[*Scotty*]

4K really doesn't come into its own in a domestic environment until you have very large screens, perhaps well in excess of 100 inches. Most people don't sit close enough to 1080p sets to get the benefit from them either.
The bottom line is that our eye/brain system has a finite amount of resolution.
Scotty

[brooklyn]

Last year I purchased a Samsung 55” LED 1080p TV.. I compared my TV and a similar Samsung 55’ 4k TV
side by side at Best Buy standing the same 11 feet away from both (the Distance I watch my TV) with the
same Blu Ray movie playing at the same time. The 4K TV did upscale the Blu Ray movie to 4K but I could
not tell the difference at that distance..

If you have 4K content playing on a 4K TV on a larger screen then 55” (at almost any distance) I think
you would benefit from a 4K TV.. That's just my opinion..

[RDavidson]

Right now, about the best thing 4k is good for (besides use in VERY large screen sizes) is sitting close to the screen and using it as a computer monitor. The resolution is great for Photoshop use and other applications where resolution is important.

[jarcher]

Out of the gate I believe there are only 30 UHD titles (mainly scifi or superhero) and maybe 100 by years end. So until content availability - better yet rental - doesn't catch up, then probably not much sense. To buy a UHD be player.  There ain't a whole lot of 4k content to stream either.

The Samsung suhd bd may only be $399, but bottom line is that there isn't much content yet or soon to watch on it.

Saw Samsung UHD display and UHD BD player at CES and it did look very good even on a 65 inch screen, but even at that size I wasn't blown away vs BD. What did blow me away Sony's demo of Backlight Master Drive - ASTONISHING contrast range - ultra bight realistic brights and excellent deep blacks and shadow detail. Made even conventional HDR seem muted by comparison. No release date yet - But if and when they do implement it, that'll be the videophiles new hot delight.

[Phil A]

Saw Samsung UHD display and UHD BD player at CES and it did look very good even on a 65 inch screen, but even at that size I wasn't blown away vs BD. What did blow me away Sony's demo of Backlight Master Drive - ASTONISHING contrast range - ultra bight realistic brights and excellent deep blacks and shadow detail. Made even conventional HDR seem muted by comparison. No release date yet - But if and when they do implement it, that'll be the videophiles new hot delight.

Jon - didn't realize you have had plastic surgery and changed the spelling of your first name
http://www.trustedreviews.com/sony-backlight-master-drive-tv-review

[jarcher]

Ah yes - I've read a few reviews by my beardless doppelgänger!  He certainly gets it right about BMD - most impressive advance I've seen in imaging since the original HD vs SD.

[RDavidson]

That's cool seeing Sony working their way back to the top of video technology again. I've been waiting for someone to do something like this. I mean, if it is possible to program blocks of backlights to turn on and off, then it's possible to program much smaller arrays of backlights also. Good job Sony.

[mgsboedmisodpc2]

woodsyi wrote "e, it will probably be another 7 years or so before I upgrade again " until 8K available in Japan is available in the USA

[jqp]

I will have to show this to my wife.  The solution is clear.  I need to get a 100" screen to sit 12' away.   

I don't know about the math of it all.  I am sure it's valid but there is always some thing an equation doesn't cover.  History of science is replete with theories that claim too much domain of efficacy in the beginning.  I am seeing better picture in some stuff.  Not all but some.  I think they are just upscaled stuff.  I haven't seen a native UHD material yet.

What often happens in the real world is that in the digital realm, a higher resolution camera is used to film in order to get good quality at a lower resolution product. So a concientious director will want to Film in 4K because he wants his film to have a better quality on Blu Ray than would otherwise be possible.

Transferring from real film, which can yield a much higher resolution than you would think, to digital involves still many factors besides the physical limits of making a transfer. It takes a lot of effort to do it right.

So right there, you can see there will be a lot of different quality options which have to be decided upon as resolutions get higher and higher. There is still plenty of room to get amazing digital images from 70MM films, but how many of those films are available? And how much money/effort will the average 4K product have in it?

Digital cameras should be 8K to produce 4K content. There is a lot of work to do this and not enough bodies to do it right, so there is not much content. Anything you see that is 8K and most of the good 4K stuff is in some special event, made to show off the technology.

So for Blu Ray and digital, the latest quality movies were shot with 4K and even 8K cameras.

Consumer 4K TVs are actually usually 3840 X 2160, the dimensions of my early generation "4k" monitor from Dell (got it onm sale for $300   ) The marketing term is actually "4K UHD" in case folks actually do the math and want to sue.

When I have seen 4K content on my computer from the internet, the production people had often "blown out" the contrast because 4K can really show flaws in closeups, flaws that are unacceptable for movie watching. I think that there will be an amazing amount of post-processing and CGI work when 4K movies are common. You should watch the movie "The Congress" currently on Amazon Prime about the future of movies and the world itself, look for an appearance by Reeve Robs.

Even for this "fake" 4K technology there is not a lot of content out there. Streaming will lag behind a lot I believe, and will be "up to 4k". Streaming of 4K would be a miracle at the present time, as the special HEVC (High Efficiency Video Coding)/H.265 compression standard is required to do it at the present as I understand it. And for Youtube 4K you need another standard. Also you would need consistent high speed internet, which I can't seem to get. I can download at incredible speeds now, but not consistently. Hence the new Amazon Fire box has 8GB to buffer movies so 4K streaming can work in the future.

The good news for us all is that I can watch things produced for 4K on my HDTV (almost 2K!) right now and benefit, so the transition to 4K is good for viewers with HD. But if I had a 4K TV I think it would be tough to just watch something and have a good picture quality. The TV will need to go excellent upsampling as my Sony 40" 4x3 CRT did - it made analog cable look good in 720p or even 1080p. And shows that were produced for 1080p that were still broadcast on analog cable (such as Conan O'brien and the evening news)  looked like a real 1080p!