Since 1990s a new technology enabling transmission of video data with resolution more than HDTV (1920×1080 pixels) had been researched before in a series of corresponding standards was released 2004-2010. Now they are known as 4K and 8k Ultra High Definition standards.
4K UHDTV (2160p) is 3840 pixels wide by 2160 pixels tall (8.3 megapixels), which is four times as many pixels as 1920×1080 (2.1 megapixels). 8K UHDTV (4320p) is 7680 pixels wide by 4320 pixels tall (33.2 megapixels), which is sixteen times as many pixels as current 1080p HDTV.
As the resolution reached at least 4 times of HDTV, the benefits of video viewing are especially noticeable on large flat TV screens, among which the so called panoramic effect. Previously this effect could be seen in cinema theatres only. Now a consumer can fully enjoy the participation effect on his home TV.
Along with its obvious benefits new standards have some serious disadvantages. More pixels sent at a time means higher bitrates and wider bandwidths are needed for transmission of video signal. Thus a new standard implementation requires development of new devices capable to handle high speed data rates communication. Furthermore, this technology needs more bandwidth capacities. The mentioned above finally suggests that huge investments and resources are involved in that development. So the applying of UHDTV standards seems quite expensive and unaffordable (at least for now). The development and use of new and more efficient codecs might aid further progress of the standards (the H.265 codec is already developed).
