How good is 4K really?

How good is 4K on big screens(50-70")?


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SnowJim

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Hi,

There is alot of talk about 4K but have anyone seen it in reality? How good is it compare to 1080p? Is it noticable sharper on displays around 60-70"?
 
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Not much difference between 4K and 1080P.

The real game changer is OLED when it become affordable as the PQ is much more impressive than 4K.
 
Actually I would disagree with that in principle. I think there is a huge difference between 4K and 1080. I've seen displays in action in John Lewis and you can't help to notice the difference between the 1080p displays and the 4k displays. The colours stand out - but not because they are necessarily any better - but the picture quality and sharpness is so much better that you can't help but be drawn towards them visually.

I have also seen the LG 84" screen in action at Richer Sounds and that was mind-blowing. The pictures had such a natural depth about then it was like seeing a 3D image in a natural way. There was an almost perceivable depth about the picture. Staggering and I wanted one (but not at upwards of £20K which it was at the time).

Buuuuuuutttttttt........that's in principle.
In actuality I want native 4k on a Blu Ray disc (or some such media) as I don't want to stream stuff on my crappy adsl connection (as I'm rural and we lost our 8MB line with the storms in January and now it's only half that). I also want to "own" my films and I don't want to rent them. And I want the media to be as good as I can get it - as small a compression on the bitrate as possible. And at the moment that seems impossible. Sure there are streaming services coming online - and if that's enough for you then I would be tempted. But I would also want to buy a screen of 65" and up to get the most out of the picture. Smaller screens do look good but there is a kind of law of diminishing returns as the screen size gets smaller.

So I love them - or at least the promise of them and if the next media standard was sorted for 4K and physical media was available I would buy one in a flash - especially given OLED will be ruled by LG for years to come and I think it will hurt the pricing. OLED 4K - now that's going to be superb.
 
Couldn't agree more! If you are unsure, then go to a decent AV store and look for yourself.

The clarity and detail of a 4k picture is stunning when setup correctly, its almost like looking out of a window. The Samsung upscales beautifully as well, so normal HD content looks superb. SD looks a bit naff, but i hardly watch that now.

Now for 4k broadcast!
 
I have to admit I didn't see much, if any difference on a 65" screen when looking at reference material. For the bigger screen sizes I think the difference will be much more obvious.

The biggest issue for me is lack of content and ever changing specs. Give it a couple of years and I reckon most higher level TV's will be 4K anyway.
 
I was pretty impressed by 4k the few times I had seen it, but I went into Currys at the weekend and they had a 55inch LG in there and it was truly stunning. It was showing cityscapes of various places and they looked so amazing it made me want to be there!

If all 4k sources look like that then I will be biting the bullet sooner rather than later.
 
Hi,

This calculator will let you know what the difference is, I sit about 11ft away from my plasma, and at that distance there is ZERO discernible difference between 1080p and 4k with either a 55" or 65" screen ( 20/20 vision of course) ;)

I confirmed this yesterday when I checked out the new Sony 829 versus the Samsung F9000, Sony 9005 etc.

The 829 was easily as good and it was £899 ( 50" version - 55" will be £1199 ) compared to £2199 for the Sony 9005 and Sammy F9000 at £2000. I now know which one I will buy once it comes out :)

This screen size comparison calculator is also handy for judging - "how big will I go?" To me 55" seems the best size/price gain for me over a 42" that I own just now, 60 is not worth it and not a huge difference on a 65"

Mike.
 
This obsession with screen size and viewing distance isn't the be all and end all. While it clearly is important in some regard I think it should be secondary to experience. Long term enjoyment of 4k content will far exceed that of 1080p. It may be a subtle change but with time you will come to love the added clarity and resolution. SD to 1080p was instantly noticeable and I think that experience has become (wrongly) the yard stick by which we judge these things. 6K is now a realistic way of acquiring video so it makes sense that we aim to enjoy that in the best possible way. Below is a clip from a facility called Light Iron. They are spec'd to post produce feature films and content all the way up to 8K if necessary. The idea of being so highly spec'd is so they can comfortably and efficiently work at the highest end possible. What will be of most relevance to you all is the CEO's opinion that 4K will be the format for the next decade in both movie theatres and the home.

 
This obsession with screen size and viewing distance isn't the be all and end all. While it clearly is important in some regard I think it should be secondary to experience.

Absolutely. What we all want is an immersive experience, and the number of pixels does not necessarily scale with the enjoyment or experience. Excellent linked vid - really enjoyed watching it.
 
No one can say that 4K is worse then 1080p but I still do not think that it will play any role in picture quality on <70" screens. Movies played on projectors(>70") will without a doubt be the place where 4K could make a difference.

I still thinks that 4K have a VARY long way to go, yes it might be the standard of TV sets launched in 2016 but the media will still be a big problem. Lets just look at today media, the only way to get BEST POSSIBLE picture qulity are from a blu-ray disc (x264 that you find on internet dont stand a chance) . When was blu-ray released? 2003? 2006? for about 8 years ago, how good does blu-ray sell today? Some stores here in Sweden states that thay are selling 50% DVD(SD) and 50% Blu-ray(HD), there is still a lot of series that are never released on blu-ray. How big is the qulity change from SD to HD? Huge, right? New hardware TV and blu-rays was needed to be able to play. Some users bought HD Ready(720p) and was happy with that.

So what does it take for 4K to get at least the same market as blu-ray? New hardware is required again but how big is really the diffrence at regular comsumer sized TV(40-50")? Are the diffrence anywhere near SD VS HD at this sizes? And how will the media look like? Will it be Blu-ray discs?

Some says that Internet will be the main source for 4K and that may be true, but will it really beat the qulity of a blu-ray disc? What will look best? 4K over internet or a full blu-ray disc(1080p)?

It would be great of the new 4K format could be used for 1080p media, that could result int full blu-ray disc qulity at a size that we still can pass over internet without problem.
 
Hi,

don't get me wrong I WILL own a 4K tv one day, just not right now, too many issues with playback, lack of content etc, this will all come right eventually, but right now I think I'll save my £1000 and wait until it is. Money isn't an issue either as I can afford any of the current models quite easily, just want to wait until 4k is the norm rather than the latest tech ;)

Mike.
 

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