Is 4K a game changer?

[I KEEL YOU]

Originally Posted by Tekka

4k won't be a niche. All the television makers are transitioning to 4k and 8k televisions. In ten years you might not even see 1080p televisions sold anymore. The 4k and 8k tvs will be sold like the 720p and 1080p tvs are today.

Using the "sold in stores" argument doesn't prove much. They always sell the newest technology in stores. Forget 10 years, they don't sell TV and computer models that are more than a couple of years old in an electronics store.

But the amount of people who will be buying new TVs in order to replace their old TVs will be much smaller than the transition from the old bulky tube SD TVs to current HD TVs. People were selling off or even throwing away their old TVs to get the HD flatscreens. This won't be the case nearly as much with the transition to 4K TVs and way more people will only buy a new TV if their old one breaks down and dies.

Also, much like the transition from DVD to blu ray wasn't as big as the transition from the huge VHS tapes to much smaller DVD discs, the physical and aesthetic difference won't be as big as the difference between the old chubby TVs and flat screens. This time, it will be a transition from flat screens to flat screens.

It's easy for people who consider themselves videophiles to post on a niche forum and get high off each other's comments about how 256K TVs will dominate in 3 years, but the fact of the matter is the average consumer doesn't give nearly as much **** as you would like them to. See the continuous success of DVDs nearly a decade after the release of the blu ray format. Not to mention the success of streaming even though the quality is crap compared to blu ray.

[pentatonic]

Originally Posted by scorpiontail60

Yes, I'm sure in a hundred years from now we're still going to be watching everything on 1080p TVs. My grandchildren are going to be watching videos at the same resolution I watch them at now. Yep. Sounds about right.

This is it folks. We've reached the end game. Video display technology will never progress past Blu-ray according to Mr. Blu-21 here. Humans in the year 3000 will still be sitting around watching 'high definition' TVs. There will never be a higher resolution format ever in all of mankind's future. We're never going to see 4K or 8K become widespread and we're never getting holodecks.

So I guess we better pack it up folks, because it looks like we're in for the long haul.

Originally Posted by I KEEL YOU

Using the "sold in stores" argument doesn't prove much. They always sell the newest technology in stores. Forget 10 years, they don't sell TV and computer models that are more than a couple of years old in an electronics store.

But the amount of people who will be buying new TVs in order to replace their old TVs will be much smaller than the transition from the old bulky tube SD TVs to current HD TVs. People were selling off or even throwing away their old TVs to get the HD flatscreens. This won't be the case nearly as much with the transition to 4K TVs and way more people will only buy a new TV if their old one breaks down and dies.

Also, much like the transition from DVD to blu ray wasn't as big as the transition from the huge VHS tapes to much smaller DVD discs, the physical and aesthetic difference won't be as big as the difference between the old chubby TVs and flat screens. This time, it will be a transition from flat screens to flat screens.

It's easy for people who consider themselves videophiles to post on a niche forum and get high off each other's comments about how 256K TVs will dominate in 3 years, but the fact of the matter is the average consumer doesn't give nearly as much **** as you would like them to. See the continuous success of DVDs nearly a decade after the release of the blu ray format. Not to mention the success of streaming even though the quality is crap compared to blu ray.

But he makes a valid point, the manufacturers, not us, decide what is to come. Technology as far as I know will not stop and whether you and most agree with UHDTV or not really doesn't matter. You buy what is available as you can't get a custom made TV. UHDTV is now only maybe 10% of them, by 2015 it will most probably be the tech for mid to high end and so on. Give it 5 years and unless you go with a 32" (which might stay at 1080P) you just won't have the choice.

Also, and this is not wishful thinking but reality, many more important technologies will show up which will make the need for UHD real. And, contrary to our good old CRTs, sets today don't have nearly as long a lifespan as they did. With LCD I see many changing within a max of 10 years (and in my surroundings it's closer to 6-7), not 30 like it was then, so whoever has to change will have to buy what's available, and soon that will be UHDTV, so the upgrade will happen, like it or not.

Most also seem to think streaming will never improve, never ever. Just look back 10 years ago (do a search if need be) and realize how many things we take for granted now and really couldn't live without didn't even exist then, you might be real surprised at what we didn't yet have. 1 Gb ISPs are slowly showing up and will only improve. so what is a hurdle today (bandwidth) will soon be of history.

Think of it like this: Do you honestly believe that companies like Sony for instance who are now playing their whole future on this, pushing the boundaries of PQ and AQ (just like they did with 1080p and Blu-ray, unless everyone here would still prefer to go back to VHS ) are going to invest such money to develop better tech, but will never develop a better "format and delivery model" to fully enjoy it.

What is so darn scary to you guys. I don't get it. BD was here for the masses in 2006, but it took at least another few years to have really good content (so many horrible early transfers it's not funny). How some can pass such affirmative judgement on something that is yet to show up is beyond my comprehension. Maybe many here have just reached the "good enough" stage but I know that even if I think BD is great, I have really not even started to feel that "good enough" stage and don't think I ever will, other wise might as well sell my 4th gen i7 PC and my 2 GPUs and revamp my old 386, at one point it wasn't just good enough, it was tha bomb.

End of Rant lol

[Anthony P]

Originally Posted by I KEEL YOU

Using the "sold in stores" argument doesn't prove much. They always sell the newest technology in stores. Forget 10 years, they don't sell TV and computer models that are more than a couple of years old in an electronics store.

But the amount of people who will be buying new TVs in order to replace their old TVs will be much smaller than the transition from the old bulky tube SD TVs to current HD TVs. People were selling off or even throwing away their old TVs to get the HD flatscreens. This won't be the case nearly as much with the transition to 4K TVs and way more people will only buy a new TV if their old one breaks down and dies.

Way too limited view. The first "HDTVs" (and HD channels)came out in the 80's, and flat panel displays have existed even longer. It took a long time for people to replace their Cathode ray tube. The reality is that the big push happened recently and it was more because the government pushed broadcasting from NTSC (or what ever people have where they are) to ATSC (or what ever you have). And so some people debated keep the old TV and get a converter or buy a new TV and then you had others that just saw the adds and thought they would be affected and others that wanted to keep up with their neighbours.

The guy did not say over night everyone will move to 4K, I always find it ridiculous when people believe that. It always takes decades for everyone to drop some old TV standard.

What you are forgetting is the obvious, that sooner or later everyone will either replace their TV (even if it is when the TV brakes) or they will be dead (i.e. the TV outlived the person). And so if someone is buying a new TV in the store at that point in time what is sold in stores is the only thing that counts.

Now if the guy said by 201X (or maybe even an early 202x)everyone would be watching on a 4K TV because they will soon only be selling 4K TVs in store, your comment might make sense but if (his comment) by mid 202X all new TVs are > 1080P what do you think it would mean for the TVs owned by the mid 20X or 204x or.....?