4K UHD vs 1080p HD: What’s The Difference?

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THIS is the kind of information the industry should have been doing since, well, the beginning of 4K. Thank you for your service, Jeff.

We upgrade DVDs to 4k if available. It has to be a really favorite movie to move to 4k from Blu-ray. If available on 4k all new are purchased that way.

The sharpness is definitely the most talked about aspect of 4k, but the color is just as important.

It is also important to remember that a film being on a 4K disc does NOT automatically ALWAYS make it super sharp or even necessarily better-looking than the Blu Ray. It also depends on the quality of the TRANSFER that was put onto the 4K disc. A notorious example is Terminator 2 4K. The transfer on the 4K disc is so DNR'd and smoothed over that many people feel that the older Blu Ray actually looks SHARPER and better because the quality of the 4K transfer is so poor! That's why things like reviews and screenshots and such of 4K discs can be helpful in determining if that particular 4K disc is likely to look significantly better than the Blu Ray or not before making the purchase.

HD blu-rays don't have HDR because it wasn't a protocol when blu-ray was being developed. Consumer HD was also SDR because TV contrast ranges were 8bit, and the video is encoded in a less efficient video codec (that takes up more of the disc compared to UHD). There were movie studios editing 2K digital intermediates in HDR spaces (as digital cameras can record RAW video in spaces that exceed current consumer HDR). This can be important for editing contrast ranges in the video. 4K UHD discs also needed a new video codec because the master file size is much larger, so there has to be more file compression for a UHD blu-ray. 4K is 4x the resolution, but a tonal range that changes from 8bit 256 shades of tone to 10bit 1024 shades (not just providing brighter highlights or darker shadows, but smoother gradients). Perceptual detail of video isn't just resolution: it's resolution, contrast range, and lens focus (and possible other optical characteristics). You will see new HD blu-rays have Dolby Atmos tracks (which weren't originally part of HD video protocols), as many new movies are mastered in it and older blu-ray players will see the track as True-HD 7.1. I had a pretty nice Panasonic plasma TV and 7.1 HDMI speaker system when I was collecting blu-rays. To go to 4K, I invested in a nice OLED TV, upgraded my amplifier to decode Atmos/ DTS:X/Auro-3D, and got 4 height speakers. I believe HDR and 3D audio is the real advantage of 4K. I go to the cinema less often as I prefer my home audio, and I've calibrated Dolby Vision and HDR10 with my OLED.

Because 4K tends to be higher prices, I do extra research before purchasing them. The movie has to be REALLY GOOD, otherwise a Blu-Ray is fine. Funny enough, there are some 4K disks where I actually prefer the color grading on the Blu Ray instead! 😅

Most people in the UK have TVs that are 40-55". We just don't have living rooms that csn accommodate 70-80" and a too big TV makes a room oppressive. We didn't have the big screen culture until the 2000s like Americans have always had.

I don't yet have a 4K player, but I remember the days of Bluray + DVD combo packs, and how useful they were for future proofing my collection before I had a bluray player. So these days, if it's a movie that I know I will one day be glad to have in HDR 4K, I go for those combos. Anything by Chris Nolan, or George Miller will be worth it in the long run. And as per Jeff's advice, I also keep a lookout for 4K restorations of classics and B+W films, as they really benefit from the HDR.

Thank you Jeff. 🙏🏻

Your earlier video on this subject is the first video of yours I ever watched. This is a great update! Thank you for explaining things so well! Very useful.

Jeff, this was extremely well done. Kept to basics, made it easy for everyone to understand, and helped people decide based on their choice not what people think they should do. Again, excellent video Jeff!

Great video! I've been upgrading my collection the past few years to 4K UHD and it's definitely worth it

Thank you for this information. Very helpful 👍🏻

For me, 1080p Blu-ray, especially if you find a good used source, is the perfect mix of affordability and truly excellent picture and sound. I can get 4-5 standard Blu-rays for the price of one new 4k, and for the most part they still look and sound phenomenal on home theater equipment, with some even having Dolby Atmos, etc. I buy some iconic or legendary movies on 4k, but for me Blu-ray will likely satisfy my home theater needs forever.

Great stuff as always mate! Concise, informative

I am much more selective in what I upgrade from Blu Ray to 4K. The cost, coupled with triple or even quadruple buying now (if you include VHS) on some films has me burned out. I really only will be upgrading a select amount of films. Having over 19K films now, my 4K collection is still relatively small at less than 300 of this 19K movies. Blu Ray is in it’s sweet spot for me. Cost, still looks great on all my TVs. And only do I really care about 4K for my projector theatre room. The really special movies to me are the ones I want 4K for. I simply only need it for certain films.

Here's the dirty Little secret nobody's talking about.... HDR can be applied to 1080p Blu-ray discs but they don't do it... why not? A file like that upscaled on a 4K TV would come very close to Blu-ray 4K uhd.

Thank you 🙏🏽 great explanation

Not just data size but data rate in streaming. HDR colour can be great - but TV panels can also vary - some older ones are 8Bit or 8bit +2 With newer panels 10bit colour ie. they better able to display that 'true' colour range & colour volume. But I think your point about viewing distance is often overlooked. For my 55in UHD 4K OLED TV I sit just 6 to 7 feet away. UK home hav (in general) smaller TVs but in smaller living rooms