Is it do or die for 4k UHD in 2023? (1 Viewer)

[Kyle_D]

I'm sure the A/V industry will try to force 8K on consumers because simply because it's easy to market. Likewise, streaming providers will need an easily-understandable marketing pretext to incentivize consumers to upgrade to new TVs and streaming boxes capable of decoding AV1, which promises save streamers a lot on bandwidth, licensing, and storage costs, even if the vast majority of their AV1 content will never be in 8K.

 

[Keith Cobby]

It's a niche format but all I care about is that my favourite films are released before studios give up on it. Of my friends, only one has any 4k discs, and most of the others consider discs as clutter and are selling/giving them away. My wife and teenage son no longer care for them, happy to rely on the streaming services.

 

[Alan Tully]

It's a niche format but all I care about is that my favourite films are released before studios give up on it. Of my friends, only one has any 4k discs, and most of the others consider discs as clutter and are selling/giving them away. My wife and teenage son no longer care for them, happy to rely on the streaming services.

Oh I think a lot of people will be nodding their head reading that post. I'm less ambitious, I just hope I get most of my wanted films on good old standard Blu-ray before the end of the format. I don't personally know anyone who buys discs now, but I've been retired for seven years & my circle of friends & acquaintances has been steadily getting smaller for various reasons.

 

[YANG]

Humans can't even see 8k...or 4k for that matter.

a fair observation and sentiment.

however if you had explored among different resolutions and different medias, you would have notice how, resolution, have it's effects on bringing out the "naturalness" in blacks, brightness, and colors. it's not just sharpness and motion all the time...

my country's public broadcast is capped @ 1080i FHD.
while my daily visual feed, is thru YouTube content which spans among 360p, 480p and 720p due to tapping on my data from my mobilephone sharing.
majority of my visual feeding thru optical media thru upscaling of my DVD playback, to 1080p/i depending on the nature of the transfer NTSC or PAL. due to higher percentage of the collection in that format.
BluRay playback mostly upscaled to 4K UHD for WS2.4:1 content, WS1.66,1.77,1.85,2.0:1 leaving it as it is un-upscaled on another TV.

YouTube's offering of choice to let user choose the type of resolution they're okay with, depending on the limitations of their resources, opens up the clear view to different individuals how and where their "comfort-ness" is achieved to their eyes.
for me, 480p for most contents is sharp and natural enough as my viewing distance is roughly 2.5meters away from my 50inch 4K TV. the TV does it's job well on filling up the screen to it's nature resolution.
of course, 720p brings in deeper colors and blacks and more natural whiteness. my subscribed data sized will deplete more faster if i'm greedy for such "tasty treats" for my eyes.

the seating distance/sweetspot of my eyes will be shifted to roughly 2.1meters whenever i'm watching a movie on optical disc playback.
WS1.66~2.0:1 content with the 50inch,
WS2.2~2.4:1 content with the 75inch.
yeah... whenever it comes to movies, i'll position myself between 2 screen which is face to face to one another.

the point is... does one really need 8K TV? probably...if that individual thinks he have a strength of eyes that could see deeper into details. but to me, it's just slight improvement over 4K resolution because my sight is limited by the size of the screen vs the distance from my eyes to screen that have great effect on my angle of perception.

 

[Carl David]

I vote for Michael Cimino's Year of the Dragon. The 2019 Blu Ray release is a vast improvement over the original DVD but this is a special film which was beautifully shot. It deserves the very best treatment.

That's a good shout.

Would definitely buy that one.

 

[Carl David]

Yes, my tiny 4K collection all have one thing in common, all bought in special offers, for instance; Sparacus, Die Hard & The Shining in a 3 for £30 offer. I have plenty of patience & can wait for a price drop, there's no way I'm paying £25.

I can see that view on the format.

It's still a fairly new technology so the companies that have made the big investments need to try and recoup as much as possible.

Costs will come down in the coming years. If more people are willing to pay the high prices now the more likely the companies will be able to lower the prices in the future.

 

[Carl David]

This forum isn't reality. It's a far outlier of the general public in terms of physical media interest and consumption.

Given the dynamics of DVD-Blu Ray-4K share of the disc market, I do think that the 4K ship has sailed in terms of anything close to being significant. I don't think that it's stagnant... certainly boutique labels are helping on that front.

B&M space is rapidly shrinking and what's mostly gone is 4K... with maybe the exception of Best Buy.

Probably an astute observation.

I think when the prices come down it won't make much of a difference.

The releases will probably few and far between in a few years.

 

[Carl David]

I'm sure the A/V industry will try to force 8K on consumers because simply because it's easy to market. Likewise, streaming providers will need an easily-understandable marketing pretext to incentivize consumers to upgrade to new TVs and streaming boxes capable of decoding AV1, which promises save streamers a lot on bandwidth, licensing, and storage costs, even if the vast majority of their AV1 content will never be in 8K.

Probably.

There always has to be the illusion of a new and improved technology.

8k will be inevitable if only to sell TVs.

If there is no 8k who is going to buy a new TV when they already have a 4k one?

Not many I would assume especially the average consumer.

8k will help the TV manufactures sell TVs in large numbers.

But it's nothing I will be interested in.

 

[Carl David]

It's a niche format but all I care about is that my favourite films are released before studios give up on it. Of my friends, only one has any 4k discs, and most of the others consider discs as clutter and are selling/giving them away. My wife and teenage son no longer care for them, happy to rely on the streaming services.

