HD, 4K, What is the limit cinematic format that a human being can process?
June, 02; 2024. By Arscodex
There is a constant search for audio and video formats, and of course also a combination of them, that a human being can typically process with best quality. Ideally, the maximum resolution of both image and sound has always been sought and it seems, according to the information provided on the Internet in this regard, that we are reaching that maximum.
Let's start, as it should be, with the sound. Traditionally there has been a standard that was considered the highest definition that the human ear can distinguish, which is located at 44100 Hz. This is the quality provided by CD sound, which is also often called "high fidelity." Beyond this, the human ear cannot process the nuances that a recording includes. That is, 48000 Hz, a very popular audio recording format, offers "a little more" than the human ear can process, therefore it has been used as a standard recording format to be able to give "everything and a little more" to our ears. Beyond this quality, we will be wasting disk space since we will not be able to appreciate the extra nuances of the recording.
Typically and for convenience, the commercial audio publishing format is even lower quality, this is sound encoded as .mp3, which offers CD quality but with certain higher and lower frequencies removed, which reduces the quality a little but improves the transportability of the files, and for suitability this standard is used.
And now we move on to the video. Here in the video there are two important variables: first the resolution and then the frame rate per second. Regarding resolution, according to the information currently available, a film shown in HD, and viewed at a typical distance and given a typical screen size, offers more detail than our human eye can distinguish. Therefore, it is very possible that due to suitability, the HD format will remain in the long term as the standard for projections of all types, both on large screens that are similar to movie theaters and home televisions. 2K, 4K, could be redundant for typical viewing as we say (a certain size of screen seen from a certain distance). Now, it is possible that the 4K format is suitable, for example, if you want to cover the façade of a large building such as a New York skyscraper, as is sometimes already being done. But for standard cinema projections, whether cinema screens or small home screens such as televisions and tablets, HD again offers more than the human eye can distinguish.
Regarding the rate of frames per second, it was also established some time ago, according to different studies of that time (I am referring to the years before the appearance of digital cinema), that 30 frames per second (that is, what the American television NTSC system offers), is the most that the human eye can distinguish. From here on, the information is redundant and/or lost (for example 48fps, also called "High frame rate"). The cinematic standard is 24 frames per second, or 23,976 for purists, which offers "almost all" the movement the human eye can process. And this standard has been fixed for approximately 50 years now.
Therefore, all those who want to establish a limit - human, as is what interests us, we suppose - to film projection, it can be said that the HD format (1920x1080) at 24fps and with an audio quality of 44100 Hz is the maximum that our combination of sensors (eyes and ears) together with our processing capacity (our brain) can enjoy.
So in principle we should not beat ourselves up too much with this issue since the maximum has already been reached and we are comfortable with this HD-24fps-44100Hz standard.
Let's start, as it should be, with the sound. Traditionally there has been a standard that was considered the highest definition that the human ear can distinguish, which is located at 44100 Hz. This is the quality provided by CD sound, which is also often called "high fidelity." Beyond this, the human ear cannot process the nuances that a recording includes. That is, 48000 Hz, a very popular audio recording format, offers "a little more" than the human ear can process, therefore it has been used as a standard recording format to be able to give "everything and a little more" to our ears. Beyond this quality, we will be wasting disk space since we will not be able to appreciate the extra nuances of the recording.
Typically and for convenience, the commercial audio publishing format is even lower quality, this is sound encoded as .mp3, which offers CD quality but with certain higher and lower frequencies removed, which reduces the quality a little but improves the transportability of the files, and for suitability this standard is used.
And now we move on to the video. Here in the video there are two important variables: first the resolution and then the frame rate per second. Regarding resolution, according to the information currently available, a film shown in HD, and viewed at a typical distance and given a typical screen size, offers more detail than our human eye can distinguish. Therefore, it is very possible that due to suitability, the HD format will remain in the long term as the standard for projections of all types, both on large screens that are similar to movie theaters and home televisions. 2K, 4K, could be redundant for typical viewing as we say (a certain size of screen seen from a certain distance). Now, it is possible that the 4K format is suitable, for example, if you want to cover the façade of a large building such as a New York skyscraper, as is sometimes already being done. But for standard cinema projections, whether cinema screens or small home screens such as televisions and tablets, HD again offers more than the human eye can distinguish.
Regarding the rate of frames per second, it was also established some time ago, according to different studies of that time (I am referring to the years before the appearance of digital cinema), that 30 frames per second (that is, what the American television NTSC system offers), is the most that the human eye can distinguish. From here on, the information is redundant and/or lost (for example 48fps, also called "High frame rate"). The cinematic standard is 24 frames per second, or 23,976 for purists, which offers "almost all" the movement the human eye can process. And this standard has been fixed for approximately 50 years now.
Therefore, all those who want to establish a limit - human, as is what interests us, we suppose - to film projection, it can be said that the HD format (1920x1080) at 24fps and with an audio quality of 44100 Hz is the maximum that our combination of sensors (eyes and ears) together with our processing capacity (our brain) can enjoy.
So in principle we should not beat ourselves up too much with this issue since the maximum has already been reached and we are comfortable with this HD-24fps-44100Hz standard.