Resolution tier, and the pixels behind it
A resolution tier is a label: 480P, 540P, 720P. The pixel count behind it varies by vendor and by aspect ratio, so the label becomes a value only when the dimensions are published beside it. As of 2026-09-22.
| Question | Settled by the label |
|---|---|
| How many pixels | No |
| Portrait or landscape | No |
| Which vendor's convention | No |
| Roughly which band of quality | Yes |
Inclusion rule. Questions a tier label might be expected to answer. The single question it does answer is kept, because it is why the labels persist. Order. From the questions it leaves open to the one it settles.
1Writing the mapping out once is enough
One repository in this register gives 544 x 960 for 540P and 720 x 1280 for 720P. Every later reference to the tier on those pages inherits that precision, including two memory figures.
That is the cheapest documentation improvement available in this column: one line, and the rest of the release becomes checkable.
2Tiers hide the aspect ratio
540P says nothing about whether the frame is portrait or landscape, and for vertical output that is the first thing a production needs. The written-out dimensions say it immediately.
Several releases in this register publish portrait frames, and only the ones that write the numbers out make that legible without watching a sample clip.
3Where the mapping is published here
One family writes out the pixel dimensions behind two tier names, which makes every later mention of those tiers on its pages precise, including two memory figures measured at one of them.
Elsewhere the column holds written-out dimensions, tier names, or configurations borrowed from a memory table. The three forms are not interchangeable, and the register keeps whichever one the vendor used.
A reading note, not an entry: no vendor value appears on this page. Where the register records this term for a particular release, it is on the resolution column and on that family's own page. Nearby terms: Aspect ratio, Pixel count.