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Some people take the quality of their televisions seriously. Others don’t care as long as they can still watch their shows and play video games. Regardless of where you fall, the debate between UHD vs HD rages on. But what does this debate mean, exactly? How stark is the contrast between UHD and HD, and is it even something the naked eye can pick up on?
You might think you can get by with an HDTV and don’t need to upgrade to a UHDTV. Likewise, you might feel that UHDTV is the only way to go and that those still clinging to their HDTV are seriously missing out. For this reason, the UHD vs HD is a lot more complex than it might initially seem. In this article, we weigh their specs, examine their histories, explain their differences, and highlight their pros and cons. You can ultimately decide which digital video display technology is the best.
Side by Side Comparison: UHD vs HD
| UHD | HD | |
|---|---|---|
| First Standardized | 2007 | 1988 |
| Dimensions | 2160p, 4320p | 720p, 1080p |
| Aspect Ratio | 16:9 | 16:9 |
| Also Referred to As | 2160p, 4K, 8K, 16K, UHDTV, Ultra HD | 1080p, 2K, HDTV, Hi-Def |
| Predecessor | HD | SD |
| Successor | TBD | UHD |
5 Must-Know Facts About UHD and HD
- The terminology “high definition” or “HD” dates back to the late 1930s.
- 4K and UHD are not the same thing. 4K is just one of several resolutions contained underneath the UHD umbrella.
- Depending on the resolution, UHD can be as much as 21 times the quality of HD. However, this is only in the most drastic instances (i.e. 16K vs 720p). More often than not, UHD is twice the quality of HD (i.e. 4K vs 2K).
- Japanese broadcaster NHK was at the forefront of innovating both HD and UHD.
- Many experts expect to see a new digital video format emerge in the future, as the definition of UHD is far too open-ended to be future-proof.
UHD vs HD: Key Differences
Resolution
As their respective abbreviations might indicate, ultra high definition (or UHD) has a leg up on high definition (or HD). However, these respective abbreviations don’t properly explain just how much of a leg up the former has over the latter. Perhaps this will make things more clear. HDTV tends to range anywhere from 720p to 1080p, while UHDTV ranges from 2160p to 4320p or above. (This number refers to the number of pixels across the screen, meaning UHDTV has more than double the number of pixels as HDTV.)
Visual Quality
Perhaps this is what truly distinguishes UHD vs HD. UHD has a higher visual quality than HD television. However, not everything is always so cut-and-dry. Just because something is of higher quality doesn’t always mean it will be the thing that consumers flock to. HD remains the standard for Blu-rays, while UHD can only be brought to home video via 4K UHD discs.
Price
TV prices vary with screen resolution and image quality. By and large, there’s no comparison here. HD monitors are cheaper than UHD 4K TVs but still offer superior quality over the prior digital video standard of SD (or standard definition).
Usage
UHD and HD have clear definitions, but the lines are much blurrier in practice. One might have a UHDTV but only use it to watch HD television broadcasts. Likewise, one might have a next-gen console capable of UHD gameplay but only have an HDTV that’s incapable of displaying such high qualities. The same goes for watching a Blu-ray on a UHDTV. On paper, a full comparison of UHD and HD makes the differences clear as day.
The History of UHD
Ultra-high-definition television, Ultra HD, or simply UHDTV, all describe resolutions ranging from 4,000 pixels. As a digital video format, UHD is exclusive to displaying video, not recording the video itself. UHD video typically must be displayed in an aspect ratio of 16:9 or wider. Any aspect ratio slimmer than that makes it impossible for the required 4,000+ pixels to fit. While UHD has only recently been adopted by streaming services, home video, video games, and consumer technology, it has been an option for televisions since 2003.
