After all, how to recognize a UHD TV (4K)?

Televisions have become, over the last century, the most important electronic device for families. From the first valve devices, through the tube ones, TVs were elements that accompanied people for years, providing leisure, entertainment and information for families.

In the last decade, we have followed an intense pace of renewal in the line of these devices and more recently the UHD TV – also known as 4K TV – has emerged as a more affordable option for consumers. According to IHS DisplaySearch's market forecast, up to 230,8 million TVs are expected to be sold worldwide in 2015, with UHD TVs constituting 13,3% of the total number, which represents 30,6 million units. .

Considering that the proportion of UHD TVs in the entire world market was only 5% (11,7 million units) last year, it can be said that UHD TVs are revitalizing the market. This explosive market response is largely due to the fact that UHD TVs deliver more realistic images with a high level of detail with accuracy comparable only to what can be seen with the naked eye.

The resolution of UHD TVs is four times that of conventional Full HD TVs of the same size (hence the name “4K” TV). The industry regards the creation of UHD as the most revolutionary leap towards visual technology since the development of Full HD TV nearly a decade ago. With such image quality at stake, however, it is important to understand the kind of “4K” desired in “UHD TVs”.

Pixels, Resolution and Color Standard

The screens of a UHD TV are made up of pixels as the smallest unit. Each pixel contains red, green and blue subpixels to produce accurate colors. This is the structure of both equipment for reproduction (TVs, notebooks, etc.), and for equipment for recording (TV cameras, cinema, cell phones, etc.). This pattern is known as RGB (Red, Green and Blue).

Meanwhile, the RGBW standard is a modified version where parts of RGB (red, green, blue) are turned into white lights. The white lights of RGBW, however, not only become holes when representing colors, but also distort the pixel structure, making it very difficult to define lines that are fundamental to UHD technology. Remembering that TV and cinema cameras use the RGB standard and not WRGB to capture images.

In other words, these white pixels constrain and limit the color palette the TV is capable of displaying on the screen, while diluting the overall picture quality, affecting clarity, brightness and sharpness. Because of this phenomenon, the Nemko (Norwegian Board for Testing and Approval of Electrical and Electronic Equipment) concluded that “RGBW resolution is lower than UHD resolution and has some issues when displaying UHD vertical color lines".

The VDE Testing and Certification Institute is a European technical-scientific association that has also carried out an independent quality verification test. The results revealed that “with RGBW, there is a 25% loss of clarity with horizontal resolution” and that when conducting a black and white dot test, the “RGBW was unable to accurately display the standard".

Current regulations to ensure true UHD images

Industry organizations such as Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) it's at Digital Europe (DE), have recently established clear standards and certification programs for UHD. THE DE and CEA defined as a parameter for UHD (4K) certification, the screen in which a pixel independently reproduces a wide variety of colors. This means that a pixel is considered real only if the three primary colors of light (red, green and blue) are included, regardless of subpixels additional (non-RGB)

A CEA, accredited by American National Institute of Standards (ANSI), is made up of members from more than 2 companies in the consumer technology sector in the United States. The organization is a trusted source for the consumer electronics industry.

Already DE represents the digital technology sector in Europe and is comprised of members of the world's largest IT, telecommunications and consumer electronics companies and national associations across Europe.

For more information on DE's UHD certification program, visit: DigitalEurope
For more information on CEA's UHD certification program, visit: Consumer Electronics Association