After the marketing plot that was 3D, the next big thing to lure consumers to change their television sets and related devices (think recorders and players) is the promise of even higher definition display technology, including Ultra HD or 4K (UHD) and in the near future, Full Ultra HD or 8k (or FUHD – no kidding and stop giggling).

The gasoline- and more recently, batter-powered motor heads over at Sweden’s M5Board forums have embraced the new technology with…a little push from Samsung introducing a series of videos filmed in QHD and UHD 4k, including a drive of the BMW i3 and Tesla Model S by Christian von Koenigsegg, the founder of the supercar brand bearing his name, and more.

There are a few more videos to see, but before we let you try them out adding that you need to select the HD quality through the third icon in the shape of a gear on the bottom row of the YouTube player (once you open them in Full Screen), I’ll do a quick (don’t shoot ne if I get something wrong…) explanation of what the different qualities mean.

Up until recently, we only had 720p HD and 1080p Full HD (what you get on cable in the States) with the first number representing the horizontal lines of vertical resolution and progressive scan on the set.

Therefore, a display with a resolution of 1280 pixels (vertical lines) x 720 pixels (horizontal lines) is 720p or HD, while one with 1920 pixels (vertical lines) x 1080 pixels (horizontal lines) is 1080p or Full HD.

Quad HD or QHD is a display resolution of 2560×1440 pixels in a 16:9 aspect ratio (we use the second pixel number or horizontal lines to get the 1440p label) and has four times as many pixels as the 720p, hence the “Quad HD” moniker.

With Ultra HD or 4k, we have 3840×2160 pixels (2160p) in the same 16:9 aspect ratio or four times the pixels as an FHD (1080p), while Full Ultra HD or 8K comes with 7680×4320 pixels in 16:9 or eight times the pixels of an FHD (1080p) and 16 times of an HD (720p).

So there you have it. Now, you can enjoy the videos below and don’t forget to view them full screen with the highest available quality, while if any of you with more experience on the matter would like to add or correct something, don’t hesitate to tell us in the comments.

By John Halas



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