4K and you

Strange, somebody told me with a "40's inch" size, I had to be at least 10ft away.

 

I'll get 4K when they come out with 8K...

 

may be too far?
this is a good site
http://www.rtings.com/tv/learn/size-to-distance-relationship

 

I would not feel comfortable that close...I like to be at least 10 feet away from a large screen...

 

If one is happy with their TV staying current is meaningless...unless one has to keep up with the technology...I'm not there.

 

Damn that's huge! must be awesome...

 

maybe, but not many have the room for that size.

 

my son loves his plasma TV...he has 2!

 

A true visual evaluation would involve a professional calibration of multiple panels and a side-by-side. My advice is to forget about the "evaluation process" at Best Buy and rely on AVS Forum, CNET, and a couple other sources to determine which models stand out. It is easier than ever for informed consumers.

 

Agree. People seem to feel the need to see the TVs "in action" but those tests are meaningless. Just read reviews and find something that seems to suit your needs!

 

I'd be VERY surprised if 4K catches on with the general public. Most people I know still consider bluray as overkill, and DVD as perfectly fine! If one considers that a decent cinema print is around 2K, on a huge screen like that, 4K for home use seems like utter overkill.

We've reached an interesting point now where I think companies are starting to sense they're running out of ways to sell us the same thing over and over again. The jump from VHS to Laserdisc was pretty big. From Laserdisc to DVD (though most went from VHS to DVD) was still reasonably noticeable. DVD to bluray really depended on the size of the screen, and wasn't such a huge success, at least in this country. I really only bought bluray for use on my projector, where the quality is really noticeable. But from normal viewing distances on a 40" TV the jump isn't so apparent. I honestly don't think 4K has much of a chance unless we're forced into adopting it.

Have we arrived at a point where we have reached (for all intents and purposes) perfection? 1080P blurays which look perfect to the vast majority of the population, many of whom are still happy with DVD? How can the studios sell us the same films yet again? Or new equipment to watch them on? Interesting times. Perhaps they'll be forced to plough money into making truly good quality original films again, and get their money that way, as I think the market is going to take a nose-dive within the next few years, or they'll make big pushes to adopt the streaming models instead.

How many times can they continue pushing out 'better' iPads, tablets, phones, TVs etc etc? I sense the market is going to start slowing down, if it isn't already.

 

I have no current interest in purchasing any new TV technology. I love my Panasonic plasma televisions. When they eventually die, I'll go with OLED technology, which by that time, will be reliable and probably close to being perfected.

 

A friend came over one day and looked at my LG 60" plasma on the wall and said, "When are you going to get a bigger screen?" I told him I had no desire to buy another TV. Two or Three days later, my wife turned it on and the picture was gone ..... I called around for repairs, and just to get them to look at it would be $100, and I could still get (at the time) a new plasma for $600+. A salesman at Best Buy tried to sell me on a 75" Samsung 4K for $5999. The picture was amazingly lifelike, but $6 grand? No way..... so I left. I went back 2 days later because my wife said, "GET A TV NOW!!!!" and another salesman steered me to a Sharp 70" Quattron+ 1080 HDTV for $1700. He told me that since my seating is 17 feet from my tv (sofa) or about 13 feet for the chair, 4K wasn't an issue. I bought the Sharp, tweaked it a little and I am totally satisfied with the picture. Good decision on my part since the Samsung dropped in price from $6K down to $3400.
Hopefully I'm done tv buying for a long time.... (Audio equipment upgrade is on the radar instead)

 

I will take back one thing I said in my post earlier when I said I was fine with my 50" Plasma.

50 inches is not enough for me now. But it'd be perfect for my bedroom.
A 65" or so would be my sweet spot in my TV room.

 

I'm in Australia. You want an old movie, older than "Ghostbusters", on BlUray? Apart from a few Oscar® winners and Disney cartoons, forget it! Pre-1985 is pretty much DVD only here. Which I wouldn't mind if the regions weren't so restrictive on Blu. I rip my discs to my computer, sure, but I can't lend to my friends, not even my parents. And there's plenty of older titles that aren't out on Blu anywhere in the world. "Storm Boy", for example. "The Gods Must Be Crazy" is another. So forget 4K. Which is stupid as all the shops here are pushing 4K TV's like there is no tomorrow. For old movies in Australia there is no tomorrow.

