Why is 2160p 4K

[planetary problem]

720p= K

1080p= 1.5k

1440p= 720x2= 2k

2160p should be 3k, not 4k, then why is it like this? either my understanding of resolutions is wrong or math is not mathing

[Lurick]

You're off:

1080p = 1k

1440p = 1.5k

2160 = 4k (4x1080p)

[dizmo]

You're looking at the wrong numbers. Look at the horizontal, not the vertical.

Also, I've never seen anyone call 1080p 1.5k, and 1440p being called 2k is ridiculous.

[Spotty]

You go off the horizontal resolution not vertical.

3840x2160 = (almost) 4k horizontal pixels.

 

5 minutes ago, planetary problem said:

720p= K

1080p= 1.5k

1440p= 720x2= 2k

I've never heard anybody refer to those as 1k or 1.5k. 1280x720 is typically referred to as HD while 1920x1080 is Full HD. 

[Middcore]

16 minutes ago, dizmo said:

You're looking at the wrong numbers. Look at the horizontal, not the vertical.

Also, I've never seen anyone call 1080p 1.5k, and 1440p being called 2k is ridiculous.

 

I've seen some use of 2k but I've always pushed back against it because it's very ambiguous. 

[GuiltySpark_]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2K_resolution

 

Approximate number of horizontal pixels. 

 

The xK nomenclature has always been crap, frankly.  
 

HD: 720p

FHD: 1080p

QHD: 1440p

UHD: 2160p

 

 

[Dedayog]

16 minutes ago, Lurick said:

You're off:

1080p = 1k

1440p = 1.5k

2160 = 4k (4x1080p)

Not sure that's how it was meant.  4k isn't known as 4x, so the 4 times 1080p doesn't equate.

 

3840 is almost 4000, hence 4k.

 

Yeah, I think it's dumb too.

[planetary problem]

@Spotty, @dizmo, @Lurick thank you, i guess 1440p being called 2k so many times threw me off, but i have seen 1080p called 1.5k somewhere. this misconception is the reason i first started seeing into the flat mistakes by large YTbers though (not specifically LTT, majorly smartphone channels)

[YoungBlade]

16 minutes ago, Lurick said:

You're off:

1080p = 1k

1440p = 1.5k

2160 = 4k (4x1080p)

1080p is actually 2K - the official 2K resolution used in movie theaters is 2048x1080. The 16:9 aspect ratio used in consumer displays knocks down the horizontal resolution to 1920, but 1920x1080 is still the closest resolution to 2K.

 

1440p is based upon the 720p standard for HD, and isn't derived from a cinema resolution like 1080p or 4K, so isn't part of the "K" naming scheme.

[dizmo]

1 minute ago, Middcore said:

 

I've seen some use of 2k but I've always pushed back against it because it's very ambiguous. 

There isn't a single part of the resolution that is 2000. If anything 2.5k would make sense, but it's people trying to use a naming system not meant for the resolution.

Just now, Dedayog said:

Not sure that's how it was meant.  4k isn't known as 4x, so the 4 times 1080p doesn't equate.

 

3840 is almost 4000, hence 4k.

 

Yeah, I think it's dumb too.

It's because actual 4k is 4096 x 2160.

[PDifolco]

6 minutes ago, Spotty said:

You go off the horizontal resolution not vertical.

3840x2160 = (almost) 4k horizontal pixels.

 

I've never heard anybody refer to those as 1k or 1.5k. 1280x720 is typically referred to as HD while 1920x1080 is Full HD. 

Don't think it's the horizontal because 1K is 1920x1080 ...

To me 1K is a kinda random surface reference for 1920x1080p which is approx 2M pixels, then 4K is 4x1K because its 8M pixels (2x in each dimension)

1440p is 3M pixels so should be 1.5K, but it's rounded to 2K because it's inbetween 1K and 4K I suppose..

[Agall]

40 minutes ago, planetary problem said:

720p= K

1080p= 1.5k

1440p= 720x2= 2k

2160p should be 3k, not 4k, then why is it like this? either my understanding of resolutions is wrong or math is not mathing

 

39 minutes ago, Lurick said:

You're off:

1080p = 1k

1440p = 1.5k

2160 = 4k (4x1080p)

 

The fact that when someone says, "I have a 1K, 2K, etc monitor" I have to then validate what they're actually referring to tells me that using such terms is dumb. Just refer to either the standard vertical resolution or the actual resolution.

