If you've seen TVs in stores or shows on Netflix labelled with '4K' or '1080p' resolutions but aren't sure what that means or, indeed, what the differences between them are, you've come to the right place. Below we examine what screen resolution is, how 1080p and 4K resolutions differ, and which you should invest your TV budget in and TV binging time to.
We've been enjoying 1080p picture quality for nearly 20 years – it arrived on Blu-ray discs in 2006 and Netflix began streaming it in 2013, while TVs began fully adopting 1080p resolutions in the late 2000s. Yet in that relatively short space of time, it has been superseded by the superior 4K quality, which is in Ultra HD Blu-rays and every major streaming service, and fills our best TVs buying guide.
