You Should Wait Before Buying A 4K TV

I have a decent TV now, it's a 50" Panasonic Plasma and it's been a good TV. I binge watch and it's either Netflix on my computer in one room or Optical Disks, sometimes Netflix, on the TV in the living room. Trithfully there is no really good reason to by a 4K yet except of course that sure look sexy in the store, my inner geek wants one.

As I think about it I realize I asked some of my questions wrong. A better question would be;

If I replaced my 50" Plasma with a 50" 4K TV would my Blue rays look worse? DVDs? Netflix stream?

:D
 
Heritage for the Blind remind you to be king there is something you can do for those who depend on you. I can't even watch TV cause of the flicker or the amount of light they emit.

People who watch the Sunday Packer game are pissy the next day at work.
 
If I replaced my 50" Plasma with a 50" 4K TV would my Blue rays look worse? DVDs? Netflix stream?

:D

I'm assuming DVD's and Netflix would look worse. Blu-ray could be upscaled a bit, though.

DVD was awesome on SDTV. Put it on HDTV, and you find it looking pretty bad, especially compared to Blu-ray. Netflix is similar. Put it on a smaller TV and <720 and it looks great. A larger TV/1080P+ and you can see all the defects.

Like porn in HD. You see the flaws much more easily.

Now, I'm curious.... I want to hear from someone that has experience with it... Do they look worse?
 
While I am a bit of a videofile - I dont have 20/10 vision and I dont sit 3' away from my TV. Why would I need a 4k TV?

Id much rather see LCD technology get better at contrast, color and motion/refresh technology vs resolution.

It doesnt matter if a TV is 4k or 4 billion K res, its still going to look inferior to a high end plasma (RIP :() until these other PQ deficiencies of LCD's are improved.
 
I plan to keep my 47" LG 47LD450 for a long time. I've had it since 2011 and it works great. Last summer (2014) I saw a nice 4K TV at Fry's I looked at the price and realized it would be cheaper to visit the location (in Italy) they had on the display demo than it would be to buy the TV. I guess I'm trying to limit my time in front of TV these days so my excitement about 4K has gone downhill.
 
While I am a bit of a videofile - I dont have 20/10 vision and I dont sit 3' away from my TV. Why would I need a 4k TV?

Size. With LCD's getting >80" and people putting them in smaller rooms, it will be noticeable. For others, it means going from 106" to 135" and noticing a much bigger difference throughout the room. I can tell a difference between 720 and 1080 on my screen. My wife can't. Not that she really cares, but she can't tell a visual difference. She has good vision. Some of us notice the tiny little things that can make an image good or bad. Others just look at the content. When I'm into a movie, it's not going to matter as much. When I'm demoing a system, it matters. I notice Gandolf's hair, the smoke in the room, the textures on the wall, skin imperfections.
 
I'm not sure I'll notice much of a difference going from 65" to 75", but my next TV will be 4K. My current 65" Mitsu 1080 DLP is getting a little old at 8 years. But the picture is still phenomenal. And I guess I like the "softness" rear projection adds to movies.
 
4K right now is where HD was circa late 2007 or early 2008.
The content is starting to emerge, but it is still fairly young and is hardly mainstream.

There was a big difference moving from 480i to 720p/1080p (not so much 1080i).
There isn't nearly as much of a difference moving from 1080p to 4K, not counting OS desktop real estate.
 
Anyone remember this Philips Flat Screen commercial from 1998? I remember going into Circuit City, seeing the television, then seeing the price tag of $10,000. Now, that price tag would easily purchase a much bigger and better television.

I also consider myself an early adopter of DVD, having purchased my first discs in November, 1998, and my first player in March, 1999. Today, you can pick up a DVD player for a song, and even then, I would recommend BluRay over DVD. Of course, everyone is going streaming media nowadays.

15k at Fry's for whatever they had. It had a huge power supply under it, it wasn't HD and it looked pretty shitty. But it was a flat screen plasma.
 
Just like to chime in here guys. Seems to be much misinformation going on.

I just picked up a 55'' 4K samsung set and i got it for about $1200 from costco.

It does do 4k at 60hz 4:4:4 and it looks apesh*t.

It does support hdmi 2.0 on all 4 of its imputs and is getting along swimmingly with my GTX970, which like its big brother the 980 supports hdmi 2.0

The r9 cards support 4k over displayport only but the only tv i could find that has a displayport imput is the new panasonic 4k led tx (yes they have finally gotten away from plasma)

Netflix does support 4k and two series House of cards and another one are filmed in and stream 4k. It uses the built in app in the samsung menu and streams 4k at about 24mbps. There are a handful of other movies and demos on netflix at 4k. Under 20

What I can tell you about this tv is that using it as my monitor, its much clearer as a monitor at 4k which is its native resolution than it was at 1080p. In fact, while i was deciding to keep it or not i had it mirrored next to my old westinghouse 52'' 1080p tv and the westie looked clearer at 1080p. This infuriated me. However, it makes sense that this tv is a 4k set and as such it will display a clearer image at 4k as its designed to do so.