 

The only one that everyone agrees upon is that 4K = 3840x2160.

 

Technically speaking, 1080p is 2K, since 2x2 is 4. 4K speaks to the horizontal resolution, not the vertical, which is where generally 1920 = 2K, 3840 = 4K, assuming a 16:9 aspect ratio.

[Spotty]

Here's a tech quickie which explains 4k resolution.

 

It's really surprising how many people are getting this all wrong and seem to be making up their own explanations. 

 

7 minutes ago, PDifolco said:

Don't think it's the horizontal because 1K is 1920x1080 ...

To me 1K is a kinda random surface reference for 1920x1080p which is approx 2M pixels, then 4K is 4x1K because its 8M pixels (2x in each dimension)

1440p is 3M pixels so should be 1.5K, but it's rounded to 2K because it's inbetween 1K and 4K I suppose..

It's not "1k" and I've never heard anybody refer to it as 1k until this thread. 1920x1080 is 2k (though rarely called that). 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2K_resolution

Quote

2K resolution is a generic term for display devices or content having a horizontal resolution of approximately 2,000 pixels

For television and consumer media, 1920 × 1080 is the most common 2K resolution, but this is normally referred to as 1080p.

 

[Agall]

5 minutes ago, Spotty said:

Here's a tech quickie which explains 4k resolution.

 

It's really surprising how many people are getting this all wrong and seem to be making up their own explanations. 

 

It's not "1k" and I've never heard anybody refer to it as 1k until this thread. 1920x1080 is 2k (though rarely called that). 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2K_resolution

 

I cringe every time I see a thread where someone says they play at "2K" because I have no idea if they're referring to 1080p or 1440p. Every time it's a toss. 

[Holmes108]

8 minutes ago, Agall said:

I cringe every time I see a thread where someone says they play at "2K" because I have no idea if they're referring to 1080p or 1440p. Every time it's a toss. 

While I understand the reason of 1080 being technically 2k I've never heard anyone use that term for it, and feel it's pretty universally understood that 2k is 1440 and 4k is 2160p. I've never encountered otherwise in the wild.

[dilpickle]

2K and 4K come from cinema where the standard resolutions are 2048x1080 and 4096x2160. Film was always measured horizontally and they kept the same convention when switching to digital.

 

TVs were historically measured vertically because that's how CRT scan lines were drawn. So 480p, 720p, 1080p. When they got to 3840x2160p they decided to call it 4K in order to steal some of Hollywood's thunder. Plenty of tech nerds complained about it at the time but no one cared.

 

The monitor industry has since adopted "K" and has even backported it to calling 1080p "2K" even though it already has a perfectly good name.

 

Best thing to do is stop using "K" unless you work in Hollywood. In the computer world we have always said the full resolution. 640x480, 1024x768, 1920x1080, 5120x1440. Given that monitors can be a wide variety of aspect ratios it only makes sense to list the full res.

[Ottoman420]

Personally if the 720p/1080p HD era standard were based on the vertical pixels then i dont see why they changed it for any other reason than marketing to get to 4k quicker, or they jumped the gun on 720p and 1080p for the marketing boost then, either way 3840x2160 is 2k under the old system in my head and i understand it is 4x the 1080p resolution but they would have known that when the standard was introduced no?

 

But for the generation who have only ever known 1440p and "4k" 1080 becomes 2k.

 

Ahh Humanity the single greatest cause to all my anxiety

 

 

[GuiltySpark_]

1 minute ago, Holmes108 said:

While I understand the reason of 1080 being technically 2k I've never heard anyone use that term for it, and feel it's pretty universally understood that 2k is 1440 and 4k is 2160p. I've never encountered otherwise in the wild.

That’s the problem, in the wild you’re hearing the wrong information from monitor manufacturers and that’s repeated by uneducated consumers. 
 

If you research the topic, what we’re saying here becomes clear. 
 

2K never was and never will be 2560x1440. 

[Agall]

1 minute ago, Holmes108 said:

While I understand the reason of 1080 being technically 2k I've never heard anyone use that term for it, and feel it's pretty universally understood that 2k is 1440 and 4k is 2160p. I've never encountered otherwise in the wild.

