SDO Resolution Comparison Resource Page
Ultra High Definition, or 4k, TV has four times as many pixels as a high definition 1080 TV. NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO). Its Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) and Helioseismic Magnetic Imager (HMI) instruments together capture an image almost once a second that is twice again as large as what the ultra high-def screens can display. Such detailed pictures show features on the sun that are as small as 200 miles across, helping researchers observe such things as what causes giant eruptions on the sun known as coronal mass ejections (CME) that can travel toward Earth and interfere with our satellites.

Ultra high-definition TVs — sold for the first time in late 2012 and early 2013 —have four times the pixels of a current high-definition TV, but still have fewer pixels than the images from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO). This image from SDO was captured on Nov.13, 2012, and shows star-shaped solar flare in the lower left-hand corner.
Credit: NASA/GSFC/SDO
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NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/SDO
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- Karen Fox (ADNET Systems, Inc.)
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- Scott Wiessinger (KBR Wyle Services, LLC)