It adopts the same image parameters defined in SMPTE ST 2036–1. In 2012, the International Telecommunication Union, Radiocommunication Sector published Recommendation ITU-R BT.2020, also known as the Ultra High Definition Television ( UHDTV) standard. UHDTV1 systems are permitted to use BT.709 color primaries up to 60 Hz. These are the same characteristics later standardized in ITU-R BT.2020.

Colorimetry characteristics as defined in the standard, including color primaries, quantization parameters, and the electro-optical transfer function.

Square (1∶1) pixels, for an overall image aspect ratio of 16∶9 : §5.1.

The standard defines the following characteristics for these systems:

In 2007, the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers published SMPTE ST 2036-1, which defines parameters for two UHDTV systems called UHDTV1 and UHDTV2. However, usage of these terms in the cinema industry predates the publication of the DCI standard, and they are generally understood as casual terms for any resolution approximately 2000 or 4000 pixels in width, rather than names for specific resolutions. Some articles claim that the terms '2K' and '4K' were coined by DCI and refer exclusively to the 2K and 4K formats defined in the DCI standard. 4096 × 1716 (CinemaScope crop, ≈2.39∶1 aspect ratio)ĢK distributions can have a frame rate of either 24 or 48 FPS, while 4K distributions must have a frame rate of 24 FPS.: §4.3.1 The resolution of the video content inside follows the SMPTE 428-1 standard, : §3.2.1 which establishes the following resolutions for a 4K distribution: : 6

This specification establishes standardized 2K and 4K container formats for digital cinema production, with resolutions of 2048 × 10 × 2160 respectively.

In 2005, Digital Cinema Initiatives (DCI), a prominent standards organization in the cinema industry, published the Digital Cinema System Specification. While typically referring to motion pictures, some digital camera vendors have used the term '4K photo' for still photographs, making it appear like an especially high resolution even though 3840×2160 pixels equal approximately 8.3 megapixels, which is not especially high for still photographs. The terms '4K' and 'Ultra HD' are used more widely in marketing than '2160p'. : 2 Several different 4K resolutions have been standardized by various organizations. The term '4K' is generic and refers to any resolution with a horizontal pixel count of approximately 4,000.

1.1 DCI Digital Cinema System Specification.

Samsung digital video camera