4K video format has become a mainstream, and more and more 4K projectors are hitting the market. But don’t think that any 4K projector you buy can display 4K videos, because you probably bought a Faux-K projector and not in the know.
OK, let’s be clear first, in 4K projector world, there are Faux-4K/Faux-K projectors and True 4K/Native 4K projectors.
Let’s figure out what is True 4K, and what is Faux-K?
To explain the difference between Ture 4K and Faux-K, we have to learn about chip and resolution first. As we all know, the larger the size of chip is, the higher the resolution will be. And the higher is the resolution, the crisper the image will be.
Secondly, how do we define 4K? When resolution is up to 3840*2160 or 4096*2160, the total pixels amount to 8,30 million, we call it 4K. (More about 4K: 1080P vs 1440P vs 2K: All You Need to Know about Resolution – Projector1)
4K signal format allows for extremely sharp image and best fidelity for color. The data volume of every single frame gets to 50MB. Hence, no matter to decode 4K video or display 4K video, Top-level hardware configurations are required. And high specs mean high costs.
Most smart DLP projectors on market are equipped with DMD chip produced by Texas Instruments. To decrease the cost of 4K projector, Texas Instruments published XPR technology, also known as pixel shifting technology.
How does XPR technology work?
0.47 DMD chip and 0.66 DMD chip are commonly adopted in DLP projectors. 0.47 DMD chip and 0.66 DMD chip are not able to display true 4K resolution. However, XPR technology allows the pixel shifting at a high enough speed to make one pixel presented as two or four pixels, enable 0.47 and 0.66 chip to display 4K video.
0.66 DMD chip has true resolution of 2716*1528, contains around 4.15 million pixels. XPR technology makes the pixel shift diagonally to double the pixel amount, gets it to 8.3 million.
0.47 DMD chip has true resolution of 1920* 1080, contains around 2.07 million pixels. XPR technology makes the pixel shift vertically and horizontally to quadruple the pixel amount, gets it to 8.3 million, and the resolution is doubled to 3840*2160 as well.
True 4K vs. Faux-K projectors
According to CTA (Consumer Technology Association), projectors with image output of 8.3 million pixels can be classified as 4K projector. So nominally, projectors adopt XPR technology are able to be called 4K projectors. But technically, we know they are not native 4K, so people tend to call them Faux-K.
Conclusion: The major difference between True 4K and Faux-K is whether the XPR technology is adopted. True 4K projectors have native physical resolution of 4K (3840*2160 or 4096*2160, 8.3 million pixels), and Faux-K projectors can deliver image output of 8.3 million pixels by means of shifting pixels, but its native resolution is above 4K (3840*2160 or 4096*2160).
