How do I know whether the device im using to render a video, is rendering it in 4K? I’m not familiar with the nomenclature, but by device I’m talking about anything capable of generating video, such as a camera (which records video), or a ps5 (which generates a video or graphics?)
What do I need to have / do to be able to view a 4K video in the “best way” possible (im not sure how to frame this exactly – I want to watch a 4K video in 4K, perhaps?)
If im viewing this video on an external monitor, what changes?
If the monitor is 4K, does that suffice? What cabling will I need, if at all?
In: Technology
This is a vast topic and there’s no easy answer to your question. Let’s take a computer rendering a video game. You need to have a display that can natively display a 4k image.
A pixel (picture element) is a single dot on a display. It can be any colour the display is capable of producing. The resolution of the display is defined by how many pixels high the image is, and how many pixels wide.
For a 4K image, that’s 3,840 pixels wide, by 2,160 pixels tall. If you have a 1080 display (1,920 x 1,080 pixels) of the same size (32″ for example), each pixel will be larger (fewer dots, same surface area = larger dots).
This is why higher resolutions look better, the dots are smaller and the details finer, so the image looks more like the real world.
If you have a display that can produce 4K, you also need a cable that can transmit enough data. There are standards for the way the data is transmitted. One is HDMI (High Definition Multimedia Interface). It will decide if the cable is capable of handling enough data. The version of the HDMI connection (1.1 for example) and the quality of the cable will determine how much data it can throughput. This will also determine refresh rate (how many times the screen can be redrawn per second)
You would also need a video card that can encode video data in the 4K format. Not only that, if you want to get it working smoothly, you need a PC with enough processing power to handle the task. Having components that will display the frame doesn’t mean they’ll do so smoothly.
So in this case, at the bare minimum, you’d need a 4K capable display, connection, and video card. If you want it to play games, you’d need an expensive system so it’s capable of rendering such a large amount of display information in a timely manner.
For videos and such, since there’s no active rendering happening, you wouldn’t need a powerful machine, but it would still need to be fast enough to transfer all that data through memory etc.
To break it down, at least four things have to be in 4K:
1. The media (video file/game/disc etc)
2. The device sending the data to the display (PC, console, blu-ray player)
3. The connection/cable between the device and display
4. The display itself.
If all these are satisfied, you can display media in 4K. Unfortunately, you need to do research to ensure anything you buy is capable.
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