bigboss
Moderator
4K per se is very good, but we need content to go with it. Have to wait for Sky & BBC to reveal their 4K plans. SD content on 4K will look awful.
chebby
Well-known member
I haven't viewed one yet and I am not sure if there is any full 4K content available to watch even if I had the chance.
I am still impressed by 1080p HD so I am in no rush.
Even if a whole raft of 4K streamed / downloaded content became available, then I still wouldn't be able to get much use of it without upgrading my 20Mbps 'L' Virgin Media cable internet to at least 100Mbps.
Ask me in about 3 year's time
I am still impressed by 1080p HD so I am in no rush.
Even if a whole raft of 4K streamed / downloaded content became available, then I still wouldn't be able to get much use of it without upgrading my 20Mbps 'L' Virgin Media cable internet to at least 100Mbps.
Ask me in about 3 year's time
I agree with Chebby on the whole.
It's a good thing, will look stunning, but in reality, it's quite a few years away from replacing 1080p as the new HD.
And of course, within 2 or 3 years, there could well be something that surpasses 4k
It's a good thing, will look stunning, but in reality, it's quite a few years away from replacing 1080p as the new HD.
And of course, within 2 or 3 years, there could well be something that surpasses 4k
BenLaw
Well-known member
BIGBERNARDBRESSLAW said:
Such as 8k. It's an expensive merry-go-round and the park never closes.
I can't face the prospect of replacing BD discs that probably cost more in total than my HC system components. The real money's in the software, especially for Sony, which has a massive archival film library its corporate heads would love to repurpose on home video.
The problem is, cycles of obsolescence are becoming ever more rapid; and at some point consumers will become entirely fatigued by requests that they replace their movie collections again. As successful as Blu-ray has been, BD sales have not matched DVD sales during the late 1990s and early 2000s.
I have a decent desktop gaming p.c. My monitor is a Samsung series 9 with 2560 x 1440 resolution. I'm wondering if a 4k t.v will let me play games at this resolution, or upscale to 4k. Seeing as this is roughly half the res anyway, up scaling would look reasonable enough wouldn't it? This is the only reason I can think of to buy one of these t.vs. anyone know if any of them support DVI? :?
scene
Well-known member
I've read up a bit on this, because I used to be firmly in the bigger is better camp when it came to screen resolution, but I was a bit worried this was a knee jerk reaction...
And yes 4k will improve static resolution, so still (or still-ish) pictures such as nature documentaries will look fantastic, but...
Moving resolution actually depends on frame rate, so if you want action films to look good you want them filmed at 60fps or 120fps, with fast shutter speeds. This means that when your eye tracks a fast moving object it will see an clearer image. I had a link to a really good article on this, which I can't find at the moment.
So yes. Good and bad.
And yes 4k will improve static resolution, so still (or still-ish) pictures such as nature documentaries will look fantastic, but...
Moving resolution actually depends on frame rate, so if you want action films to look good you want them filmed at 60fps or 120fps, with fast shutter speeds. This means that when your eye tracks a fast moving object it will see an clearer image. I had a link to a really good article on this, which I can't find at the moment.
So yes. Good and bad.
kikiso
Well-known member
It all depends on whether you are buying technology because you want to be more up to date than your friends/neighbours or you feel you are getting extra benefit from the tech. I have a Full HD 50 inch TV and it's as good as I need. Even on my 80 inch projector screen Full HD is stunning. Even though I like to buy the latest tech and I'm lucky enough to be able to afford it, I really have no interest and no intention of upgrading anymore.
On the other hand, when I go to my local cinema, I appreciate the fact that the projection is 4k and this is where the technology is worthwhile IMHO.
The likes of Sony would love us all to get hooked on the idea of 4k. We would all have to upgrade almost all the kit we have already bought as well as the software. As things stand, if we stay with what we have, sales will slow down. My mother still has her old CRT TV because it still works, and I know many other people who are not on the latest HD standard and are perfectly content. 4K will be another 3D disaster when it comes to domestic adoption.
My answer to the original question would be “no, not worth it at home”.
On the other hand, when I go to my local cinema, I appreciate the fact that the projection is 4k and this is where the technology is worthwhile IMHO.
The likes of Sony would love us all to get hooked on the idea of 4k. We would all have to upgrade almost all the kit we have already bought as well as the software. As things stand, if we stay with what we have, sales will slow down. My mother still has her old CRT TV because it still works, and I know many other people who are not on the latest HD standard and are perfectly content. 4K will be another 3D disaster when it comes to domestic adoption.
My answer to the original question would be “no, not worth it at home”.
strapped for cash said:
Yep, the Japanese are already working on getting 8k to work:
http://www.hdtvtest.co.uk/news/japan-8k-tv-broadcasts-2020-201306043066.htm
In principal 4k is a good thing as it takes us closer to a more lifelike image on larger screens (though agree with Scene that a higher frame rate for both broadcast TV and BluRay's successor would be good to see).
However, by the time we get some form of widely available content in the UK its likely that 8k will be coming up on the horizon, which may well deter many from making the investment.
