HDTV - To 4K or not to 4K?

[FourOh]

That is the question.

I'd like to put a 50" or 55" LED HDTV on my gift list this year to replace my aging plasma - lots of options out there but I've narrowed it down to Samsung or Vizio 50-55" with Smart TV functions. I can't imagine I'll use 3D but I won't rule it out. From everything I've read, at 8-10' viewing distance (not much I can do about that in my living room) 4k won't appear any better than 1080i/p. But, I tend to keep TVs for a LONG time, so I don't want to be stuck with out of date technology if 4K really takes off.

I value picture quality for movies over sports, and audio is run through a receiver so TV sound quality is not an issue. Any thoughts on 4K or 3D for home theater?

Edit: Oh yeah, target price around $700-900. Considering Black Friday sales, I think I should be able to find what I'm looking for in that range.

[Maxwell]

I've thought about that question for a bit, and I can't really justify it to myself. Here's why:

1. Lack of content. There just isn't enough out there available in 4k for it to be worth my while right now.
2. Streaming. I'm a streaming (almost) only household, and my bandwidth isn't enough to support streaming in 4k even if there were content. I can usually stream 1080p on dual screens, but even that's starting to push the limits.
3. Cost. Coupled with the above, the additional cost doesn't measure up for me.

Those are my thoughts.

[Mumps]

TigerDirect sent out in their email this morning that they had a 50 inch 4K TV for $399. I'd have to guess it's This one.

4K sort of makes sense if you have BlueRay, but no way for DVD, Cable, Satellite, or DSL as far as I'm aware. But that's from someone that's not all that much in to TV.

[Bok]

I'm pretty close to buying the 65" Samsung 4K ultra Curved tv.. BestBuy have it on sale now for $1999.

[cineon_lut]

I would definitely get a smart TV. But your first post is correct: unless you have incredible eyes, and will be viewing 4k Blu Ray content, you're not likely to notice much difference. It's not like the big jump from SD to HD TVs 10 years ago. If you were buying an 80" display, my opinion would be different, but at 55 it's tough to see the diff on a day to day basis.

So…all things being equal, if you can buy 4k within your budget, buy it. But if it's the difference between TV with good color & features versus resolution, I'd go color & features.

[John P. Myers]

I'm looking at getting a 60-65" Samsung curved 4k smart tv myself. Definitely go with 4k. Here's why:

There is content available, such as with Netflix. They have a 4k subscription plan. Also, hollywood films are natively shot at 4k so when more content comes, it'll come quickly since the master recordings are already 4k. Not being able to tell the difference between 4k and 1080p at 10' is absolutely false unless your eyes are bad

It does take a minimum 15 Gb/s internet speed to stream 4k content though there's a newer compression algorithm coming soon that'll reduce that, but not sure by how much.

If you decide against a 4k tv, then it'd be best not to buy another tv at all. It'll be a waste of money since 4k content will be everywhere years before your new 1080p wears out. Might as well get future-proofed while you can.

Being curved or not isn't really a big deal.

Some people say that using a 3D tv to display 2D content results in a sharper picture than a regular 2D display. I don't personally know if that's true or not.

For power efficiency, Samsungs are generally the best since they use true OLED technology, while LG uses WOLED, which still requires a color filter, requiring the backlight to be brighter in order to shine through it. Also because of this, Samungs tend to weigh a little less, if that matters to you.

If you need some extra time to think about, the tv sales in late jan/early feb are just as good as black friday/cyber monday sales. TV's have model years like cars and that's the time of year they clear stock to make room for the new ones. Remember if you buy a cheap brand of 4k tv, such as Changhong, the trueness of the colors is nowhere near as good as they are on a Samsung or LG (blacks can look grey, and you may even see dancing fuzzinees swirling through the image if you look closely enough).

[cineon_lut]

There is content available, such as with Netflix. They have a 4k subscription plan. Also, hollywood films are natively shot at 4k so when more content comes, it'll come quickly since the master recordings are already 4k. Not being able to tell the difference between 4k and 1080p at 10' is absolutely false unless your eyes are bad

Capture is 4k on the F65 and the Red, 3k (2880x1620) for the Arri Alexa. Despite all of that, often the finish a.k.a. master is 2k (2048x1152) for cost reasons.

Even when it is a 4k master, by the time it goes through the compression on youtube or Netflix, you've lost quite a bit anyway. Blu-ray is a different story--and that does make a difference.

But my point was, if you can afford 4k, get it. But high resolution does not always mean a better picture. That's what makes some TVs $2500 and other TVs the same size $800. Cameras are the same story. Spend your money on the optics, not just the number of megapixels.

[zombie67]

I wonder if it would be cheaper to buy a 1080 unit now, and a 4k unit a year from now? Yeah it would mean trashing/selling the 1080 unit earlier than usual. But if it's still cheaper than a 4k now, so what?

[FourOh]

Samsung's entry level 4K Smart TV is only about $100 more than their mid-range 1080P Smart TV for the 50" size - at least during the Black Friday savings. The 4K 55" model is about $300 more, but I'm thinking 55" might overwhelm my modest-sized living room. Even Samsung's TV size calculator suggests 50 inch.

As JPM mentioned, weight is an issue - my plasma weighs a ton and it's mounted to 100+ year old chimney bricks. It's been making me nervous since I hung it there... if the New Madrid fault line decides to move I'm afraid that beast is coming down!

Here's a graphic I saw indicating that in the 8-10' viewing range, benefits of 4K aren't noticeable until you get into the 70"-80" screen sizes. I think I will go with the best picture for my budget regardless of 1080p/4K and when I build out a home theater in a couple years I'll spring for a big 4K.
resolution_chart-625x625.jpg

Thanks all for your input-

[John P. Myers]

In my experience, that chart just isn't right. No idea whose opinion it's based on, but before you make a purchase, visit a Best Buy, Sam's club or H.H. Gregg etc. and see one in person just to be sure.