Video resolution and picture quality guide (2024)

Scratching your head thinking about video resolution?

It can be confusing considering there are a handful of technical aspects like pixels and aspect ratio to understand first.

In this guide, we’ll walk you through the brass tacks of video resolution in simple language so you can quickly and effectively wrap your head around the concept.

As we dive into the guide, you’ll notice there’s a common pattern: each video resolution is a step ahead of the previous one.

What is video resolution?

Video resolution, also known as screen resolution, is the number of pixels displayed across each frame.

Technically, this is the number of pixels per unit area, shared as 1920 x 1080p (width multiplied by height, which gives the total number of pixels on the screen) or 1080p.

Remember: the height (1080p) is often used as the short version for the complete resolution.

As a general rule, the more pixels on a screen, the more realistic the image looks. So a 1080p video resolution is always better quality than 720p as it contains more pixels.

Sometimes, you’d also hear a video resolution described as 1080i. This ‘i’ is the predecessor to ‘p’ so as better and improved screen resolutions surface, you’ll see less and less of ‘i.’ Even so, what is it?

Essentially, these letters stand for:

‘i’= interlaced

‘p’ = progressive

And, they denote the way the pixels are arranged or painted on a screen.

With interlaced resolution, the pixels are laid out horizontally across the screen – easily distinguishable if you see them up close on an old monitor. In fact, as the pixels are painted horizontally on the screen – first the odd lines, then the even lines – you can see them flicker too.

Now, to beat the problem, the pixels are constantly refreshed on the screen per second at a given rate called the refresh rate (commonly 60 times per second).

Progressive screens are more advanced with no flicker problem. In fact, the pixels on such a screen are painted evenly, line by line, so you can’t see individual pixels even if you magnify or zoom in.

Of course, as the quality of the video is much better with progressive screens, the refresh rate terminology changed to suit the situation and adopted the frame rate title.

The frame rate is the speed at which the screen displays each frame of data. It’s typically 60 frames per second (fps).

What is an aspect ratio?

Video resolution is shared in terms of aspect ratio – a fancy term to explain an image’s width and height.

It’s commonly denoted by two numbers separated by a colon (:). Read it out as the image is X (say, 16) units wide and y (say, 9) units high.

16:9 or widescreen (as its name goes) in this example is the most common aspect ratio for videos today – used for live streaming, online videos, and TV screen too as their standard aspect ratio.

Video resolution vs video quality: what’s the difference?

Okay so is video quality and resolution the same? No.

But, before you pull your hair: the difference between the two is nothing too technical. The resolution, like we just discussed, is the pixel size. In layman language, that’s the size of an image on the screen.

Video quality, however, is the quality of the image or the quality of the pixels. Better quality pixels are ones that store lots of details such as color, contrast, and shadow to name to few. These details give the picture good quality. Makes sense, right?

Standard definition: 240p vs 360p vs 480p

Now to get into the weeds: what’s standard definition or SD video quality?

Standard definition is a video resolution that’s neither high nor enhanced. Put simply, it’s nothing impressive. But to understand the upgrades HD, 2K, and 4K, we need to start from the basics.Circling back: standard definition offers any of the three: 240p resolution, 360p resolution, and 480p resolution.

Picture quality: As a rule of thumb, remember that the more pixels there are, the sharper the image quality. This applies to SD video resolution, too. This means 480p offers better picture quality than 360p which, in turn, offers better quality than 240p.

High definition: 720p vs 1080p

With time, the pixel count increased to meet the demand for higher video quality. And, thus, came HD video resolution or high definition display.

It comes in two qualities:

Picture quality: Since 1080p contains around two million pixels, the picture quality is clearer and smoother than a 720p, which contains less than one million pixels. But that’s when you’re paying attention, of course. To a viewer, both might seem almost the same unless they look closely. The difference, however, matters a lot to quality-focused creators.

Note that 1080i and 1080p both are available with HD resolution. The interlaced video resolution (1080i), however, isn’t as smooth and clear as the progressive resolution (1080p).

HD vs SD video

Before we move on any further into the video resolution chain and introduce the 2K display, let’s first pull a comparison between HD and SD video.

What is 2K resolution?

Things get a tad bit tricky when you go beyond HD video resolution. How so? Well, 2K isn’t exactly 2K and certain cameras shoot slightly more than 2K but less than 4K resolution.

Let’s elaborate. 2K is 2048 x 1152 with an aspect ratio of 1:1.77. And, no, before you ask: 2K isn’t called 2048p – we’ve now started to roundup numbers. 😄 Basically, it gets the name 2K from the fact that the pixels fall within the 2000 pixels range.

As for the cameras that capture a little higher than 2K, they capture 3840 x 2160p – also known as 2160p (no roundup here).

But to remove a bit of confusion, the 2160p resolution has a fancy name: UHD or ultra-high definition. Since this resolution is exactly four times HD, it’s also referred to as 4K but it’s technically not 4K.

So what’s 4K? Higher than 2K and UHD resolution and with a different aspect ratio too.

What is 4K resolution?

Just like 2K resolution, 4K gets its name from the fact that its pixel width is within the 4000 range.

Note that we said pixel width – not height or vertical pixel which has been the standard for sharing resolution. With 4K, the resolution is expressed in horizontal size or pixel width. This is the same for ultra HD.

To simplify, let’s put all this info together into a comparison chart:

Picture quality: 4K is presently the standard for high-end displays. It’s also quickly becoming the industry standard as the Galaxy and iPhone devices adopt it. The video quality is beyond impressive, of course. Think what over eight million pixels can do!

HDR vs SDR

Two other players in the field: HDR and SDR – both video and camera displays.

High dynamic range (HDR) imaging uses a set of techniques for shooting pictures and videos in a greater range of luminosity than SDR or standard dynamic range. Although SDR is the standard for displays, it provides only a fraction of the video and image dynamic range that HDR offers. This is why HDR is quickly replacing it.

In simple words: HDR quality content offers greater brightness and color range than SDR, making it more visually dope than SDR. Pictures and videos captured in HDR show a lot more details (even if it’s dark) than the standard dynamic range.

For creators, this means HDR videos bring more life to their story, capturing it in vibrant colors and maximum detail.

Shooting Dolby Vision quality video on iPhone 12 or later

Convinced you need to shoot video in stunning, theater-level HDR? We’ve got news for you: After creating videos in Dolby Vision on your iPhone 12 or later, editing the footage in Final Cut Pro (or Vimeo), and uploading to Vimeo’s platform, you’ll have a cinema-grade video of your very own.

Dolby Vision is an HDR video technology used by major Hollywood studios that delivers videos with highlights up to 40x brighter, blacks that are 10x darker, and delivers them to viewers with the creative intent in tact.

To enable it, simply head to your iPhone’s Settings and select Camera. Pick Record Video next and turn on HDR video. That’s all.

Once you’ve finished recording, any Vimeo user can upload their gorgeous new video to view and share – you won’t want to keep this footage to yourself!

Video resolution FAQs

Learn more about Dolby Vision on Vimeo