For 1200 this was a no brainer to me. Considering a 1080p tv of similar quality can be had for 800, a 400 price difference I can swallow. This tv weighs less than half that my old tv did and draws 1/3 the power too.

Seems to be alot of naysaying out there but for me, i can see this lasting me another 5 years. $1200 divided by 60 months is $20 a month. I will certainly spend $20 a month on something dumber for the next 5 years each month.
 
Biggest thing you gotta watch for is HDCP 2.2 support. That will dictate whether or not your set will work with the new 4K BluRay discs / players. Everything in the chain will need to have HDCP 2.2 support. AVRs and video cards included.

I will either have Sharp's new 80" edge-lit UH30 or their Beyond 4K FALD 80" model this year. Both check all my boxes. My 70's too small since I moved and I need something bigger in a bad way, just to get back to where I was.

Large OLEDs are a LONG ways off from being anything close to affordable and even they have their downsides. BRING ON THE 80" 4Ks!
 
I don't see how Blue Ray 1080P upscalled to 4k is gonna look that great. Its not different then upscalling DVD 480P to 720P/1080P.

The market sources of 4k content need serious maturing and cost reduction not to mention monitors/TV's themselves. I just upgraded to 1080P last year from 7 years of 720P rear projector TV, so no way in hell im gonna jump on the 4k boat this early in the game for the same reasons I avoided 3D
 
Whereas I had 1080i in the late 90's. Some of us, with big sets have been waiting for higher res for a long time...
The content will come soon enough. Sets come first, content will follow. 4K BD will come as soon as late 4Q '15, early 1Q '16.
 
I don't see how Blue Ray 1080P upscalled to 4k is gonna look that great. Its not different then upscalling DVD 480P to 720P/1080P.

The market sources of 4k content need serious maturing and cost reduction not to mention monitors/TV's themselves. I just upgraded to 1080P last year from 7 years of 720P rear projector TV, so no way in hell im gonna jump on the 4k boat this early in the game for the same reasons I avoided 3D

Hmm... I distinctly remember people upscaling DVD long before they had a ton of real HD content. When DVDs were done well, they were pretty close to early BDs. For example, I had a high bit rate DVD of Fifth Element and the Blu Ray. I paused it on roughly the same frame in both and flipped back and forth. BD was better, but it was very close. For reference, I was using a 70" Sony SXRD XBR.

So I expect they'll scale nicely. Nevertheless, 4k BD is expected before Xmas.

If I'd just bought a 1080p set, I wouldn't buy 4k either, but that's the same issue with HD sets. People didn't buy them right away. They waited until their old set died, there was more DVD content (because again, people upscaled), TV content and/or prices cane down.

My next set will be 4k, but I'll probably wait till next year. Hopefully these sets can be calibrated.
 
They can be calibrated - some easier than others, but they can be and will be. :)
 
I'm just going to wait until the 4K BD is available. Then I'll get the 75-80" set, new receiver and such.
 
IWhat is with these comments about sitting so far away you are watching in 720P?
(Makes no sense, you see what is presented period, if you are presented with 1080p then that is what you see no matter how far away because it's ALL Relative)

No. What you are saying makes no sense.

Distance matters. The further away something is, the less you detail you can see.

So if you sit 10' from a 50" 4K TV, you wouldn't be able to see any difference from that and a 1080p HDTV.

My couch is over 8feet from my 40" TV (eye to TV distance is around 110"). At that distance I can't see any difference at all between 720p and 1080p, and 540p is only slightly soft looking.

I have yet to walk into a living room where the TV wasn't even farther away.
 
No. What you are saying makes no sense.

Distance matters. The further away something is, the less you detail you can see.

So if you sit 10' from a 50" 4K TV, you wouldn't be able to see any difference from that and a 1080p HDTV.

My couch is over 8feet from my 40" TV (eye to TV distance is around 110"). At that distance I can't see any difference at all between 720p and 1080p, and 540p is only slightly soft looking.

I have yet to walk into a living room where the TV wasn't even farther away.

You're correct on all counts, though I generally sit no 6' - 7' from a TV (when given a choice. I find it more immersive. when I visit my parents, if I watch after they're in bed, i move the seat about 6' back from their 80" set.
 
yes but if no one buys the tech will fail. If you get a good deal why not buy? I got my Samsung 50inch for 799 and it is one hell of a tv because my Toshiba couldn't produce black levels worth shit. To me it was a great purchase for the price. So if you can buy a good 4k tv for a great price I wouldn't just disregard it because there is not enough content. If you subscribe to AMAZON prime or Netflix, most of their original series are in 4K and they simply look stunning.
 
I just purchased a 60" 1080P LED Smart TV and regret nothing. I'm not about to pay twice as much or more just for 4K epeen that won't be mainstream for years. The bandwidth needed for broadcasting/streasming 4K cable TV alone is atrocious...
 
How is everyone missing that netflix is pushing a compressed codec of sorts for 4k house of cards on a 25mbps stream? That kind of bandwidth is reasonable to me.

