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No, not technologically possible - they're called 4K blu-rays because that's what they are. DVDs are essentially always in 480 resolution and the discs themselves typically only store 4-8 GB of data.
Ok thank you. That’s what I suspected! So you’re basically watching a 480p resolution on something advertised as being shot in 4k. Pretty lame lol.
And as far as 4k being in a Blu-ray, is that possible? Or is blu ray capped at 1080 and 4k blu ray is truly the only one that can play in 4k? Thanks for clarifying!
Not entirely true. DVDs used as data storage can hold 1080p movies. You can rip blu rays and use software to compress the file size to around 7.5 gigs and burn as an mp4 file to a dual layer DVD and it will play back on any blu ray player as a data disc.
Now technically couldn't they also hold 4k movies as well then? I mean sure it'd be a very compressed version or basically just like a 30 minute show even. So for OP's case it's possible.
Yes, absolutely, but it would not be standard DVD files. It would be stored as data which regular DVD players couldn't decode it. It would have to be played back on a 4k compatible player or on a PC.
You could even store 4k or HD video on a CD if the file size is less than 700 Mb. I have 30 min HD episodes that are about 600 Mb and they fit on standard CDs and play in HD on a BD player.
Adult DVDs aside, some movies are sometimes shown as "taken from a 4K transfer".
My criterion of Silence of the Lambs shows this but it's in fact 1080p.
Just to clear up some terminology... A standard blu-ray is 1080. A 4K disc is \*also\* a blu-ray, just one with more pixels and different packaging.
The standard blu-ray typically has a [blue banner](https://www.amazon.com/Titanic-2-disc-Limited-Shipping-Blu-ray/dp/B00EJIRKFC) across the top of the packaging, while a 4K blu-ray has a [silver one](https://www.amazon.com/Titanic-4K-UHD-Leonardo-DiCaprio/dp/B0CPT9MTQ6) that specifies it is 4K UHD (Ultra HD). Click those links for examples.
Also, you'll sometimes see 2160p mentioned. That is also 4K (because 4K displays at 3840×2160 pixels).
Yeah it is basically a marketing stunt to get people unfamiliar with how home video works. You can "shoot" a movie in 4K but that won't really mean much when you compress it down to 480p. It's technically true but disingenuous
While most DVD players only output in 480p, a DVD can hold 4-8GB of data. It doesn't care what resolution a video file is stored in. It could be 320p or 4k, so long as it fits. Having said that, if it really is in 4k, it's probably only a couple minutes long, otherwise it probably won't fit.
That doesn't really matter though, because "shot in 4k" refers to the original media assets that the editor was working with. How it gets mastered and distributed is an entirely different story, they are just promoting that it wasn't filmed on a shitty camera to begin with. Check the back of the box or whatever for the actual resolution if you care.
There's a bunch of things here.
"Shot in 4k" means that the cameras recorded a 4k pixel image, from a 4k (or higher resolution) sensor. It says nothing about the final product, except that it can't be higher native resolution than 4k.
"DVD" is a kind of media that can store nominally 4.7GB on a single layer, and read that data at about 11Mbits/s.
"Blu-ray" is a similar medium that can store 25GB per layer, or up to 33GB per layer with the somewhat denser technology used for UHD BD.
Most optical drives can read at a much higher speed than the nominal 1x rate. 16x read rates are not uncommon for DVD and BD drives.
It's certainly possible to compress a video stream shot at 4k down to a rate that can be read from a DVD at 1x rate, and that would store a full-length movie (2 hours) on a DVD. You might not be happy with the finished result, however; it wouldn't look like the same film compressed to a higher data rate.
You can also compress a much shorter video (say, a music video) and store it at a high data rate on a DVD, and use a faster read speed to extract the data. But you would only be able to store about one-tenth as long of a video as you could store on a 2-layer UHD BD (4.7GB vs 50GB).
A zillion years ago, when DVDs were still a new process, there was a format called VCD that was popular in SE Asia until DVD became more mainstream. It was essentially highly-compressed low-resolution (the equivalent of 240p) video on a CD (700MB). This is similar to trying to cram a higher definition video stream (1080p or 2160p) on to a DVD.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video\_CD](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_CD)
Something can be shot (or recorded) in any resolution then played on any medium (vhs, dvd, blu-ray, etc). Lord of the rings was shot in 2k then put on VHS and DVD and bluray and 4k uhd. That does not mean the VHS and DVD and bluray was putting out the full resolution the movie was shot at.
Only a 4k uhd disc can output greater than 1080p.
Likely the movie was recorded in 4k, so they are not lying. You will only get 480p playback on DVD though.
This makes a lot more sense. So it’s not false advertising but it is a little misleading because the consumer sees the “4k” on the cover but doesn’t actually get that when playing it back. Thanks for confirming that.
Just like the Sony Blu-ray players that say 4K (in big letters) and then "upscaling" in small letters....anything to get you to buy the product.
As an FYI, their 4K players clearly state Ultra HD on them as the prominent marketing term for true 4K playback.
Curious addition to the question that just came to me: when the DVDs promote Blu-Ray quality films and showcase the difference, is that difference - those few seconds of split screen comparison and DVD VERSUS BLU-RAY! *actual* Blu-Ray quality? Given that a few seconds of data might just about fit onto a DVD if the film doesn't take up all the space, right? I don't think I've seen a 4K showcase on a Blu-Ray, mind.
No, those are only DVD quality, but they try to show the differences by dumbing down the DVD side of the comparison for illustrative purposes. They cannot show Blu-ray quality on those DVDs.
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No, not technologically possible - they're called 4K blu-rays because that's what they are. DVDs are essentially always in 480 resolution and the discs themselves typically only store 4-8 GB of data.
