As the evolution of professional displays accelerates, it’s a challenge to stay on top of the industry’s next big innovation. Today, 4K Ultra High Definition (4K Ultra HD) is the optimal resolution for digital signage. Here is everything you need to know about it:

• What exactly is 4K Ultra HD resolution and how does it compare to Full HD? Before 4K Ultra HD, the highest resolution was 1080p (a.k.a. Full HD), which displays an image that is 1080 pixels high by 1920 pixels wide. With 4K Ultra HD, the amount of rows and columns in the pixel grid are doubled. The result is about 8 million pixels, roughly quadrupling the total amount of pixels of Full HD. There is a much clearer, impressive image with 4K Ultra HD due to the greatly increased amount of pixels.
• What is the difference between 4K Ultra HD and 4K that is used in digital cinema? The 4K resolution used in movie theaters uses a 4096 x 2160 pixel configuration. The 4K Ultra HD format found in professional displays has a slightly smaller pixel grid of 3840 x 2160, due to its 16:9 ratio.
• What if the content I’m showing on my new 4K Ultra HD monitor was originally recorded in Full HD? A process called “upscaling” increases the pixel count of a full HD image, allowing an image meant for a screen with fewer pixels to fit a screen with many more.

Does Sharp have a 4K Ultra HD professional display with upscaling capabilities? 

The Sharp 70″ Class (69.5″ diagonal) PN-H701 4K Ultra HD professional LED display is equipped with an advanced upscaling engine that can transform standard full HD source content into 4K images in real-time. When full HD content is expanded to 4K on this monitor, an offset function works to minimize blurriness and jaggies, making images much smoother than with standard upscaling.

Why choose the Sharp PN-H701 professional display for 4K Ultra HD signage? 

The bigger the professional display, the better the 4K Ultra HD content appears. Sharp is the only manufacturer in the industry to have a 70″ Class professional grade 4K Ultra HD monitor. Its thin bezel and lightweight design using edge-lit LED backlighting is stylish and enables attractive portrait or landscape wall mounting. In addition, no PC is required for playback of 4K Ultra HD photos, full HD videos and music. All content can be stored through its USB media player.

I prefer an interactive screen. Is there an integrated touch solution available for the Sharp PN-H701 display? 

As a matter of fact, there is! Available through TouchSystems Corporation, a Sharp Strategic Technology Alliance Resource (STAR) program member, has created such a solution for this display model: the PN-H701-TS solution with 12 point infrared Touch Technology. Now you can have the 4K Ultra HD resolution of the PN-H701, plus the interactivity features of a Sharp AQUOS BOARDTM interactive display system in one professional display!

Other Sharp models that TouchSystems supports are the PN-R903, PN-U423, PN-U473, PN-U553 and PN-Y325 professional displays. These integrated touch solutions are available and can be shipped from the following Sharp Authorized Distributors: Almo, Ingram Micro and Synnex.