The video quality destroys any 1080p bd content. Im not discrediting the fact that tech improves as time progresses but 4k is here today at 60hz with 4:4:4 chroma for a little over a grand. i really cant see it getting better until we go 8k etc...

This chart is interesting too...

http://www.noteloop.com/kit/display/pixel-density/

The legibility of text as I type this at approximately 8 feet on my couch at 4k is much different than it was at 1080p. Made a big difference for me especially because I use my tv as a monitor.
 
Just like when 1080I HD came out...

Direct tv had launched like 5-6 channels in HD 1080I. After about a year they had 8. Few years later most of their channels offer 1080p. Once they released the KA/KU dish.

DTV just launched a new sat, to deliver 4k content.
http://investor.directv.com/press-r...cessful-DIRECTV-Satellite-Launch/default.aspx

Content adoption will be much faster with 4k than it will be with 1080i/p. Of course tech gets better with time. Doesn't mean you shouldn't buy one, if you in the market for one. If you use that mentally then just like in the PC industry 6 months later and there is always something better out. You will wait indefinitely.

I have 4k tv, my old 1080p screen died, so i picked up a new tv for xmas. Figured would go ahead and get the 4k one.

UN55HU6950FXZA 55" is the model I have. I don't buy tv's very often so it made sense to me.
 
If you're in the market, then yeah, it's probably worth it to get one for the sake of future-proofing yourself. But, no sense in dumping your current 1080p setup for a 4K just for the sake of getting 4k. If you have money to burn, then be my guest, it just doesn't make much sense logically.
 
If you're in the market, then yeah, it's probably worth it to get one for the sake of future-proofing yourself. But, no sense in dumping your current 1080p setup for a 4K just for the sake of getting 4k. If you have money to burn, then be my guest, it just doesn't make much sense logically.

This is not a forum to adhere to logic. Hell, the hobby itself has no logic
 
Yeah, this is a forum where people drop $2K-$4K on Titans, lol. Full well know, they'll be obsolete in 6mo.
 
There is no true 4K content for the home yet. Nothing you stream comes close to the high bit rate Blu-ray discs that are out there.

Looking over the 4K-Blu-ray specifications and the type of discs that will be available (50 GB with 82 Mbit/s, 66 GB with 108 Mbit/s, and 100 GB with 128 Mbit/s), I'm hoping that studios will go with the highest capacity out of the gate. A lot of current releases are already close to 50 GB.
 
They won't. Remember how ass the first 6mo of BD releases were?

We'll have a couple of showcase titles (Avatar 2 maybe?) in the beginning, but as they expand the lineup, they'll sneak through some crap that they'll later have to rerelease when we complain.

And I think the 50GB disc is no longer part of the UHD BD spec - I think it's just the 66GB & 100GB now.
 
There are already 4k TVs with HDMI 2.0, same with A/V receivers...am I missing something in this conversation?

But not 4:4:4 Chroma which is important. Its still a wide open game at the moment. Buying anything 4K is a bad idea right now.

The only tech I'm interested in is 1080p OLED. Its finally coming down in price and I have tons of 1080p content to use it.
 
How is everyone missing that netflix is pushing a compressed codec of sorts for 4k house of cards on a 25mbps stream? That kind of bandwidth is reasonable to me.

The video quality destroys any 1080p bd content. Im not discrediting the fact that tech improves as time progresses but 4k is here today at 60hz with 4:4:4 chroma for a little over a grand. i really cant see it getting better until we go 8k etc...

This chart is interesting too...

http://www.noteloop.com/kit/display/pixel-density/

The legibility of text as I type this at approximately 8 feet on my couch at 4k is much different than it was at 1080p. Made a big difference for me especially because I use my tv as a monitor.

There are already promising improvements to the codec that would allow for the similar quality at 9.5Mbps. 25Mbps is way to high. Either the US needs a better infrastructure faster (it does) or the codec needs improvement. 9.5Mbps is good enough that Cable providers could adopt it without a huge hassle. But 25Mbps is a bit much for the vast majority of connections.

Like its been mentioned Blu Ray is really where content will shine until 4K becomes the norm. But it will take years to release 4K Blu Ray's as many will require remastering in 4K and more often then not Hollywood elects for 2K remastering because its quite a bit cheaper.
 
The problem is that they were archiving content shot in 4K to 2K because they didn't see the former coming, and as a means to save storage space. Luckily, most of the good movies were shot on film.
 
Other than a top of the line pc, is there ANYTHING out there that can produce 4k content.

Pretty much all digital cameras produce images better than 4k. I'm looking forward to seeing my images at least a little bit closer to their native resolution on the big screen.
 
Pretty much all digital cameras produce images better than 4k. I'm looking forward to seeing my images at least a little bit closer to their native resolution on the big screen.

yup correct 4k is only like 8.2 mega pixel.
 
Pretty much all digital cameras produce images better than 4k. I'm looking forward to seeing my images at least a little bit closer to their native resolution on the big screen.

And most of those are producing at least 16-24 MP. My biggest complaint about 4k monitors is they're too small. I want a 30" 4k or 5k monitor not a 27"
 
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