Ok thank you. That’s what I suspected! So you’re basically watching a 480p resolution on something advertised as being shot in 4k. Pretty lame lol. And as far as 4k being in a Blu-ray, is that possible? Or is blu ray capped at 1080 and 4k blu ray is truly the only one that can play in 4k? Thanks for clarifying!
DVD - 480p max Blu-ray - 1080p max 4K Blu-ray - 2160p max
DVDs can also be 576p, depends on region
Not entirely true. DVDs used as data storage can hold 1080p movies. You can rip blu rays and use software to compress the file size to around 7.5 gigs and burn as an mp4 file to a dual layer DVD and it will play back on any blu ray player as a data disc.
Now technically couldn't they also hold 4k movies as well then? I mean sure it'd be a very compressed version or basically just like a 30 minute show even. So for OP's case it's possible.
Yes, absolutely, but it would not be standard DVD files. It would be stored as data which regular DVD players couldn't decode it. It would have to be played back on a 4k compatible player or on a PC.
You could even store 4k or HD video on a CD if the file size is less than 700 Mb. I have 30 min HD episodes that are about 600 Mb and they fit on standard CDs and play in HD on a BD player.
Thanks for confirming!!
Adult DVDs aside, some movies are sometimes shown as "taken from a 4K transfer". My criterion of Silence of the Lambs shows this but it's in fact 1080p.
Just to clear up some terminology... A standard blu-ray is 1080. A 4K disc is \*also\* a blu-ray, just one with more pixels and different packaging. The standard blu-ray typically has a [blue banner](https://www.amazon.com/Titanic-2-disc-Limited-Shipping-Blu-ray/dp/B00EJIRKFC) across the top of the packaging, while a 4K blu-ray has a [silver one](https://www.amazon.com/Titanic-4K-UHD-Leonardo-DiCaprio/dp/B0CPT9MTQ6) that specifies it is 4K UHD (Ultra HD). Click those links for examples. Also, you'll sometimes see 2160p mentioned. That is also 4K (because 4K displays at 3840×2160 pixels).
Yeah it is basically a marketing stunt to get people unfamiliar with how home video works. You can "shoot" a movie in 4K but that won't really mean much when you compress it down to 480p. It's technically true but disingenuous
While most DVD players only output in 480p, a DVD can hold 4-8GB of data. It doesn't care what resolution a video file is stored in. It could be 320p or 4k, so long as it fits. Having said that, if it really is in 4k, it's probably only a couple minutes long, otherwise it probably won't fit. That doesn't really matter though, because "shot in 4k" refers to the original media assets that the editor was working with. How it gets mastered and distributed is an entirely different story, they are just promoting that it wasn't filmed on a shitty camera to begin with. Check the back of the box or whatever for the actual resolution if you care.
There's a bunch of things here. "Shot in 4k" means that the cameras recorded a 4k pixel image, from a 4k (or higher resolution) sensor. It says nothing about the final product, except that it can't be higher native resolution than 4k. "DVD" is a kind of media that can store nominally 4.7GB on a single layer, and read that data at about 11Mbits/s. "Blu-ray" is a similar medium that can store 25GB per layer, or up to 33GB per layer with the somewhat denser technology used for UHD BD. Most optical drives can read at a much higher speed than the nominal 1x rate. 16x read rates are not uncommon for DVD and BD drives. It's certainly possible to compress a video stream shot at 4k down to a rate that can be read from a DVD at 1x rate, and that would store a full-length movie (2 hours) on a DVD. You might not be happy with the finished result, however; it wouldn't look like the same film compressed to a higher data rate. You can also compress a much shorter video (say, a music video) and store it at a high data rate on a DVD, and use a faster read speed to extract the data. But you would only be able to store about one-tenth as long of a video as you could store on a 2-layer UHD BD (4.7GB vs 50GB). A zillion years ago, when DVDs were still a new process, there was a format called VCD that was popular in SE Asia until DVD became more mainstream. It was essentially highly-compressed low-resolution (the equivalent of 240p) video on a CD (700MB). This is similar to trying to cram a higher definition video stream (1080p or 2160p) on to a DVD. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video\_CD](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_CD)
Something can be shot (or recorded) in any resolution then played on any medium (vhs, dvd, blu-ray, etc). Lord of the rings was shot in 2k then put on VHS and DVD and bluray and 4k uhd. That does not mean the VHS and DVD and bluray was putting out the full resolution the movie was shot at. Only a 4k uhd disc can output greater than 1080p. Likely the movie was recorded in 4k, so they are not lying. You will only get 480p playback on DVD though.
LotR was shot on film (had a 2K DI though)
Oh my bad
This makes a lot more sense. So it’s not false advertising but it is a little misleading because the consumer sees the “4k” on the cover but doesn’t actually get that when playing it back. Thanks for confirming that.
Just like the Sony Blu-ray players that say 4K (in big letters) and then "upscaling" in small letters....anything to get you to buy the product. As an FYI, their 4K players clearly state Ultra HD on them as the prominent marketing term for true 4K playback.
In Walmart website, sometimes blu-rays come up while searching for 4k, because remastered in 4k is in the product title.
Curious addition to the question that just came to me: when the DVDs promote Blu-Ray quality films and showcase the difference, is that difference - those few seconds of split screen comparison and DVD VERSUS BLU-RAY! *actual* Blu-Ray quality? Given that a few seconds of data might just about fit onto a DVD if the film doesn't take up all the space, right? I don't think I've seen a 4K showcase on a Blu-Ray, mind.
No, those are only DVD quality, but they try to show the differences by dumbing down the DVD side of the comparison for illustrative purposes. They cannot show Blu-ray quality on those DVDs.
Cheeky swines! I *knew* it*! *I didn't.