What is TV resolution? From 1080p to 8K and beyond.

If you’ve bought a TV since about 2020, chances are it has “4K resolution.” A 4K TV has been the standard for a while, but what does it actually mean? Are all 4K TVs created equal? What came before 4K? What the heck is 8K, and do you need it? The TV resolution landscape isn’t as complicated as it sounds.

What do the numbers mean for TV resolution?

There’s some nuance here that requires some context for a full answer, but here’s a basic outline to lay the groundwork:

In the simplest terms, TV resolution is the amount of discrete visual information that a television signal or device can share or display. The higher the resolution (the more discrete pieces of visual information can be juxtaposed), the more detailed an image can become. Generally speaking, more is better in terms of resolution, at least to some extent. Today, these individual pieces of visual information are called pixels, because of the way the technology for television screens (as well as monitors, tablets, phones, or anything else with a screen) works. A pixel can have only one color at any time, although the number of different colors a pixel can have has increased as technology has advanced.

While early televisions had absurdly low resolution that, due to differences in technology, did not actually measure in pixels but rather lines, TV resolution became standardized in the 1960s with electronic televisions and broadcasting. At the time, the standard television screen had an aspect ratio of 4:3, meaning that regardless of the size of the screen, there were four units of length horizontally for every three units of height vertically. Around the same time that DVD overtook VHS as the preferred viewing technology for home video in the early 21st century, the standard television aspect ratio went from 4:3 to 16:9. This started with a rapid increase in the resolution of TVs (as well as other screen displays, such as computer monitors and eventually tablets and phones). In advertising materials for television sets, you’ll often see terms like “1080p,” “4K” and “8K” to describe the resolution of the screen. The best resolution available in consumer-level products is 8K, but it’s not the only choice.

Computers are capable of producing virtually any resolution, even non-standard resolutions, based on the user’s choice, and the computer monitor market has many non-16:9 aspect ratio monitors (often called “ultrawide”), but the most design choices in computer software and games default to 16:9.

A higher resolution screen can always display a lower resolution source. Most 4K or 8K TVs have highly advanced additional technology that “upscales” or “upconverts” lower resolutions so they look better on higher resolution sets. However, if upscaling or upscaling is not possible or is poorly implemented, lower resolutions will look “muddy” or “blurry” compared to higher resolutions and may be more visually appealing on television sets that match the resolution of the source. You will also notice this if you try to play a very low resolution source on a high resolution screen. For example, playing a 480p DVD on a 4K TV won’t look great, no matter how good the upscaling is.

Another way to make a lower resolution source look better to the naked eye is to make it physically smaller. If you have a 4K computer monitor and place a 1080p video source in a small window, the image will look sharper and smoother than if the image took up the entire screen.

To really see the difference in quality between 1080p and 4K, or 4K and 8K, size matters. Larger TV screens benefit from higher resolutions because the way the human eye works means that the smaller a high-resolution image is, the sharper it looks.

What exactly is 1080i and how does it differ from 1080p?

There was a time when these two letters were important to your TV viewing experience, but that’s not so much the case anymore. TV screens don’t refresh every pixel at once. Instead, the image scans from the top to the bottom of the screen so quickly that the human eye cannot detect it. Progressive scanning (such as 1080p or 1440p) works as you might imagine. Each line is refreshed in order. Interlace scanning reduces corners by showing only the even or odd rows at any time. This also happens too quickly for the eye to notice, but it does have some negative effects on the image, especially when there’s fast-moving action on screen. You probably won’t encounter this choice very often in the world. Companies typically don’t advertise interlaced resolution as they once did when 720p and 1080i battled it out in TV press releases.

How will resolution change my viewing experience?

If you’re reading this article, there’s a pretty good chance you’re considering buying a 1080p, 4K, or 8K television set, as these are the commonly available resolutions in new consumer models. While displays go up to 8K, the vast majority of media sources (broadcasts you pick up through an antenna, Blu-ray players, streamers, video game consoles, etc.) currently max out at 4K. This means that you need at least a 4K television to display the best quality images. 4K streaming is not available on every service, but it is available on most popular services, such as Netflix, Max and Disney+. Standard Blu-ray is 1080p, but “4K Blu-ray,” the format of choice for most people interested in physical media, is displayed in 4K. Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5 both have 4K available on most of their games. (Nintendo Switch and Xbox Series S do not, although a new Nintendo Switch may be released in the next 18 months, and it could possibly happen, even though no official details are available for that system yet.) Based on this everything and the fact that low-end 4K is barely more expensive than 1080p, we recommend 4K as a minimum for any new TV you buy. 8K is more of a luxury due to the low amount of content available in native 8K.

So, do I need 8K?

This is an important and complicated question. So much so that we dedicated an entire article to it not too long ago. The thoughts in that article still stand, but if you want a summary it’s this: 8K is undoubtedly better than 4K, so if you want “the best”, that’s it. But until streaming, physical media, and gaming are widely available in 8K resolution, 8K TVs aren’t a must. Also keep in mind that the distance from a television set you are sitting on and the size of that set affects the amount of information your eye can process. Therefore, your personal room configuration may make certain TV sizes and resolutions look better. For example, if you have a 70-inch screen 2 meters away, you can definitely tell the visual difference between an 8K TV and a 4K TV. But if you move another meter away from that same screen, the 4K TV and 8K TV look virtually identical (assuming everything else about the televisions is the same).

Streaming in particular will determine whether or not you need an 8K TV. While YouTube has a small amount of mostly nature documentary content streaming in 8K, none of the major entertainment production studios produce 8K movies or television shows for home viewing, topping out at 4K. Digital film projection in cinemas is a different story, but not relevant to television purchases. So no, you don’t need 8K. It’s nice, but it’s not a necessity. Yet. The technology will become more ubiquitous, 8K gaming and streaming will become standard, and one day the question will change from “Is 4K enough or do I need 8K?” to “Is 8K enough or do I need 16K?” That’s the way technology works.

The resolution will be televised

Hopefully this gives you a better idea of ​​what resolution is and what you want. (Hint: It’s probably 4K, but it could also be 8K.) But don’t stop there, check out our reporting on the latest 4K TVs, larger TVs, as well as Roku and Android TVs (which have streaming apps and games built into the TV’s operating system). Discover what the choice between OLED and Mini-LED technology entails. There are many options, and we have screened them for you.