4K, the next big thing in high-resolution telly tech, has been officially renamed 'Ultra High Definition', in a too-late bid to cut down on consumer confusion.
The term, which referred to any TV, camera or projector that offered roughly 4,000 pixels on its horizontal resolution, has been banished by the Consumer Electronics Association, our sister site in the US reports.
The CEA has laid down new rules for what counts as Ultra HD. A display must offer at least 3,840 pixels on its horizontal axis, and 2,160 vertical pixels.
Any gadgets that want to proudly bear the Ultra HD branding will also need to offer at least one 4K-capable input, and must be able to pump out 4K-definition footage without resorting to upscaling. Oh, and Ultra HD displays must have an aspect ratio of 16:9.
I'll admit that Ultra High Definition is a pretty straightforward name for something that has a tonne more pixels than HD -- and there's no denying that the TV-buying public has wrapped its collective noggin around that particular term.
It feels like an odd time to yank the 4K terminology however. Of course its meaning is a bit cryptic, but then tech terms aren't exactly famous for making a lot of sense.
What's more important is whether shoppers understand what a term refers to, and I've been seeing '4K' crop up a lot recently. Vue cinemas have a massive pre-movie advert that extols the virtues of its Sony 4K projector tech, and just the other day GoPro revealed a new camcorder that shoots at a 4K resolution.
It seems a bit of a shame to ditch the term just as it's catching on. But perhaps the new name will be perfectly clear? Tell me what you think of Ultra HD in the comments below, or on our Facebook wall.
Android App 
RSS Feeds 
iPhone App 
Newsletters 
Comments 18
Add your comment
anonymous 19 October, 2012 12:53
now we will be able to play with a little 'ultra violence' on our tv's
anonymous 19 October, 2012 12:57
Personally I prefer 4K but I can understand why they called it ultra high def. What I can't wait for is 8K and If I had my way it would be called mega super eye retina busting more real than you ultra + definition © Had to copyright just in case :)
Anyone beat that lol
anonymous 19 October, 2012 13:07
i think the term "4k" is better
anonymous 19 October, 2012 13:39
Consumers managed to figure out 720 & 1080 for 'HD' okay, so I'm not sure why they think 4K will be an issue. I expect we will still see 4K used alongside the new Ultra HD name, similar to what happens now anyway.
I think 4K is better too.
anonymous 19 October, 2012 13:42
lol the term 4K sounds like something out of a rap video where ultra HD does suggest better HD to you
anonymous 19 October, 2012 14:00
This will not help confusion *at all*. 4K is 4K, if you sell something as 4K it better be 4K or youre misrepresenting it. "Ultra" can mean whatever some marketroid wants it to.
In other words, how long before we start seeing "Ultra-Ready" sets that are only 1440 pixels high, like we did with "HD-ready"?
anonymous 19 October, 2012 14:14
does that engaged in body health by more waves in eyes as well in body
anonymous 19 October, 2012 15:32
4K sounds better and is easier to say. Ultra HD sounds like an expensive gasoline.
anonymous 19 October, 2012 16:01
or it could just be called uHD
anonymous 19 October, 2012 18:02
This is stupid, 4K is four times better that HD. People will read Ultra HD as marketing and something thats a little bit better than HD, therefore not warranting a purchase.
4K sounds like a new era of TV, not a continuation like Ultra HD.
anonymous 20 October, 2012 01:28
Does this mean that we will eventually have to rebuy all of our Blu-Ray media in the new format??? I just got done switching from DVD to Blu-Ray.
damien2501 20 October, 2012 10:50
surely u wont be able to tell THAT much difference unless your set is 60inch. In theory you cant tell the difference between 720p & 1080p on a 42inch tv sat at a normal viewing distance. I do think it will be more successful than headache inducing, faffy glasses wearing 3d tech that was pushed on us all
anonymous 20 October, 2012 19:12
what about ultra-dultra HD?
or wait until true hologram displays arrive
Daniel Rawr 20 October, 2012 21:34
This makes sense! Maybe a few or more of us tech heads know what 4K means!
But if you're a 30/40/50 year old person you prob wont have a clue... what with 4G and 4K people will get confused "so I thought 4K was faster internet" .."no sir thats 4G" ...."so what does 4K mean then"...! You get the point!!
So ultra HD sounds more like the next step up to HD rather than 4K which doesn't relate to TV's!!
anonymous 21 October, 2012 22:19
4K should have been called Very HD similar to the way that radio bands are named and they should have saved the Ultra HD tag for 8K resolution which isn't that far away.
Personally I think 4K should be kept and as other posters have already mentioned, consumers have managed to figure out what 720 and 1080 represent, surely they can figure out what 4K represents, higher the number = higher the definition, simples!
anonymous 22 October, 2012 13:25
As people here have mentioned HD and "HD Rready" confusingly covered both 720 and 1080 with 1080p getting the special "Full HD" title to add a little more miss direction to the lay person. Maybe when 8k comes along that will be called "Full Ultra HD"
In reality though it doesn't matter, people who read blogs like this will still know it as 4K because that has meaning to us in terms of specification much like we all still call it 1080 not "Full HD". For the rest of the world they just buy the TV that looks the shiniest with the flashiest logo on it, "Ultra HD" probably works quite well for that...
anonymous 24 October, 2012 05:18
I feel that 4K would be better moniker in the long run. That is, if you consider where we have come in the past decade or so regarding TV screens & their respective resolutions.
That being said, the term "Ultra High Definition" can find itself out dated. And, where would that leave us? Looking for new adjectives to describe those next levels of resolution that are sure to come someday. Too often we have to come up with different ways to describe or name things because we didn't look forward in time far enough to see the possible changes. Look at Autodesk's AutoCAD. They started using release numbers & ultimately went to the year of release as part of the name. Microsoft's Windows started out using numbers, then release dates, then names & now back to numbers.
Anway, that's just my 2 cents.
anonymous 6 December, 2012 21:42
It should have been called HD4 then as the next x4 comes in call it HD16 etc. that way you could go on for sometime without too much confusion. Where do you go after Ultra HD anyway?