Video and 4K

[RCHeliGuy]

I think 4K/UHD is great for gaming and will eventually be great for Virtual reality.

However 4K is a real catch 22 for watching movies. In order to see the detail of 4K, you need to get closer to the screen than is comfortable.

There is a viewing distance to screen size ratio necessary for your eye to be able to physically resolve the additional resolution.

I have a 75" HD and a 65" UHD TV.

At the viewing distance in my media room, 10 feet, I would need at least a 85" TV to start to be able to perceive some but not all of the resolution of 4K, and 140"+ to see it all.

The problem I see is that at 10' with my new 75" TV, many of the new TV shows that I watch have that shaking camera technique that is in vogue right now. Some of them are hard to watch at 10' with a 75" TV. I didn't notice this issue at 10' with a 55" TV. I'm very happy with my 75" TV, but after having it just a few days, I'm very glad that I didn't get the 85" set and I doubt I will ever want a larger TV in there.

10' and 75" is supposed to allow me to see the full benefit of 1080P which is great for Blue Ray disk, and they look fantastic. However cable still broadcasts 720P that is fairly well compressed and Netflix isn't much better.

Smart TV's typically have Netflix and WiFi built in so I was able to stream 4K from Netflix directly to my smart 4K TV and it does look very sharp. Obvious the stillish scenery looks great because the compression allows more detail.

However you had to get up closer to the TV than I would want to watch from to see the detail.

My 65" UHD TV is 9' away from where I sit and I had to stand in front of my coffee table to notice any difference in the 4K material streaming from Netflix.

If I had any suggestions, it would be to pick up a great deal on a larger HD TV as they start to clear them out and save your money on the UHD stuff until they are all that is being sold.

 

[Rich]

Completely agree. In my media room, I have a 1080p projector with a 120" screen. I sit about 13' away, so I get the full benefit of 1080p. To get the full benefit of 4K, I would have to move to within about 8' which just seems insane to me. I would have to upgrade my projector and player, and pay more for content. For what? Sharper details if I move really really close to this huge screen? I don't think so. 1080p is plenty sharp enough for me.

4K may make sense for computer monitors, where you tend to sit very close to the screen anyway. But for average consumer televisions? Not so much. Just another marketing gimmick to sell the consumer something they don't really need. Kind of like the 3D flop they tried to force on consumers.

 

[RCHeliGuy]

4K may make sense for computer monitors, where you tend to sit very close to the screen anyway. But for average consumer televisions? Not so much. Just another marketing gimmick to sell the consumer something they don't really need. Kind of like the 3D flop they tried to force on consumers.

Exactly.

Regarding 3D, my new 75" monitor is 3D capable and rated quite well for 3D, but did not come with any 3D glasses. They are available as an option that I'll never buy.

More importantly it has HDR which I can see

It do watch IMAX 3D at the theater. I saw Avatar 3 times and I understand that the new Jungle Book is quite spectacular in 3D. In a theater glasses don't bother me since I am single tasking and go early to get a nice center seat at the perfect viewing angle. At home I generally don't want to deal with glasses because I'm typically multitasking, or interruptable etc..