4,096
4,096 is 2¹², the modern disk sector size and a common cryptographic key length.
Where 4,096 fits
Why 4,096 is special
4,096 replaced 512 as the unit storage is organised in: Advanced Format drives use 4,096-byte sectors because larger blocks carry proportionally less error-correction overhead. The same number recurs in cryptography, where 4,096-bit RSA keys are the conservative choice, and in memory, where 4 KiB is the standard page size on most processors.
Same number, different meanings
How 4,096 is understood across different contexts — never implying one meaning because of another.
- Mathematics
4,096 replaced 512 as the unit storage is organised in: Advanced Format drives use 4,096-byte sectors because larger blocks carry proportionally less error-correction overhead. The same number recurs in cryptography, where 4,096-bit RSA keys are the conservative choice, and in memory, where 4 KiB is the standard page size on most processors.
- Technology & computing
512-byte sectors spent a fixed overhead on error correction and synchronisation for every block. At 4,096 bytes that overhead is amortised over eight times the data, which is why Advanced Format drives recover meaningfully more usable capacity from the same platter. The same figure is the standard memory page size on most processors.
- Media & popular culture
The DCI cinema standard defines 4K as 4,096 pixels wide, and that is where the name comes from. Consumer televisions and streaming services marketed as 4K are almost always 3,840 pixels wide — exactly twice 1,920, so that HD content scales by a whole number — and are properly called UHD. The two are close enough that the marketing name stuck to the wrong one, which is why cinema and broadcast specifications carefully say DCI 4K or UHD rather than 4K.
4,096 is part of
Factors & digit properties
- Divisors (13)
- 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, 256, 512, 1024, 2048, 4096
- Prime factorisation
- 2^12
- Digit sum
- 19
- Digital root
- 1
Representations
- Decimal
- 4096
- Scientific notation
- 4.096 × 10^3
Roman numerals
Roman numerals as modelled here goes up to 3,999.
Binary
1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
1 × 4,096 + 0 × 2,048 + 0 × 1,024 + 0 × 512 + 0 × 256 + 0 × 128 + 0 × 64 + 0 × 32 + 0 × 16 + 0 × 8 + 0 × 4 + 0 × 2 + 0 × 1 = 4,096
Octal
1 0 0 0 0
1 × 4,096 + 0 × 512 + 0 × 64 + 0 × 8 + 0 × 1 = 4,096
Hexadecimal
1 0 0 0
1 × 4,096 + 0 × 256 + 0 × 16 + 0 × 1 = 4,096
Read as powers of two: 4,096 = 4,096.
In historical numeral systems
Egyptian
4 lotuses, 9 hobbles, 6 strokes
4 × 1,000 + 9 × 10 + 6 × 1 = 4,096. The signs are simply repeated and added; where they sit on the line is a matter of layout, not value.
Systems that simply cannot reach this value are left out. Where a script needs a font most readers do not have, the reading is given instead of the glyphs — see number systems for each system in full.
Other mathematical patterns
- Deficient number
- Happy number
- Powerful number
Related numbers & connections
Consecutive powers of two, and consecutive generations of storage geometry: 4,096-byte sectors replaced 512-byte ones because the fixed per-sector overhead is amortised across eight times the data.
View 2048 →4,096 is 2¹², the modern disk sector and the standard memory page size.
Technology & computing
512-byte sectors spent a fixed overhead on error correction and synchronisation for every block. At 4,096 bytes that overhead is amortised over eight times the data, which is why Advanced Format drives recover meaningfully more usable capacity from the same platter. The same figure is the standard memory page size on most processors.
DocumentedTechnology & computingPeriod: 2010 – present
Media & popular culture
The DCI cinema standard defines 4K as 4,096 pixels wide, and that is where the name comes from. Consumer televisions and streaming services marketed as 4K are almost always 3,840 pixels wide — exactly twice 1,920, so that HD content scales by a whole number — and are properly called UHD. The two are close enough that the marketing name stuck to the wrong one, which is why cinema and broadcast specifications carefully say DCI 4K or UHD rather than 4K.
DocumentedMedia & popular culture
Mathematics
4,096 = 2¹² = 64² = 16³ = 8⁴, because 12 is divisible by 2, 3, 4 and 6. It is the smallest number above 1 that is simultaneously a perfect square, cube and fourth power — the next is 2²⁴. This is why the figure recurs at several unrelated layers of the same systems: hexadecimal digits, memory pages and disk sectors are all counting in powers of two and land on the same value from different exponents.
DocumentedMathematics
Common questions
Is 4K really 4096 pixels wide?
In cinema, yes — the DCI standard defines 4K as 4,096 pixels wide, which is where the name comes from. Televisions and streaming services sold as 4K are almost always 3,840 pixels wide, exactly twice 1,920 so HD content scales by a whole number, and are properly called UHD. The marketing name attached itself to the wrong one, which is why technical specifications say DCI 4K or UHD rather than 4K.
Is 4,096 a prime number?
No, 4,096 is not prime.
What are the factors of 4,096?
The factors of 4,096 are 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, 256, 512, 1024, 2048, 4096.
About this page's data
Mathematical facts:computed directly from the number's value — nothing to source or verify externally.
Contextual records: 3 reviewer-confirmed records, sourced and reviewed before publication.
Last reviewed: 15 July 2026