Also, 4k is only worthwhile on larger screen sizes (I suspect you'd struggle to see a difference between 1080p and 4k on a 44" screen from 10 feet away, hence why they currently only offer screen sizes of 55" plus), so unless/until they sort out the appalling failure rate in the manufacture of OLED panels 4k will only be affordable in conjunction with LED panels, which is a sub-optimal display technology for panels of this size due to the challenges around backlighting and screen uniformity. Arguably therefore, as it takes us further towards image perfection in one respect, it moves us away from it in another.
Furthemore, because 4k only makes sense on larger screen sizes (1080p is more than good enough for most real world viewing distances up to 65"), its appeal will be limited by the number of people willing to have a 55"/65"+ TV in their living room, which given the small size of the average UK living room will be a relatively small number (the average TV size in the UK was 36.8" in 2012, albeit that figure is creeping up over time).
Personally I think that right now it has the whiff of 3D about it, with both hardware manufacturers and industry media (WHF included) banging on about it in an effort to persuade us all to go out and replace our hardware again, with very little by way of persuasive argument in terms of content or reals world experience, and little if any real evidence of widespread consumer demand.
And lastly, if one of the manufacturers manages to sort out 'glasses free 3D' then the industry will be telling us we all have to bin out newly-purchased 4k sets, and go out and buy that instead!
I'd be much happier to see 1080p become the standard for broadcast HD TV, and for HD audio to be rolled out by Sky in place of Dolby digital!
Son_of_SJ
Well-known member
bigboss said:
Based on a single experience of watching the 55" 4K Sony TV in John Lewis with a Standard Definition broadcast signal, yes, it did look awful.
MODERATORS - should this thread not be moved to "TVs and Projectors" section, please? I do realise that 4K also involves (sorry, will one day involve) 4K Blu-Rays and 4K upscaling or passthrough amplifiers, but for now, it's nearly all about just TVs.
I’m still happy with 1366x768 on my 32” TV.
I’ve seen TV’s with better overall picture quality but they're usually in a different price range to what mine cost. The only TV I’ve seen recently that makes me want to upgrade costs about twice what I paid for mine several years ago!
I’ve seen TV’s with better overall picture quality but they're usually in a different price range to what mine cost. The only TV I’ve seen recently that makes me want to upgrade costs about twice what I paid for mine several years ago!
abacus
Well-known member
Yes. Because it means the manufacturing technology gets better, thus creating cheaper and better HD TVs and Projectors. (The trickle-down effect)
Bill
Bill
I haven't seen 4k yet but I'm watching oblivion right now on the zt60 on blu ray and I really can't imagine an image being 4x better ,for me it will be content content content I don't watch tv anymore only films and American drama,I understand oblivion wasn't filmed in 4k so it won't look any better if I could afford the Sony 25grand 84inch tv but when true content comes out for 4k Tvs then I will upgrade.
theflyingwasp said:
Thats good to hear, on hols at the moment but ordered Oblivion off amazon yesterday and its waiting for me to watch when I get home!
mr malarky said:Thats good to hear, on hols at the moment but ordered Oblivion off amazon yesterday and its waiting for me to watch when I get home!
I returned from the south of France today, though watching Blu-rays is bottom of my list of priorities.
Instead it's a return to work that I deferred for the duration of the holiday, while the pile of unwatched Blu-rays rises. I should probably stop buying films for now. Releases that take my fancy will be cheaper by the time I've made my way through the unwatched pile. Not that any of that has anything to do with the merits or impossibility of watching 4k content at home.
chebby
Well-known member
strapped for cash said:mr malarky said:Thats good to hear, on hols at the moment but ordered Oblivion off amazon yesterday and its waiting for me to watch when I get home!
I returned from the south of France today, though watching Blu-rays is bottom of my list of priorities.
Instead it's a return to work that I deferred for the duration of the holiday, while the pile of unwatched Blu-rays rises. I should probably stop buying films for now. Releases that take my fancy will be cheaper by the time I've made my way through the unwatched pile. Not that any of that has anything to do with the merits or impossibility of watching 4k content at home.
Fortuntaely (or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it!) the "joys" of having work email on the phone has meant I've kept pretty much up to date with stuff while I've been away so not too much to come back to. Still have a pile of blurays to catch up on, but didn't stop me pre-ordering Star Treck 2 yesterday!
Anyone seen it? Any good?Nothing to do with 4k either but think we've pretty much covered that one - pointless without content!
gel said:
Which tells you what, apart from the fact Sony took some impressionable bloggers on a nice expensive trip to LA and gave them the corporate mind-EDITED?
"As opposed to many of its direct competitors Sony is in a unique position as they do not only develop and sell display units such as TVs and projectors, they are also involved in the entire value chain all the way back to cameras and movie production. This allows Sony to influence the direction of the TV market and that is what Sony hope to do with 4K. They hope to adopt it in every step of the value chain to help ignite the 4K market"
Give us some EDITED content then!!!
Give us some EDITED content then!!!
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