4K Chat

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    High-end 1:1 vs Zoom: presence, re-encode, and when seats matter

    “I 4kChat because I have a business that needs to be shown — not reduced to a postage-stamp tile.”

    This is not the full feature table — that lives on the vs Zoom page. This is the narrow question that matters for this niche: for a two-person call where the product, the finish, and the face need to survive, which architecture serves you better?

    Peer-to-peer vs the re-encode

    4K Chat is direct peer-to-peer: your camera's picture goes to the other side without a media server in the middle decoding and re-encoding it. Server-routed meeting tools pass every stream through their infrastructure, where it is processed for the lowest common denominator of the meeting. For a large meeting that trade-off is correct. For a 1:1 where you are showing a machined finish or a fabric weave, every re-encode is detail you do not get back.

    Tiles vs life-size

    Meeting tools are designed around grids of tiles — twenty faces, each the size of a postage stamp. That is the right design for a standup and the wrong design for a pitch. The high-end 1:1 workflow is the opposite: one person, full frame, cast or mirrored to a big screen on the receiving side so you are present at something like life size. "You're in the room" is a layout decision as much as a slogan.

    Seats and the honest limits

    4K Chat seats are Free up to 4, Pro up to 12, Cinema up to 32 — a 1:1 with an observer or a second camera angle fits comfortably in any tier. Free has no TURN relay, so strict hard-NAT networks may not connect; resolution follows hardware and network and is never guaranteed; native apps are in development and the browser is the path today. Those are real constraints and we would rather state them than hide them.

    Where Zoom wins

    Large meetings, dial-in phone numbers (PSTN), compliance programs like a BAA, deep calendar and enterprise-admin integrations — Zoom is built for all of that and it shows. If your call is a forty-person all-hands or needs a phone bridge, use the tool built for it. 4K Chat's claim is narrower: when the call is two people and the detail is the point, direct peer-to-peer with no media server shows more of what you are selling.

    Try it, don't take our word for it

    The fairest test is a two-minute call: Start a Call, put it on the biggest screen you have, and hold something up to the camera. Measure the received detail, not the marketing. The full feature-by-feature table is on vs Zoom, and the theory is in the white paper.

    Keep reading

    The facts, in one place

    Who it's for
    Founders pitching, reviewers and critics, interviewers — high-end 1:1 calls where detail matters.
    What you need
    A modern browser, a camera, and a solid uplink. For a big screen, cast or mirror from your phone or PC.
    Seats
    Free up to 4 · Pro up to 12 · Cinema up to 32.
    Resolution
    Follows your hardware and network. 4K/8K is not guaranteed on every call.
    Connectivity
    Direct peer-to-peer. Free has no TURN relay, so some strict networks (hard NAT) may not connect.
    Smart TV
    Cast or mirror only. There is no Smart TV store app.
    Apps
    Native apps are in development. The browser is the path today.
    Not for
    Emergency use. See Terms.

    You're in the room.

    Video for humans. See it all.