It really shows how bad the marketing of these higher resolutions are. We always advertised the vertical lines and then we switched to horizontal lines.
You can’t expect a video game journalist to understand basic display principles. EDIT: /s
I get not wanting to call it "2160p" because that's a lot of syllables. But you're right, it was really dumb to switch which lines we are referring to. I'm sure a better name could have been come up with. Even UHD was better imo.
The one that really irks me are the people who call 2560x1440 2K. I have always known 2K to mean 2048 x 1080. But it has picked up so much traction that it has pretty much been redefined at this point.
2K is supposed to refer to a 2048x2048 square 1:1 aspect image, same with 4K being a 4096x4096 image. This term is correctly used a lot when referring to texture sizes. A 4K texture is 4096x4096 texels.
I think the term started getting mixed up with people discussing what resolutions benefit from texture size increases. Generally, if you are running, say, 4K textures, you would really only always benefit from that if you have a 2160p screen, just because lower resolutions dont have the definition to actually display those texels. So, people start inter changing "4K screen" and "4K-benefitting screen" and we end up where we are now.
“UHD features a 16:9 aspect ratio and is twice the resolution of full HD. In other words, two times 1080p, two times 1920 x 1080 pixels, that is 3840 x 2160 pixels. Having the same 16:9 aspect ratio means it is backward compatible with other HD derivates. However, both 4K and UHD can be shortened to 2160p to match the HD standard and therefore, companies use the terms interchangeably.”
“If you think 4K and UHD are one and the same, I don’t blame you. I blame the companies that LOVE to use them interchangeably all the time. You pick up a Blu-Ray movie disc of a 4K movie and you will most definitely see an Ultra HD label on it. 4K is actually not a consumer display and broadcast standard but UHD is. 4K displays are used in professional production and digital cinemas and feature 4096 x 2160 pixels”
It's nitpicking, whether it runs at 3840x2160 or 4096x2160 does not matter. Same goes for calling it 4K or UHD, even when one is technically incorrect.
If even Sony calls their 3840x2160 blu-rays "4K UHD" I'm fine with the average person using them interchangeable.
I had to go digging but 3840x2160 is both 2160p AND 4k UHD. 4096x2160 is something called 4K DCI which is more of a camera or film industry thing and is rarely used for things like TVs or video games.
4K UHD (along with 8K UHD and 16K UHD) are the consumer format standards for 3840x2160 image formats which includes Blu-ray. Full 4K or True 4K or DCI 4K is the cinematic 4K standard shown at 4096x2160, which many TVs supper via slight letterboxing