides a significantly more intense viewing experience than Full HD. With sharper images, more vivid colors, and HDR support, UHD provides the basis for cinema-quality television and movies.
What UHD is: Even sharper than Full HD
UHD stands for “Ultra High Definition” and means “ultra-high resolution”.
- This refers to a screen resolution of 3,840 × 2,160 pixels – four times as many pixels as Full HD (1,920 × 1,080 pixels). This makes the image appear significantly sharper, finer, and more detailed.
- UHD is often referred to as “4K”. Strictly speaking, however, there is a difference: UHD (3840 × 2160 pixels) is the TV standard for home use, and DCI-4K (4096 × 2160 pixels) is the cinema standard, which is slightly wider and is used in professional filmmaking.
- Both formats deliver similar image quality, but differ slightly in aspect ratio.
Advantages of UHD
UHD not only offers more pixels, but also an overall improved image display. The most important advantages include:
- Greater sharpness and detail: Even on large screen sizes, the image remains razor sharp.V
- Improved color depth: UHD devices often support 10-bit color depth, which enables over one billion colors (compared to 16.7 million with 8-bit colors).
- HDR (High Dynamic Range): This technology provides more realistic contrasts, deeper blacks, and brighter highlights. Common HDR formats are HDR10, HDR10+, Dolby Vision, and HLG.
UHD, 4K, and 8K – Here are the differences
Many consumers confuse the terms UHD and 4K, as they are often used synonymously. However, the differences are technical in nature:
- Full HD: 1,920 × 1,080 pixels
- UHD / 4K (TV): 3,840 × 2,160 pixels
- DCI-4K (cinema): 4,096 × 2,160 pixels
- 8K (UHD-2): 7,680 × 4,320 pixels
Requirements and content in UHD
To enjoy UHD content, you need the right hardware and transmission technology:
- TVs/monitors:The device must support UHD resolution and, ideally, HDR.
- HDMI cable: For 4K at 60 Hz or 120 Hz, HDMI 2.0 or better HDMI 2.1 is required.
- Streaming devices: Current streaming sticks, smart TVs, game consoles (e.g., PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X), and Blu-ray players usually support UHD automatically.
- Internet connection: For streaming in 4K, a stable connection with at least 25 Mbit/s is recommended.
- Content in UHD can now be found from many sources, such as streaming services (Netflix, Disney+, Prime Video, Apple TV+, and YouTube offer numerous 4K/HDR titles), Ultra HD Blu-rays (which deliver the best picture quality because they are not compressed like streaming content), and TV channels (public broadcasters currently mostly only broadcast in Full HD, but private providers and some international broadcasters already offer test broadcasts in UHD).
