What is 4K TV 

There's been a host of new TV features to arrive over the past months, and there's likely to be more on the way. From HDR to the new Ultra HD Premium label, TV tech is taking the next big leap forward.

But the one big advancement which has now well and truly arrived is 4K. With 4K TVs now the standard, the new hi-res technology is no longer just for the tech-minded early adopter market.

The new Sky Q box will push 4K to a whole new segment of mainstream TV viewers here in the UK, while Amazon's latest Fire TV provides another accessible entry point to UHD content. Meanwhile, everyone's favourite TV subscription service Netflix has been pushing 4K for over a year now.

 THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN 4K AND ULTRA HD

 While 4K is the most commonly used name for content and screens that use 3,840 x 2,160 pixels, some brands prefer the term Ultra HD – or UHD for short.

While confusing, there is actually some logic to the new UHD term. That's because it provides a way of distinguishing between the 3,840 x 2,160 resolution adopted by 16:9-ratio TVs and the slightly different 4096x2160 resolution first introduced in digital cinemas (and actually employed by Sony’s domestic 4K projector range).

However, 4K is used so widely to describe 3,840 x 2,160 displays and content now that the roots of the technical distinction between the 4K and UHD terms have been all but lost outside of the projection world. In other words, for most people the two terms have become interchangeable.