4K or “Faux K”?

If it’s not 18Gbps uncompressed, it’s not real 4K.


Not All 4K Is Real 4K

It pays to read the fine print. Real 4K requires 18Gbps of uncompressed bandwidth to be seen in its full glory. That’s a lot of bits to move. And although there are tricks to reduce the bandwidth, they compromise the 4K experience.


Common Tricks Used by “Faux K” Solutions

 

Reducing the maximum allowable frame rate from 60fps (60Hz), which can create motion artifacts.

Limiting the 4:4:4 color schema to a subsampled 4:2:0, which throws away half of the image data.

Losing high dynamic range (HDR), which takes away the deep contrast that makes current display technology so incredible.

Compressing the 4K signal, which throws away signal data and can create latency issues.

Real 4K Starts with 18Gbps. And Keeps Going.

For some, tradeoffs in video quality are perfectly acceptable. For the rest, there’s high-bandwidth fiber optics. Thanks to recent advances, fiber is now easier to install than copper. And it’s the only interconnect capable of meeting the bandwidth and distance requirements of real 4K and 8K displays.