House of Cards Will Be The First Netflix Show to Stream in 4K. What Is 4K?

Netflix C.E.O. Reed Hastings dropped in on LG’s CES keynote Monday morning to announce that House of Cards will be the first Netflix program to stream in 4K this year. What is 4K?

4K, or UltraHD, is the latest generation of TV screen technology, replacing 1080p. Before 4K, the highest resolution signal available for movies and such was 1080i/p, which amounts to 1,920 x 1,080 pixels on that gargantuan TV screen you stare at so often. 4K’s resolution is about 4,000 pixels wide and about 2,000 pixels high, good for about four times the resolution of 1080p.

This creates on-screen images that are crisper and clearer than the HD you are used to.

At 2013’s CES, 4K was merely an idea with little content to back it. Television manufacturers were producing screens that were ready to display 4K shows and movies before studios were putting out shows and movies that were 4k-ready.

Now, at least, Netflix is hopping onboard. This means we’ll get to watch Robin Wright’s terrifically toned shoulders move across our screens in an even higher resolution than before.

So imagine seeing everything in this trailer below at that resolution. We’re going to be able to count every evil pore on Frank Underwood’s nose.