Definition

Ultra High-Definition TV (UHDTV)

Part of the Multimedia and graphics glossary:

Ultra-high-definition (UHD) television, also abbreviated UHDTV, is a digital television display format in which the horizontal screen resolution is on the order of 4000 pixels (4K UHD) or 8000 pixels (8K UHD).

Technically, a 4K UHD display has 3840 pixels horizontally and 2160 pixels vertically for a total of 8,294,400 pixels or 8.3 megapixels. An 8K UHD display has 7680 pixels horizontally and 4320 pixels vertically for a total of 33,177,600 pixels or 33.2 megapixels. Therefore, 4K UHDTV has roughly four times as many pixels as conventional HDTV (high-definition television), and 8K UHDTV has roughly 16 times as many pixels as conventional HDTV.

According to the Consumer Electronics Association, a display must have at least one digital input with a native (design) resolution of 3840 by 2160 pixels, along with an aspect ratio of at least 16:9, in order to qualify as UHD. Both the 4K and 8K UHD specifications described above scale precisely from the most common HDTV formats, avoiding image blurring and consequent loss of detail that can occur when differing screen resolutions fail to evenly divide horizontally or vertically.

This was last updated in January 2013
Contributor(s): Stan Gibilisco
Posted by: Margaret Rouse

Related Terms

Definitions

  • reverse image search

    - Reverse image search is a technology that takes an image file as a search engine input query and returns results related to the image. Search engines that offer reverse image search include Google ... (WhatIs.com)

  • Mini-ITX 2.0

    - Mini-ITX 2.0 is a motherboard designed for use in small form factor personal computers (PCs). The physical boards measure 6.7 inches (17 centimeters) square. (WhatIs.com)

  • interrupt marketing

    - Interrupt marketing is the traditional model of product promotion, in which people have to stop what they're doing to pay attention to the marketing message or deal with it in some other way. (WhatIs.com)

Glossaries

  • Multimedia and graphics

    - Terms related to multimedia, including graphics, animation and video definitions and words and phrases about images and sound.

  • Personal computing

    - Terms related to personal computers, including definitions about computers sold as consumer products and words and phrases about laptops, tablets and smartphones.

  • Internet applications

    - This WhatIs.com glossary contains terms related to Internet applications, including definitions about Software as a Service (SaaS) delivery models and words and phrases about web sites, e-commerce ...

Ask a Question. Find an Answer.Powered by ITKnowledgeExchange.com

Ask An IT Question

Get answers from your peers on your most technical challenges

Ask Question

Tech TalkComment

Share
Comments

    Results

    Contribute to the conversation

    All fields are required. Comments will appear at the bottom of the article.