 

It will catch on in the UK because before too long you will have NO CHOICE if you need a new TV. I was shocked at the weekend on a rare trip to Currys to see 50" OLED 4K screens at under £500. They're asking the same price for some older 1080P screens. There is a definite push to sell 4K here now, almost to the point where you feel that if you dare to walk out the shop with anything less people will be openly smiling or laughing at you.

I partly disagree with your comment that "a decent cinema print is around 2K". Before digital took over films on celluloid had far greater definition and it is universally acknowledged that a 35mm film can support up to 6K resolution in good condition whereas a 70mm film can support anything up to 8K. Admittedly this is equivalent to a large cinema screen whilst most "average people" have screens smaller than 50" so you're right that high resolution just isn't necessary.

 

Just bought a new 55" LG last year. I'm in no rush to spend that kind of money again.

Can someone explain to me why when viewing a "widescreen" movie on a widescreen TV, why does it STILL show the black lines across the top and bottom. I've been wondering this for years. If the TV is already widescree, why does the movie need to be shown with the bars still?

 

Please google "Original Aspect Ratio". Your TV has a 16:9 (= 1,78:1) aspect ratio. Many movies were shot in another aspect ratio, e.g. 2.35:1, 2.39:1, 2.40:1 or even 2,66:1.

 

I have no real desire for 4K at this time. But as prices keep dropping...

Here's one at Best Buy. Samsung 65" 4K , not curved, 240 refresh, smart for $999. Cheaper than non 4K equivalents with 120 refresh. Awfully tempting.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/samsung...lver/5184121.p?id=1219646565339&skuId=5184121

Edit: must've been a temporary mistake because it's $2000 now...

 

Nope - here it is. Found it again. Oh man trying hard not to buy this but so tempting!


http://www.bestbuy.com/site/samsung...lver/4785500.p?id=1219821300884&skuId=4785500

 

With the 4K, would the picture improve with HD cable as well? I'm thinking it's limited to what comes through the ancient cable. (really liking that BB link)

 

Yes they're certainly pushing the 4K hardware, because manufacturers need to keep selling the latest thing of course, to survive, but as to whether people will willingly buy 4K media... I'd be very surprised if it took off in the same way as DVD, or even bluray. I consider myself a rather picky viewer, but I have to say I'm honestly not in any rush at all to buy into as I was with Bluray. Bluray still looks absolutely fabulous on a decent projector (given a decent transfer)and will never suddenly look less than fabulous, any more than 35mm might suddenly appear outdated. Once the quality is there, it's there. I guess it probably makes more sense for cinemas and those with HUGE screens. I remain intrigued by what will happen. I think the media will remain a niche format much like back in the Laserdisc days.

As for film, I was really taking about the average film print one used to see in cinemas. In addition there's a very interesting paper on the resolution of 35mm film prints below. I generally prefer the aesthetics of film to digital, but let's not get carried away - the average film print is far from 6K, unless we're talking the actual negative.

http://www.motionfx.gr/files/35mm_resolution_english.pdf

 

I think they look great... when I go to Best Buy or Cosco.

Prices have come down so much that I don't even think that's the limiting factor now. Content. To my knowledge there's no 4K content unless you buy that hard drive of content. That won't do it for me. Cable and satellite companies can barely deliver HD content without issues at this point, I can't imagine how long it'll be before they can provide 4K content, assuming they ever do. I don't know, is Blu-ray capable of that high of resolution or is a new disk format required? I haven't heard about anything in the works though.

I realize it was a similar issue when Blu-ray, and hi-def TV's, was first introduced but I think this hurdle may be a bit harder to overcome. But I think it's absolutely worth it, especially for bigger screens.

 

4K isn't on my radar. I'm not even sure what it refers to exactly. I'm perfectly happy with my 5 yr-old 50" LED TV. As long as sports and movies look pretty good, I'm happy.

 

Yes, you are limited by the nature of the content that's sent over the wire. It's unlikely that you will see true 4k content for several years, if at all. The same deal applies to OTA broadcast TV.

What will be driving the market (and it has already started) is streaming services like Netflix and Amazon and others, in conjunction with UHD disc players.

Here's a good article on the state of things:
http://www.wired.com/2015/02/live-4k-broadcasts/