What is 4k compatibility?

[CraigDS]

I was talking to a dealer who said that 4k comparability is not an issue if you have an older spec AV Reviever because the AV Reciever just pass the signal straight through? He said if your source plays 4k, 8k or every 12k in the future the amp will just pass any signal through. Is that correct?

 

[Tricky-Ricky]

The amp needs to be capable of passing a 4K signal, however you will still need a source and TV/display capable of 4K and cables for that matter, before you will actually be able utilize this feature.

 

[CraigDS]

What about buying a 4k "BluRay player" and sending the video to the tv and audio to amp? Is there any loss in quality doing this? Any issues ?

 

[simonlewis]

4K blu-ray players haven't been released yet, it's something thats happening this year.

 

[Paul.]

Surely a receiver can only pass through at a bandwidth stipulated by its HDMI board? HDMI 1.4 maxes out at 4k 30fps because that is what its bandwidth allows. How would it pass through potentially double or quadruple the data rates required for 8k?

Realistically speaking, you will be very bored of your amp by the time 8k toddles along, so I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[CraigDS]

I think the dealer just flipently mentioned the 8k and 12k as an example. I know 4k is well off due to no content. I am just trying to get my head around it because when you buy new kit it in an investment for me upto 5years easily.

 

[Paul.]

Anything you buy today should be able to passthrough 4k at bluray frame rates, it just wont be able to do higher framerates than 30 so 3D is unlikey.

 

[theflyingwasp]

Yeah I wouldn't worry about it craigDS the whole 4k farce is really starting to annoy me .i understand the technology has to start somewhere but at this rate it's going to be a bloody! long time before I can sit down to watch the dark knight trilogy remastered in 4k on my 85inch 4k oled tv playing through my 4k player.the receivers seem to be the easy bit when it comes to 4k.

i was one of the idiots 2 years ago when I got into home cinema and listened to the salesman at currys telling me to buy a certain Hdmi cable as it's future proofed for 4k.

 

[Tricky-Ricky]

Most AV receiver's that are capable of passing 4K will also pass 3D, i know my Sony1040 will, but yes by the time you can watch your favorite film in 4K you will likely be thinking about upgrading you AV anyway.

 

[Paul.]

Most AV receiver's that are capable of passing 4K will also pass 3D, i know my Sony1040 will, but yes by the time you can watch your favorite film in 4K you will likely be thinking about upgrading you AV anyway.

4k 3d will be a much higher bandwith and HDMI 1.4 can't handle it. Your amp does not currently have HDMI 2.0, but Sony have teased that it may come in a firmware update.

 

[Tricky-Ricky]

I was just referring to common 3D, not 4k 3D which i was not even aware this was on the cards.

 

[CraigDS]

I have an Arcam AVR400 and asked Arcam directly. This was their reply....

.... simple answer is no the AVR400 doesn't support 4K in anyway. The new AVR380, 450 and 750 are the 4K supporting receivers, the basic answer on all of this is all of the last gen receivers such as the 400 do not have fast enough processor incorporated to handle 4K so we had to upgrade and redesign all the models to handle both 4K processing and upscaling.......however this is not really an issue yet as 4K in its entirety does not yet exist and there is no source material nor will there be to the end of this year when it starts to become more established. Truth is HDMI v2.0 is required and this only exists as a list of specifications (very loose ones) on paper......there is no test spec for manufacturers as yet (no matter what they claim) so no one can say for sure that it "fully supports" 4K.........