August 9th, 2017

Whats the difference?

As a giant fan of movies and technology I was beyond thrilled when a new format

of entertainment was introduced to the world. 4K UHD movies started to hit the shelves

in many retailers and 4K televisions have started to become slightly more affordable.

The full 4K experience can be extremely expensive, so is the cost worth it? What is the

difference?

So what is 4K? It is a resolution of 3840 pixels 2160 lines. Ultimately this resolution is

about four times sharper than the typical 1920 pixels x 1080 lines which can be found on

most modern televisions. The other name for this resolution is simply 1080p or Full

High Definition.
 (The photo to the left shows

what the difference of these resolutions look like.)

4K movies are starting to become more popular by the day. Filmmakers love this

technology as it allows the audience to view the film in the intended resolution. Most

films are made digitally or in 35mm film. That 35mm film can normally be finished in

2K or 4K. Lately films are beginning to be filmed in higher resolutions which allows

filmmakers to make the best of 4K movies. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 was filmed in

8K, which should look amazing in 4K. The editors get to manipulate the pixels in

anyway they desire which will make this particular film look amazing in 4K.

I have tried to expand my 4K library at my home, and I still only own a few 4K

films that truly blow me away. Many films that are in 4K now are upscaled and so they

do not look as great as others. Other films such as Sully, Creed, Patriots Day,

Deepwater Horizon look mind blowing and made me believe that 4K films were the

future of entertainment. I even recently watched Peter Jacksons King Kong which was

filmed in 2K and had to be upscaled to 4K, and I was blown away by how amazing this
film looked in 4K. Not all upscaled 4K films look bad, but some do so be on the lookout.

If you already own a 4K television and a 4K player I recommend that you do a little

research into what 4K movie you're buying and that will definitely help you see an

increase in visual quality.

4K films are here to stay and look amazing. Buying the perfect TV is a task on its

own and finding that perfect 4K movie is not as hard as some may believe. As prices

drop and with the holiday season right around the corner creeping on us, 4K movies will

make it into more homes and with it 4K movies. Visual quality and the amount of pixels

on the screen is the true difference of 4K, but one that should be appreciated.