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Thread: 4K yay or 4K nay?

  1. #1
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    4K yay or 4K nay?

    Every year my work does a Salary Sacrifice scheme where they offer items related to the business at a small discount and allow you to pay the item off over 12 months direct from your paycheck. I've had two iPads over the past two years and have no need or desire for another.

    What they are offering is TV's and I'm tempted. They have a 32", 42, 47 and 55" 1080p sets but that's not what I'm interested in. They are offering a 4k 49" set for £92.30 a month. All the TV sets are by LG so I have no choice in manufacturer. Does anyone have a 4k set already? I watch very little content that even runs at 1080p, most of my content is 1080i at best via Sky TV's HD service but I do have Fibre BB with 40meg down so I'd say streaming 4k content is doable, I just haven't heard a thing about any 4k service coming.
    Last edited by Alan P; June 2nd, 2014 at 01:18 PM.

  2. #2
    mAdminstrator Random's Avatar
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    Is there any 4k content being broadcast?
    Whoomah!

  3. #3
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    No, although I hear Netflix will be launching a 4k service soon. How much there will be though I don't know. Would also mean I would have to subscribe though.

  4. #4
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    "Soon" usually means "within 2 years" and "content" means "4 movies".

    I'm not sure I'd just on that bandwagon, just yet. But that's just my opinion (coming from someone that would always buy shit the day it came out, at ass-rape cost).

  5. #5
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    I just installed a 65" 4k Samsung - it's their top model, with face/voice/gesture recognition and all the nifty smart features, etc.

    I didn't have any 4k content to show, but the BDs I tried looked fantastic. Even SDTV looked great. I think the 4k sets have so many pixels and so much processing power they can render images better than contemporary HDTVs can, even old crap images.

    I don't know TV pricing in the UK, but if that's the set I think it is, it has a current price of US$1500 here, so £92.30 seems slightly high - although if this plan includes financing charges or interest, then maybe right on target. What I have read is that 4k sets will drop 30-50% by Christmas (maybe the first wave happening now) so 4k sets will be priced similarly to what 2k sets are right now. Point being, it *seems* like this will be an $800-$1000 TV by the end of the year. Again, dunno what that means elsewhere.

    My concern about buying a 4k set right this second is going to be connectivity. The is no current HDMI support for those resolutions, so you need DisplayPort to run them. I don't think this set has DisplayPort. Although unlikely, I'd be slightly worried about investing in this technology until a supported connectivity standard emerges. The only reason I bought the 4k Samsung is because it was only $600 more than the 2k version that I needed for the project, and that $600 (a 20% bump in price) gave the possibility of some future proofing, whereas the 2k set was certainly going to be passé in a year.

    Unless you're in such a situation - that is the price is stellar - I'd wait.

  6. #6
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    Not worth the pain in the absurd costs for such measly content (none on tv so far... Wimbledon may get 4K coverage this year, and maybe some will experiment with 4K for the World Football Cup in Brasil).
    Either you subscribe on Netflix and then hope their 4K content isn't only next season of House of Cards (which will be outstanding, mind... it already is at 1080i or 1080p) or you are stuck with 4K videos over Youtube, basically.

    OTOH, if you never spend big money on TV and are not excessively picky on quality (I don't rate LG tv sets among the best. And no, I don't rate Samsung ones among them either. Not even the ludicrously expensive ones) and you know you won't buy anything high quality in the next 5-7 years... go for it.
    One thing: FOR THE LOVE OF GOD do NOT buy any curved display TV set. They are simply SHIT. Distorded views, bad offcenter viewing angles... they are really a poisonous gimmick pushed by korean companies as a new "to have" feature which do more bad than good to tv watching.

    And no, they have nothing to do with the slightly curved cinema theatres canvas. Not in the same ballpark at all.
    EDIT: And yes, I'd worry about connectivity standards too.

  7. #7
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    Wouldn't ever consider a curved set. I don't see the point. I'm worried about connectivity too, apparently HDMI 2.0 is only supported on one of the four available connections on the TV. I may just skip this year and wait until next year. I just don't see the content although I am hearing rumours about a limited Sky 4k service either very late this year or early next.

  8. #8
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    My dad seems keener on the curved sets (for more immersion) than 4K. In fact he's going to replace his c. 10yo Sony plasma this year.

    Having said that, I'm trying to convince him to install a projector for the most bang-for-buck, given that he installed all the wiring 10 years ago (albeit that it'll probably need to be upgraded to HDMI 1.4a or whatever) and all he needs to do is install the projector mount and screen.

  9. #9
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    Fuck 4K... For now.

    http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2014/06/4k...mb-format-war/

    And Netflix is doing 4K right now, all you need is a TV that streams it.

  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by Yw-slayer View Post
    Having said that, I'm trying to convince him to install a projector for the most bang-for-buck, given that he installed all the wiring 10 years ago (albeit that it'll probably need to be upgraded to HDMI 1.4a or whatever) and all he needs to do is install the projector mount and screen.
    If he wants to spend a lot of money: high quality 4K VPR. And fuck tv panels. Really.

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