Yes. Me too.

Just hoping we get a few more years where some more releases get made including first time releases on Blu Ray too.

 

[YANG]

...8k will be inevitable if only to sell TVs.

If there is no 8k who is going to buy a new TV when they already have a 4k one?

Not many I would assume especially the average consumer.

8k will help the TV manufactures sell TVs in large numbers...

Ban of Sales is coming soon to some 8K TVs that are power hungry in Europe.

 

[Carl David]

Ban of Sales is coming soon to some 8K TVs that are power hungry in Europe.

Is that actually true or just humour?

 

[Worth]

Is that actually true or just humour?

It's true that pretty much all 8K and a few 4K sets exceed the new EU power consumption rules, but all manufacturers need to do to get around that is have default picture modes that are dim enough to use less power.

Why the European Union Is Set to Ban 8K TVs in 2023

The EU is cracking down on products that consume excessive energy

www.insidehook.com

 

[Alan Tully]

I thought 8K TVs was a joke, but I checked & they are a thing. It all seems a bit bonkers to me. What's next, 25-1 surround-sound & smell-o-vision? I think most of the people on this forum know better.

 

[YANG]

technology advancement discussion deserves another thread in the hardware section, as most of the response here are touching on the software portion.
anyway... when one is developed, another is in the plan. it's just who're the one to make it a reality.

16K TVs explained: what comes after 4K and 8K resolution?

Will 16K resolution TVs ever become the mainstream?

www.techradar.com

 

[Carl David]

I thought 8K TVs was a joke, but I checked & they are a thing. It all seems a bit bonkers to me. What's next, 25-1 surround-sound & smell-o-vision? I think most of the people on this forum know better.

It's only a gimmick to entice sales. Businesses always have to innovate and "improve" their products to entice potential customers to purchase whatever they are selling.

From speaking with someone who actually does have an 8k TV (Samsung) the uninitiated (and that's a lot) will probably fall for the marketing.

I drive a 20 year old car.

Why?

Because the new vehicles are no different than the older ones. I am not going to part with my money if the car manufacturers cannot innovate and introduce new technological advances to give me an incentive to make the purchase.

No internal combustion engine vehicle can get any better mpg today than any vehicle made 30 years ago with the exception of perhaps some marginal improvements not worth even mentioning.

To some people modern cars may look more aesthetically pleasing (I don't think so) but they are in essence no different than 20 years ago with the exception of a few bells and whistles.

However, to my surprise they seem to sell well so why should the companies even bother trying to make any meaningful improvements?

That's why they don't bother and things never really improve. They have good marketing teams and that seems to be enough.

For now.

Most people who know better will refrain from buying any 8k TV.

In an ideal world the manufacturers will make significant innovations to improve 4k TVs instead but alas that looks unlikely.

More nits. Blacker blacks. More accurate colour representation etc.

These innovations will entice me to upgrade from an older 4k TV (at the right price of course).

 

[JoshZ]

I drive a 20 year old car.

Why?
Because the new vehicles are no different than the older ones. I am not going to part with my money if the car manufacturers cannot innovate and introduce new technological advances to give me an incentive to make the purchase.

No internal combustion engine vehicle can get any better mpg today than any vehicle made 30 years ago with the exception of perhaps some marginal improvements not worth even mentioning.

To some people modern cars may look more aesthetically pleasing (I don't think so) but they are in essence no different than 20 years ago with the exception of a few bells and whistles.

However, to my surprise they seem to sell well so why should the companies even bother trying to make any meaningful improvements?

Do you not put any wear and tear on that 20 year old car?

 

[Carl David]

Do you not put any wear and tear on that 20 year old car?

I'm guessing there is humour in that statement somewhere but I can't quite pinpoint it.

It's a low mileage 20 year old car with not too much wear and tear.

Did you assume I had it from new and put a million miles on it?

I can assure you the exhaust is not held on by tape and no worn hoses were replaced by Toblerone packets.

 

[JoshZ]

I'm guessing there is humour in that statement somewhere but I can't quite pinpoint it.

It's a low mileage 20 year old car with not too much wear and tear.

Did you assume I had it from new and put a million miles on it?

I can assure you the exhaust is not held on by tape and no worn hoses were replaced by Toblerone packets.

Wasn't a joke. I just don't think this analogy works for home theater gear.

Most people need to replace their car much sooner than 20 years, not because they're looking for innovative new technical advances, but simply because upkeep on an old car is such a burden that it's easier and more convenient (and sometimes less expensive) to trade it in for a new one.

 

[Thomas T]

Most people need to replace their car much sooner than 20 years, not because they're looking for innovative new technical advances, but simply because upkeep on an old car is such a burden that it's easier and more convenient (and sometimes less expensive) to trade it in for a new one.

Sorry but I disagree. I drive an 18 year old Hyundai Elantra and it works just fine. It's cheaper for me to fix and replace parts than buy a new car. It's paid for and I don't want to get stuck with $400 a month car payments.

 

[YANG]

...What's next, 25-1 surround-sound & smell-o-vision? I think most of the people on this forum know better.

in 2023, consumers buying new TV either as replacement or upgrade, or even as an initial addition to a new apartment... beside the usual factor of consideration of size and price, the third key consideration factor will be DELSET- Dolby Entry Level Sensory Experience Technology. this would surpass most consumers focus into details such as eARC availability or screen refresh rates, where both are usually easily ignored by buyers if they're just buying a TV for public broadcasts.