If you've shopped for a TV lately, you might have seen the term "4K" used. Unfortunately, the term does not explain what it means on its own; as such, many people may not understand why this is so important. So what is 4K and why is everyone talking about it?
If you stream videos online, you'll likely see terms related to video quality. These will be numbers that end in a “p,” like 360p or 720p. These represent the number of pixels in the video. A 360p video will have 480×360 pixels, while 1080p videos will have a huge resolution of 1920×1080 pixels.
Luckily, popular streaming services like Amazon Prime and Netflix support 4K video resolution, which means you'll get the best quality possible from a 4K TV. You can get a smart TV to display Prime or Netflix on your screen, or make an existing TV smarter with a Chromecast that will add online functionality.
Thankfully, 4K isn't like the big analog-to-digital switch that TVs went through a decade ago. If you don't own a 4K TV, you won't see your current TV being phased out anytime soon.
You will find, however, that 4K content will become more readily available over time. On top of that, the price of 4K TVs will come down. As such, while your current TV won't become useless overnight, it's worth dipping a toe into the world of 4K and seeing if you can improve your viewing experience.
Although 4K is not a mandatory upgrade, it will provide better picture quality for your movies and games. Just make sure the content you're watching is 4K compatible, otherwise you might find everything looks a bit stretched!
Will you get a 4K TV? Let us know below.
