What is 16:9 in pixels at 4K?

3840 × 2160 px

A 16:9 frame delivered at 4K is 3840 × 2160 pixels, 1.78 times as wide as it is tall. HD and UHD broadcast, YouTube, nearly every camera.

How that is worked out

width = height × (ratio width ÷ ratio height)

2160 × 1.7778 = 3840

Worth knowing

  • Both numbers are even and the shape is exactly 16:9, so nothing is given up to satisfy the 4:2:0 requirement that dimensions divide by two.
  • That is 8.29 MP per frame — the same pixel count as a full 4K 3840 × 2160 frame, just arranged in a different shape.
  • Dropped into a 3840 × 2160 timeline it fills the frame edge to edge, with no bars to crop out later.
  • Where you see it: HD and UHD broadcast, YouTube, nearly every camera.

16:9 at every delivery size

DeliveryPixelsPer frame
480p 854 × 4800.41 MP
720p 1280 × 7200.92 MP
1080p 1920 × 10802.07 MP
1440p 2560 × 14403.69 MP
4K — this page3840 × 21608.29 MP

Every value is rounded to an even number of pixels: H.264 and H.265 subsample colour in 2 × 2 blocks and reject odd dimensions.

Ratios either side of 16:9 at 4K

RatioPixelsDecimalBars inside 3840 × 2160
5:4 2700 × 21601.25:1570 px left and right
4:3 2880 × 21601.33:1480 px left and right
3:2 3240 × 21601.50:1300 px left and right
16:9 — this page3840 × 21601.78:1none — exact fit
1.85:1 3840 × 20761.85:142 px top and bottom
1.9:1 3840 × 20221.90:169 px top and bottom
2:1 3840 × 19202.00:1120 px top and bottom

Need it for other values?

Scale width and height to 16:9, 9:16, 4:5, 2.39:1 or a custom ratio, with pixel dimensions at 1080p and 4K.