8K Resolution on a 4K Screen

[ExploringFate]

I have a HP Envy Model: 15T-AS100 CTO with integrated Intel I7 7th Generation / Intel HD Graphics 620 (Bits Per Pixel 32 @ 60p Hz). The screen on this laptop is a 4K HDR 3840 x 2160.

 

I am curious about something. I am able to view 8K content on this laptop even though the design and Specs are 4K. On any other device I'm on, I am only allowed to view content at that max resolution of the that device and not be able to view higher or even choose higher. My question is how is this possible?

 

My best guess is that since everything (except the 32 Bits Per Pixel) match 8K resolution and both hardware and software are capable of hosting it that the 1 Bits Per Pixel difference isn't factoring in. I noticed when change resolution a minuscule difference and you really have to look to tell the difference between 4K and 8K. I would have posted photos but I am only allowed 20MB upload here.

[GoldenLag]

It is still viewed as 4K content on the display, but it is downsampled from 8K to 4K. A grid of 2x2 pixels get avaraged to 1 pixel. It will therefore look slightly better than the 4K content

[GoldenLag]

Just now, GoldenLag said:

It is still viewed as 4K content on the display, but it is downsampled from 8K to 4K. A grid of 2x2 pixels get avaraged to 1 pixel. It will therefore look slightly better than the 4K content

As an example, i can play 4K content on my 720p laptop. The display is still showing 720p, but it is downsampling from 2160p.

 

Was that you were asking for? Or am i missing the point?

[ExploringFate]

Didn't think of that. It that may be true. The only thing is when I was on other devices like laptops or my phone the option wasn't even showing up. It would either it would go to 1080p or 4K on the Desktop or Laptop and on my phone only allow to 1440p since it is a Quad HD phone. There were several sites I tried it out on but figured youtube showed the settings the best. The images below is of the phone where the option wasn't even there to go to a higher resolution. Also android is different than a Windows 10 OS.  But I think you are right on the downsample or scaling and it just maybe that my system for what ever reason is adjusting it to 4K.

[wojtepanik]

5 minutes ago, ExploringFate said:

Didn't think of that. It that may be true. The only thing is when I was on other devices like laptops or my phone the option wasn't even showing up. It would either it would go to 1080p or 4K on the Desktop or Laptop and on my phone only allow to 1440p since it is a Quad HD phone. There were several sites I tried it out on but figured youtube showed the settings the best. The images below is of the phone where the option wasn't even there to go to a higher resolution. Also android is different than a Windows 10 OS.  But I think you are right on the downsample or scaling and it just maybe that my system for what ever reason is adjusting it to 4K.

mobile yt won't allow for higher resolutions that the device is, but on pc it is all good

[GoldenLag]

@ExploringFate i dont know the detail in OS's, but as far as i know Android is limited to display resolution whereas Win 10 isnt. There might be other limitation that i dont know

[Hashiba]

Hi, I'm not sure that I understand the question, so I'm going to make some statements and you could later comment whether I am crazy or not, ok?

 

as @GoldenLag said, you can definitely playback 8K on a system regardless of the display capabilities of said system. Example playing back 8K content and but viewing it on a 720p display/window.

 

If you are talking about how or why 8K to 4K downsampling could yield better perceived results, well, to answer that you can take a psychometric approach, the specific physiology of the eye and how it perceived changes in motion, contrast at a distance, etc, or you could take a more "quanty" approach, I suggest checking out Nyquist theorem, but in any case you would have to take into account all the processing or transformation steps of the images, like you mentioned briefly, what kind of compression are we applying? what are the dithering effects that we could expect from our specific system, etc.

 

I actually edited twice because OP likes the answer

[ExploringFate]

8 minutes ago, Hashiba said:

Hi, I'm not sure that I understand the question, so I'm going to make some statements and you could later comment whether I am crazy or not, ok?

 

as @GoldenLag said, you can definitely playback 8K on a system regardless of the display capabilities of said system. Example playing back 8K content and but viewing it on a 720p display/window.

 

If you are talking about how or why 8K to 4K downsampling could yield better perceived results, well, to answer that you can take a psychometric approach, the specific physiology of the eye and how it perceived changes in motion, contrast at a distance, etc, or you could take a more "quanty" approach, I suggest checking out Nyquist theorem, but in any case you would have to take into account all the processing or transformation steps of the images, like you mentioned briefly, what kind of compression are we applying? what are the dithering effects that we could expect from our specific system, etc.

 

 

True not all systems and people are the same and there are various factors that can play into this. And unless it is a controlled observation using the same material and method it could be a multitude of factors which I failed to do. I hadn't put full thought into it.