4k, 1080p, 1440p? What does that all mean?

Wedding video delivery formats are quite numerous. Often times they are expressed in obtuse terms like true 4k, 4K UHD and 1080p. As wedding videographers, such terminology is thoroughfare for us. What does it all mean though?

Well, expressed simply, these funny numbers denote video resolution. Specifically, they represent the number of horizontal lines a video has from top to bottom. Perhaps one way to imagine this is to think of a tower 1080 blocks high, and 1920 blocks across.

Of course, this means the higher the resolution, the higher the number of pixels. The higher the number of pixels, the higher the file size. For this reason, we shoot in 4k (that means a whopping 3840 x 2160 pixels) but downscale it to full HD (1920 x 1080). There are many more reasons for shooting at 1080p as well: (1) many monitor screens still don’t go higher than 1080p, (2) a 4k downscale makes a 1080p video sharper, (3) the file size is more manageable, (4) we can rush out the same-day edit for your wedding lunch or dinner on time!.

Playing back 4k videos also take much more processing power than 1080p videos. By delivering in 1080p, you can safely share it with your friends without the risk of them not being able to view your video properly!

We might end with a fun fact: that these pixel values — 1920 x 1080p, 3840 x 2160, and so forth — scale accordingly to a 16:9 aspect ratio, which will be the aspect ratio what your wedding video will be delivered in!