What Do 2K, 4K, and 8K Mean?

Terms like “2K” and “4K” can be very misleading when it comes to which TV or monitor to buy.

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[NeonNoodleNexus]

The most confusing thing when 4K first became a term is the main HD resolutions at the time 720p/1080p referred to the vertical resolution. Then along came 4K and suddenly they're referring to the horizontal resolution.

[JTCF]

Marketing teams realized that bigger number sounds better so they _very quietly_ started using horizontal dimension instead of vertical.

[MarcusH...]

People just need to stop referring to 1440p as 2K, that's the only thing i can think of that bothers me

[KyuVulpes]

In game dev/computer graphics, when someone says 2K, 4K, or 8K, they refer to the how big the texture is. For example, an 8K texture means it is 8192x8192, 4K means 4096x4096. Which I think that makes more sense than whatever the hell TV and monitor manufactures are doing.

[DaLoveDonkey]

I'm surprised the 4096x2160 wasn't mentioned. For a bit I recorded CoD from playing off my 4K tv and it was set to 4096x2160 (I didn't realize this) so when uploaded into Davinci, I set it to 4k(3840x2160 default) and always had a small yet noticeable black bar on the top and bottom so I'd "stretch" to fill it in before rendering. I later found out my mistakes and set the tv to 3840x2160 and this made all the sense to me and also made things easier. For those wondering, Cinema 4K is usually 4096 while consumer standard 4K is generally referred to as 3840.

[jonesgang]

2K, 4K and 8K is more for marketing than anything else. All depends on how they count the pixels either horizontally or vertically.

[BusAlexey]

Glad you covered my frustrations with ""2K"" monitors. I'm so mad people refer to 1440 as 2K.
2K is closer to 1920x1080 !!!

[hammerth]

I think we should use megapixels for screens like we do for cameras. Also, the kind of resolution that actually matters is pixel density measured in pixels per inch. That's why 8K TVs are usually ginormous, their panel has the same pixel density as that of a 4K screen, it's just bigger.

[imjody]

Wouldn't it be nice if we just used HD = 720P, FHD = 1080P, QHD = 1440P, and UHD = 2160P, and just be done with it? And if it's ultrawide, or any other odd shape, then just type out the entire resolution, or use W in the front for wide, and UW for ultrawide. Very easy to comprehend. Also provide full resolution in small type on product boxes/details. Easy peasy!

[GuyGamer]

Thanks so much for this video, ive been telling people for years that 2K SHOULD mean 1920x1080. And they just go "but this monitor says 2k and its 2560x1440"

[SpinDlsc]

USB 3.X Gen Y
HDMI Cables with "2.1" features
2K/4K/8K

How did we end up in a place where so much of the tech marketing that should otherwise be straight-forward lacks clarity? Maybe it's just me, but I don't remember it being like this at the start of the last decade.

[austintreacy]

I'm actually a projectionist for a movie theater. That DCI standard the studios share are typically referred to as scope and flat resolutions. Flat being much taller while scope is shorter and more cinematic. Also never knew what the DCI stood for so I learned something!😅

[xXxHornpubPremiumxXx]

I'm so glad I found this vid. It gets very annoying when 2k more often than not refers to 2560x1440 instead of 1920x1080 despite the latter being significantly closer, even worse when considering actually some brands advertise their 1440p as 2.5k

[NicosLeben]

That transition to the sponsor was flawless!

[HeisenbergFam]

4:10 "you dont wanna order 4k screen only to realize it wont fit on the desk"
Riley definitely jinxed someone

[Tome_Wyrm]

If it weren't for the shirt change, I might not have noticed the transition to the sponsor spot. Riley's doing a good job of matching tone and cadence, and editor Marcus was on the ball!

[ccmaster]

Bigger number makes it easier for the manufacturer to convince you to pay more for no reason.

[harrymoors]

Everyone should just say how many pixels there are vertically! The extra couple of digits doesn't matter considering how long TV and monitor names are nowadays...

[ogremair]

2:05 that’s the smoothest Segway to the sponsor.

[KuruGDI]

There seems to be even more regional variants of 2K since there is one for Australia, Boston, China, Czech and Marin.
Furthermore there also seems to be different 2Ks for Games, Sports and "Play" (even they all sound pretty much the same)