Computer monitors and other technological experiments had achieved 4K resolution before the advent of UHDTV. 2003 was largely considered the true beginning of UHD as a legitimate and attainable digital video format. This is when researchers at NHK — a Japanese public broadcaster — built the world’s first UHDTV. They tinkered and perfected the technology over the next few years, and by 2006, they had a prototype ready to debut to consumers. A year later, SMPTE legitimized the new and innovative digital video format by establishing technological standards for UHDTVs.
From this point onward, UHD spread across the world’s top television manufacturers like wildfire. Samsung, Panasonic, Toshiba, Sony, and numerous other brands immediately leaped into action to bring their own UHDTVs to market. By 2012, most of the recognizable names in television had their UHDTVs ready to go. The only problem? They were tremendously expensive. It took several years for prices to go down, but eventually, UHDTVs became consumers’ top pick over HD.
HD’s Lasting Legacy
While the battle between UHD vs HD changed drastically with the UHD’s price drop, the latter still put up one heck of a fight over the years. First coined in 1936, today’s definition of HD — or high definition, or HDTV — refers to the video display technology that comes after SDTV. To qualify as HDTV, the television or electronic device requires a resolution of close to 2,000 pixels across.
HDTV was first developed in the late 1980s and early 1990s, but it wasn’t until the 20th century that significant breakthroughs were made. As it turned out, true HDTV was not possible until the creation of compressed video in the late 1970s and the perfection of the DCT (or discrete cosine transform) video compression algorithm in 1988.
Despite being bested by UHDTV’s sheer quality, HDTV remains the industry’s standard for several media types, including Blu-rays, television broadcasts, and even some streaming services. It’s a matter of accessibility and price. HD and UHD are both top-of-the-line in quality and far superior to SD, making those who are up-to-date on the latest HD broadcasting or streaming technology less pressured to upgrade to UHD. This can be seen especially in the sales figures for 4K UHD discs compared to Blu-rays.
UHD
- Watch movies and shows in stunning 4K Ultra HD
- Clearer pictures with brighter colors
- Use Alexa Voice to find apps, shows, movies, and more
- Stream TV episodes and movies from Netflix to Disney+
- Watch live TV, play video games, and stream music from one place.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Higher quality than HDTV | More expensive than HDTV |
| It contains a far wider range of resolutions than HD | Tend to be much larger than HDTVs to fit all the required pixels |
| Represents newer, bigger, better technology | Some may not be willing to upgrade to UHD so soon after upgrading to HD |
| Make at-home viewings closer to the cinematic experience | The visual difference between 4K and 2K can appear somewhat slight |
HD
- 1080p high definition
- Full Array LED backlight
- IQ Picture Processor
- V-Gaming Engine
- SmartCast (intuitive navigation)
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Far better quality than SD | Lacks the high quality of UHDTV |
| Cheaper and more affordable than UHDTV | Will eventually be lapsed by an industry-wide shift to UHD |
| The standard for Blu-ray disks and broadcast television | No longer the standard for streaming services or next-gen gaming consoles |
| Takes less space and more energy-efficient than UHD |
UHD vs HD: How Superior is UHD?
At this point, you can know with absolute certainty that UHD is superior to HDTV. But just how superior is the latter compared to the former? Let’s review what we’ve discussed so far. Ultra HD television includes any resolution from 2160p and above. HD television, on the other hand, tops out at 1080p. That makes UHDTV at least twice the quality of HDTV. However, the standard aspect ratio for both formats remains the same: 16:9. This is a far less significant upgrade from SDm, which had a standard of 4:3 to HD. In other words, it’s harder to tell HD and UHD apart than HD and SD (or UHD and SD).
Now, skeptics might ask why they should care about a jump from 2K to 4K. The reason they should care has less to do with the present and more to do with the future. UHD might top out at a resolution of 4K today, but there’s room to grow. In time, it’ll be 2K HDTV vs 8K UHDTV. Then, 2K HDTV vs 16K HDTV. UHD is only twice as superior as HD today, but before long, that will change significantly. For this reason, it’s never a bad idea to future-proof and make the upgrade to UHDTV if you haven’t.
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