Alright, I was just chatting with a Netflix support guy and even he couldn’t answer this. Maybe some of you AV guys ( @theblue ) know more?
When you’re streaming Netflix you can bring up a display that shows what resolution is playing. This is what I’ve seen:
480p
720p
1080p
1080 Super HD
2160
2160 SD
Now those are in order from what I think is lowest to highest. There may be a 2160 HD above 2160 SD, however I haven’t seen it yet. The support guy told me that the SD in “2160 SD” stands for “standard definition” … but that doesn’t make much sense because 2160 is certainly higher than HD.
2160 is mostly likely Ultra High Definition, which is 3840 x 2160 at 16:9 aspect ratio (this is basically broadcast 4K). The “SD” is probably the same 2160pixel height but with a shorter width to make it fit within the “SD” Aspect Ratio of 4:3.
So both 2160 signals are running at 16:9? that’s strange? Do they behave differently at all? ie, do they have any bars at the top and bottom to mess with the aspect ratio or anything?
I would assume that netflix is simply saying SD and HD in the 4k category for different compression/bitrates because the average consumer doesn’t know compression but does understand resolution because that’s what marketing has been selling for ages.
4k is the new line of resolutions with 4,000 pixel widths. The format 3840x2160 (16:9) is the true resolution with the aspect ration but the “standard definition” in the industry or SD you see is 4096x2160 (19:10) which technically is the native resolution of a 4k TV
4K has become the common name for ultra high definition television (UHDTV), although its resolution is only 3840 x 2160 (at a 16:9, or 1.78:1 aspect ratio), which is lower than the 4K industry standard of4096 x 2160 (at a 19:10 or 1.9:1 aspect ratio).
but going back to my preivous response, I doubt they giving you a different res between the two 4k options.
I don’t think there is any consumer content at 4096x2160 since only movie theaters are using that and no TVs come at that res. Maybe they’re interpolating it up, but why?
Think of your TV in a sense of pixels. With every dot turned on, the standard resolution is 4096 x 2160 (ratio 19:10) for a true 4k image. This is referred to as standard definition and native resolution which YouTube and Netflix support. If you stream a 1080p video that is the 1080p stretched to 2160p which is only the 3840x2160 (ration 16:9) which will be black bared.
Only streaming services really support the standard definition. This happened when 1080P came out. Watch like a Batman movie or one that was on Bluray or even in a theatre. You will see some scenes go full screen and ratio and some will be black barred.
Standard Definition is actually sending you a true 4k image so don’t let standard definition throw you off.
I’m unable to find what resolution netflix 4k is… The goal as a geek is to receive 1:1 pixel content vs the TV / monitor so that no interpolation takes place.
what I can find is that 15.6Mbps is what you need to sustain before quality loss.
This is “Standard Definition”. Netflix sends the 1:1 ratio to a true 4k tv. The video needs to be recorded in it so usually only a few shows they make will support true 1:1 4k. A IMAX movie has a high resolution and may have more pixels than your TV but they may only stream a 16:9 cropped version.
OK, boxxa, I have to ask because I thought I was having the same issue. Do you have a Mac/Apple device that is auto-correcting ratio to ration? Because I kept having “ration” come up earlier every time I typed what I thought was “ratio”, and I couldn’t figure out if it was auto-correcting or if I was typing it that way.
I am on a Windows PC in Chrome. Not sure if its just me being stupid and not knowing how to spell ratio or some reason I wanted to type ration subliminally.
