So you want to buy a TV? You could not miss these acronyms: HD Ready, Full HD, 1080p, 4K, UHD. These are terms associated with the definition of the TV screen.
In television, the number of pixels present on the panel is called definition. This conditions the image quality. And the rule of thumb is, the more pixels there are, the richer the image is in detail and realism.
But Be careful not to confuse definition and screen resolution. The resolution takes into account the size and definition of the screen, and is generally defined in number of pixels per inch, PPI. The higher this value, the better your image quality should be.
TV definition: The different formats
When choosing a TV, you must also think about the sources viewed and the quality of the content . What will you watch most often on TV? Blu-ray movies? TV broadcasts (with TNT reception, box with fiber or without fiber, satellite)? Streaming movies? A video game?
Ultra HD 4K: 3840 x 2160 pixels
Ultra HD (or UHD) offers four times more pixels than Full HD.
Manufacturers also often speak of 4K, but 4K is in fact a format reserved for cinema offering 4096 x 2160 pixels.
For television, we therefore rather speak of UHD. UHD sources: KK TV offered by some boxes, UHD Blu-Ray, videos accessible via Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, SFR Play, UHD or YouTube channel, smartphone movies, some sports programs, video games on PS4 Pro, Xbox One S or Xbox One X.
Ultra HD is therefore the holy grail of TV today.
Image enthusiasts and cinephiles will see real added value: more details, a more natural image, sometimes more raw, more intense emotions.
A 4K UHD TV can manage a larger colour gamut than an HD TV (extended colour space).
What about HDR?
HDR is not related to screen definition but is often associated with it. It is in fact an image processing (brightness and colorimetry ). Today, most 4K TVs are also HDR.
The HDR ( High Dynamic Range or dynamic range in French) has long been known photographers.
In the world of TV, it was in 2016 that HDR made a name for itself with the arrival of the first UHD-HDR Blu-ray players. It consists of inserting more information into the video signal received by the TV.
NB: To receive and broadcast an HDR image, the television must be HDR. Similarly, to read an HDR image, it must have been shot in HDR (or remastered in HDR).
Dynamic range refers to the distance between the darkest and lightest areas of an image . HDR technology makes it possible to see more nuance in the highlights and shadows of a scene. This therefore has an effect on brightness, contrast and colour rendering (more vivid). There are also more details.
Image quality is greatly improved in scenes where there is high contrast. Some images appear sharper, deeper, and strikingly realistic. HDR is therefore a real ally for fans of fiction on the big screen.
HRD sources: HD Blu-ray, Netflix, Amazon Video, the latest generations of game consoles, certain models of smartphones and tablets, etc.
HD Ready – Definition and Explanations
HD Ready is both a logo and a label launched in June 2005, which aims to allow consumers to identify a television capable of displaying an HD video signal just like the HDTV label for video players and recorders.
HDTV logo will be displayed on disc players and recorders, while HD Ready will appear on screens.
The logo is presented as a sign of quality for the differentiation of display equipment , capable of processing and showing high definition signals, assigned on the basis of minimum conditions of functionality.
To be authorized to use the HD Ready label on equipment, the manufacturer must undertake that its characteristics meet the following conditions
Have a 16: 9 aspect ratio with a tolerance of 5%
Have a minimum vertical definition of 720 lines
Accept 720p and 1080i signals as input
Have an analog input supporting HD signals.
Have a digital DVI or HDMI input supporting the European copy protection protocol (HDCP).
Compliance with the conditions is self-monitored.
The eligibility criteria for the HD Ready label guarantee the possibility of broadcasting most of the HD signals defined today. However, broadcasting is not guaranteed in the native signal definition , and programs broadcast in 1080p are not taken into account.
HD Ready or Full HD?
In the EU, in the month of July 2006, most of the raw emissions television broadcast in HD with the appropriate terminals (on Euro1080, TPS, CanalSat and TNT experimental HD) are in a definition interlaced 1920×1080.
An HD Ready television often does not have sufficient definition to completely display such a signal without resizing it with a loss of definition ( downscaling ).
If you want to take full advantage of 1080p broadcasts, a television with a native definition panel of 1920×1080 pixels or greater is required. the Full HD designation is generally affixed to such products.
However, perceived visual comfort cannot be reduced to image definition. On the one hand, the resolving power of the human eye imposes a limit on the distance from which it is impossible to tell the difference between two pixels, so that the extra definition is unnecessary.
On the other hand, the “downscaling” operation involves a digital interpolation which necessarily alters the image. An image received in 1080i viewed in 720p may therefore appear of lower quality than the same image received in 720p and viewed as is. Other complex psychovisual factors can come into play, so that one cannot theoretically predict in what situationa person will perceive an improvement by using a Full HD display rather than HD Ready. Only experience can reveal it.
Which One Would Is Great
Preference is always controlled by the cost and how much one is ready to pay. If cost is not a criteria however, you could go for a TV that matches your expectation and deliver its service without lag and glitches.