The 4K Difference

THE WORLD’S FIRST 4K STREAMING YOGA EXPERIENCE

Here at The Source Yoga + Wellness, we are proud to give you the highest quality yoga experience not only physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually – but also technically.

We have spent the better part of a year navigating our way through quality options until we made the decision to spare no expense in the pursuit of providing an unrivaled streaming experience.

That is why we are extremely proud to say that we are the world’s first 4K yoga experience.

What is the 4k difference?

Simply put, 4k means a better quality picture. 4k refers to the amount of pixels (8,294,400 to be precise) on the screen at once. This is four times as many pixels as a video streaming in 1080p and eight times as many as a video streaming in 720p. The more pixels in the image, the better it will look on your screen.

What does this mean?

Stay with me, because this is where it gets good.

4K is 3840 x 2160 pixels. This means it holds the information for 3840 wide and 2160 pixels long. If we multiply the two to find the total pixels in the frame – there are 8,294,400 pixels.

Let’s find the same numbers for the other two – and more commonly found resolutions in streaming yoga.

1080p is 1920 x 1080 pixels. If you multiply the width and length pixels we find there are 2,073,600 total pixels in the screen.

720p is 1280 x 720 pixels. If we multiply the two dimensions to find the total pixels in the image – we find there are 921,600 pixels.

Why does this matter?

First we must consider the type of screen you will be using to stream the videos. If the resolution of the screen is larger than the resolution of the video then the only option to make the video clear would be to not use the entire screen dimension (i.e. to shrink your browser screen view). In our research, we found that users, especially when withdrawing into a yoga practice) want no other distractions and want the video to take up the entire screen – be the only thing they can see. However, if you were to stream a 720p video on a 4k resolution screen in full screen mode – the video would look quite blurry due to the fact that a 720p video does not send enough information to clearly fill every pixel on a 4k screen.

Here are some common screens used to view yoga videos:

* Only 4K resolution has the quality to properly fill this screen

Why is 4K not the industry standard?

To be honest, I am not sure. My only speculation is the cost. To film, produce and stream in 4k is far more expensive than 1080p or 720p – in fact just about the same scale factors for resolution hold up in terms of production costs. Or, perhaps the market has not yet demanded better quality so there is no strategical need to produce in 4k. 

Either way, I remember my eyes were watery. I had been looking at a screen for far too long researching every possible way to bring the best quality to our platform when I looked at Jenn – her mind somewhere else as well. We had just been advised to start – to not care about the quality and just put stuff out there (a perfect depiction of our far too noisy world we are not accustomed to). I looked into her eyes and I said, “we are going to do this right.” The light that filled her eyes was all I needed to know we were making the right decision.

This was two years before we were able to develop the technology to make our dream a reality.

So why does The Source Online use 4K?

Because you are worth it.

Namaste,