First 4K now the mention of 8K

[Soopafly49]

Read about this the other day, all these formats sound good but just a bit odd seen as though most TV is still SD let alone HD. Thoughts anyone?

 

[bigboss]

8K is few years away. Let 4K establish itself first. Even cinema projectors are 2K or 4K.

 

[The_Lhc]

most TV* is still SD let alone HD.

In this country, it's a big old world out there...

*Other viewing sources are available.

 

[Frank Harvey]

The argument is that broadcasters will need to spend a lot of money upgrading to be able to broadcast 4K, so why not just upgrade to broadcast 8K rather than have to do that again further down the line?

I wouldn't worry too much about it yet at the moment. Sky broadcasts 1080i for a reason - a 1080p broadcast is about twice the size (I hear). Look at LoveFilm and NetFlix streaming - not great. We don't have the broadband capability in the UK to suddenly start streaming 4K to UK homes, let alone 8K. This is years away.

The nearest 4K carrier will more than likely be whatever Sony launches to provide 4K playback for the projectors and TV's it is producing. They claim that there will be something by the end of the year. We'll see.

 

[chebby]

If you could afford an 8K screen for your home cinema then you could also afford a smaller 'normal' TV for SD broadcasts.

 

[daveh75]

most TV* is still SD let alone HD.

In this country

We do alright for broadcast HD in the UK, compared to the rest of Europe.

We have more channels than most, and some European broadcasters (especially some Eastern European ones) are less choosy in what they pass off as HD.

America was/is the same too, if it's broadcast on an HD channel than it's passed off as HD.

At least here you're informed if the source is upscaled or natively HD.

 

[The_Lhc]

most TV* is still SD let alone HD.

In this country

We do alright for broadcast HD in the UK, compared to the rest of Europe.

I know, I was thinking more about Japan, who I think have already tested 4k broadcasts?

I just couldn't be bothered typing all that out...

 

[daveh75]

Yep, there was the tests conducted by NHK/BBC during the Olympics. IIRC there were also tests in Japan broadcasting over microwave links.

Eutelsat have also been broadcasting 4k to cinemas for a while now, and this week launched a commercial 4k test/demo/showcase channel.

 

[Frank Harvey]

I'm guessing this country will try and run before it can walk, end up screwing the whole thing up, and it'll be a flop, or considered rubbish because of so many unsatisfied customers because of too many issues.

 

[MajorFubar]

It'll be a while before all of the UK has fast enough internet to be able stream 4K movies in real time, let alone 8K. There's people out there with connections that struggle to stream flippin' iPlayer, let alone anything bigger.

 

[The_Lhc]

Just as well the TV companies don't make their products solely for the UK, otherwise they might well be worried...