Tell me how 2560x1440 = 2K? So now we're rounding down substantially or changing to referring to vertical resolution while rounding up like its radcon math?

[Holmes108]

11 minutes ago, GuiltySpark_ said:

2K never was and never will be 2560x1440. 

But it is, in common parlance.

 

11 minutes ago, Agall said:

Tell me how 2560x1440 = 2K? So now we're rounding down substantially or changing to referring to vertical resolution while rounding up like its radcon math?

 

I'm not trying to argue what the origins are, or what's most logical. There are a million oddities in our language. This isn't the first, the last, or even remotely the most egregious.

 

But I'm generally a believer in the evolution of definitions, and that the important part of language is how it's actually used, and being understood. I think 2K has come to mean 1440 (in my experience) enough to pass that threshold. At least in the phone screen/home theatre world. It may not be so in some professional spaces (not uncommon to have a divide like that though) 

 

Look, we all have our things that stick in our craw, that we like to be pedantic about, like "could care less", or "irregardless". I know I do. I just think this one is borderline settled and a losing battle. But I know people here will disagree strongly.

[Agall]

2 minutes ago, Holmes108 said:

But it is, in common parlance.

 

 

I'm not trying to argue what the origins are, or what's most logical. There are a million oddities in our language. This isn't the first, the last, or even remotely the most egregious.

 

But I'm generally a believer in the evolution of definitions, and that the important part of language is how it's actually used, and being understood. I think 2K has come to mean 1440 (in my experience) enough to pass that threshold. At least in the phone screen/home theatre world. It may not be so in some professional spaces (not uncommon to have a divide like that though) 

 

Look, we all have our things that stick in our craw, that we like to be pedantic about, like "could care less". I know I do. I just think this one is borderline settled and a losing battle. But I know people here will disagree strongly.

Really trying not to get political here, but just because a bunch of extremely vocal ideologs start collectively calling something it's not does not mean that it is. Languages change, using that to justify a term that's more likely to confuse than to provide understanding is either asking for confusion or some strange sense of entitlement.

 

If you have to define the term in order to use it, you're better off just not using it. The difference otherwise being that you're saving yourself 3 keystrokes. Compared to an acronym that you can define once and use multiple times throughout a discussion that would be the difference between 3 characters and 20, that's quite trivial.

 

4K is the only one of these terms that's actually taken off, I would say 8K being similar.

 

Another reason why these terms are dumb, after a Google Search of "2K resolution":

 

Oh look at that, I see the top result says 1440p, but the right side Wikipedia result says 2048x1080 (obviously being cinema).

[Andrewtst]

I love how Bing GPT answer. 2K is not 2560x1440 in DCI defines but it is already as a common terms 2K also refer as 2560x1440. Keep argue for what, even GPT give an equal answer.

I l

[Agall]

12 minutes ago, Andrewtst said:

I love how Bing GPT answer. 2K is not 2560x1440 in DCI defines but it is already as a common terms 2K also refer as 2560x1440. Keep argue for what, even GPT give an equal answer.

I l

Technically speaking per DCI standards, 2K = 2048x1080 just like how 4K = 4096x2160.

 

So, any logical creature would not define 2560x1440 as 2K and would rather define 1920x1080 as 2K, since 4K outside of DCI standards is widely known as 3840x2160. Noting that both of which are a slightly lower but equally 93.75% the vertical resolution to their DCI standard counterparts.

 

Either way, everyone should just stop using the term 2K outside the context of cinema and take the 2-3 extra keystrokes to type out 1080p or 1440p.

[Lurick]

1 minute ago, Agall said:

Either way, everyone should just stop using the term 2K outside the context of cinema and take the 2-3 extra keystrokes to type out 1080p or 1440p.

No, we need a whole new system, based on noodle length per laden swallow flight speed per second

[Agall]

5 minutes ago, Lurick said:

No, we need a whole new system, based on noodle length per laden swallow flight speed per second

Exactly!

 

Just like how I could say, "No, we need a whole new system, based on Monty Python References", you could also say that. However, that could be contentious. 

 

If the definition of a term is contentious, simply insert the definition of the term you believe is proper instead of the term.