Is 4K DCI the same as consumer 4K UHD?

No. 4K DCI Scope is 4096×1716 (2.39:1), while 4K UHD is 3840×2160 (16:9). DCI is a professional cinema standard, while UHD is a consumer format. Films mastered at 4K DCI are typically encoded to 4K UHD for home delivery.

Can consumer devices display 4K DCI content?

Consumer devices display 4K UHD (3840×2160). 4K DCI content must be letterboxed or cropped to fit 16:9 displays, or encoded to 4K UHD with letterboxing for streaming.

4K DCI Placeholder Video (4096×1716)

Generate 4096×1716 placeholder videos instantly via URL.2.39:1 aspect ratio, 10-second duration, MP4 H.264.

About 4K DCI Resolution

4096×1716 represents 4K DCI Scope format, the highest-quality theatrical standard for 2.39:1 anamorphic content. This resolution is used in premium digital cinema presentations and represents the native capture resolution of many high-end cinema cameras. Major studio releases are increasingly mastered at 4K DCI, providing maximum detail for large-screen projection. Streaming services that offer "4K" content often source from 4K DCI masters, though consumer delivery uses 3840×2160 UHD.

Video Preview

Direct URL

Copy this URL to use your 4K DCI placeholder video:

https://placeholdervideo.dev/4096x1716

Technical Specifications

Resolution: 4096 × 1716 pixels
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1
Category: cinema
Duration: 10 seconds
Format: MP4 (H.264, AAC-LC silent audio)
Frame Rate: 30 fps
Approx. MP4 Size: 346 KB-623 KB
Generation Time: about 4-12 seconds uncached; repeat requests should hit cache
Video Codec: H.264 / AVC, Baseline profile, yuv420p
Audio Codec: AAC-LC silent stereo, 48 kHz

Copy-Paste Use Cases

Use this 4096×1716 sample MP4 URL as a stable fixture in browser, end-to-end, and media pipeline tests. For broader examples, see the sample MP4 URL guide.

HTML Video

<video
  controls
  preload="metadata"
  width="4096"
  height="1716"
  poster="https://placeholdervideo.dev/poster/4096x1716"
>
  <source src="https://placeholdervideo.dev/4096x1716" type="video/mp4" />
</video>

Playwright / Cypress

// Playwright: assert the browser sees real video metadata.
const metadata = await page.locator('video').evaluate((node) => {
  const video = node as HTMLVideoElement
  video.src = 'https://placeholdervideo.dev/4096x1716'
  video.load()
  return new Promise<{ width: number; height: number; duration: number }>((resolve) => {
    video.addEventListener('loadedmetadata', () => {
      resolve({
        width: video.videoWidth,
        height: video.videoHeight,
        duration: Math.round(video.duration)
      })
    }, { once: true })
  })
})

expect(metadata).toEqual({ width: 4096, height: 1716, duration: 10 })

// Cypress: attach the same fixture URL in an existing player test.
cy.get('video')
  .invoke('attr', 'src', 'https://placeholdervideo.dev/4096x1716')
  .then(() => cy.get('video')[0].load())

curl / ffprobe

curl -L -o placeholder-4096x1716.mp4 https://placeholdervideo.dev/4096x1716

ffprobe -v error \
  -select_streams v:0 \
  -show_entries stream=codec_name,width,height,pix_fmt \
  -show_entries format=duration \
  -of json placeholder-4096x1716.mp4

Response Data

Content-Type	video/mp4
Cache-Control	public, max-age=86400, immutable
Accept-Ranges	bytes
Access-Control-Allow-Origin	*
X-RateLimit-Limit	60 standard / 10 heavy per minute

Browser compatibility: Chrome, Edge, Safari, Firefox, iOS Safari, Android Chrome, HTML5 video players such as video.js and Plyr.

When to Use 4096×1716

Use 4096×1716 placeholders when testing high-end cinema workflows, premium streaming tiers that deliver from 4K DCI masters, or video processing systems that handle theatrical content. The resolution reveals performance characteristics that won't appear at consumer 4K UHD, particularly in memory bandwidth and decode complexity.

Integration Examples

HTML

<video src="https://placeholdervideo.dev/4096x1716" width="800" height="335" controls></video>

JavaScript Fetch

fetch('https://placeholdervideo.dev/4096x1716')
  .then(res => res.blob())
  .then(blob => {
    const url = URL.createObjectURL(blob)
    document.querySelector('video').src = url
  })

cURL

curl -O https://placeholdervideo.dev/4096x1716

Technical Considerations

4K DCI Scope contains 7.03M pixels—slightly more than consumer 4K UHD (8.29M) due to the wider aspect ratio. Bitrates range from 15-30 Mbps for theatrical quality, with files around 20-40 MB for 10 seconds. Hardware decode support requires modern GPUs (2018+) or dedicated cinema processing hardware. The resolution benefits significantly from HEVC/AV1 encoding.

Common Questions

Is 4K DCI the same as consumer 4K UHD?: No. 4K DCI Scope is 4096×1716 (2.39:1), while 4K UHD is 3840×2160 (16:9). DCI is a professional cinema standard, while UHD is a consumer format. Films mastered at 4K DCI are typically encoded to 4K UHD for home delivery.
Can consumer devices display 4K DCI content?: Consumer devices display 4K UHD (3840×2160). 4K DCI content must be letterboxed or cropped to fit 16:9 displays, or encoded to 4K UHD with letterboxing for streaming.

Related Guides

Learn more about generating videos programmatically in the API documentation.