Today most of the televisions or Smart TVs on the market are 4K. Its manufacture has become cheaper over the years and now we can find relatively inexpensive models that already include this resolution. When it comes to watching content in 4K, there are some relevant aspects that we have to take into account and that you may not have stopped to think about.
Not the same as UHD
Actually what we see on the TV in 4K is not 4K. Most manufacturers use the acronym UHD (Ultra High Definition) as a synonym for 4K, when the reality is that there are important differences between the two. 4K is defined by the commercial standard of the Digital Cinema Initiative and is known as DCI 4K. This format has a resolution of 4,096 x 2,160 with a 1.9: 1 aspect ratio. However, a UHD image has a resolution of 3,840 x 2,160 and an aspect ratio of 1.78: 1. Which means that if a panel were really 4K it should be 256 pixels wider.
It doesn’t seem like a very significant difference, but it’s actually fundamental. It is remarkable because all the content that is broadcast on television has an aspect ratio of 1.78: 1. If you wanted to keep the 4K resolution, black bands would be displayed on the right and left of the screen to keep the aspect ratio intact when playing 4K content. This is one of the main reasons why the 3,840 x 2,160 resolution has been chosen in the devices that reach the end user.
Differences between 4K and HDR
HDR has fundamentally improved picture quality and is currently only implemented on 4K televisions. HDR provides better brightness and color. Typically, high-end televisions have a 10-bit panel, which means that they can reproduce 1 billion colors instead of the 16.7 million that cheaper 8-bit screens reproduce.
When buying a TV with HDR you have to take into account some aspects. Most budget-priced 4K TVs might state that they have HDR, but they really only mean that they support HDR content. That is, they are capable of reproducing HDR content, but by means of approximations. If you really want to get a 4K TV, you will have to make sure that it is compatible with HDR10.
What HDMI cable do I need to watch 4K?
If we want to view 4K content by connecting a computer or a player to a 4K screen, with an HDMI 1.4 cable we can see 4K content at 30 frames per second, enough to watch movies. However, if we are looking to take better advantage of the bit rate, color and frame rate per second capabilities at 60 Hz of the Ultra HD, it is necessary to use an HDMI 2.0 cable or later.
If, in addition to 4K quality, we also want to have excellent sound quality by connecting a sound bar or audio equipment to our television, we have to bear in mind that not all HDMI connections on TV are the same. It is important that we have located the connector compatible with ARC (Audio Return Channel) or eARC (Enhanced Audio Return Channel). This HDMI connector allows us to pass the sound from the television to the audio equipment without using an optical digital cable.
4K in test phase on DTT
Currently, in Spain we only find one channel in 4K at the national level, TVE 4K. This channel is in the testing phase and was initially only found in cities such as Barcelona, Madrid, Valencia, Malaga and Seville. One aspect to take into account is that the antenna of each community must have the module corresponding to the frequency on which the channel broadcasts in each province so that the signal ends up reaching our television. This is one of the main reasons why the channel did not reach all of Spain in the beginning, since modifications had to be made to the antennas.
Another fundamental aspect is that we need a television that has a built-in DVB-T2 decoder . In this sense, all televisions sold since 2016 incorporate it. Since TVE 4K started broadcasting in 2017, some football matches have been seen in 4K, as well as content produced by RTVE.
Where to watch 4K movies
When we get a 4K TV, one of the first things we want to do the most is to watch a 4K movie. Although 4K televisions offer brutal image quality and colors, it is difficult to find content in that resolution and, above all, movies. This aspect has been changing over the years and we can already watch 4K movies in the content offerings of the operators and on OTT streaming platforms.
If we have contracted television with operators such as Orange, Vodafone or Movistar, we can directly access 4K content. On the other hand, another option to watch 4K movies is through streaming platforms such as Netflix or Amazon Prime Video. In addition, this week with the arrival of HBO Max to Spain, 4K content has also arrived on the renewed HBO platform.