Is 4k worth it?

Author
Discussion

dieseluser07

Original Poster:

2,452 posts

115 months

Tuesday 29th March 2016
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Buying a new tv. Currently have a 4 year old hitatchi 40 inch full HD tv.

Wanting a bigger size for gaming so going to 55 inch.

Question is, is 4k worth it? The sets are literally about 200 more than a full hd set (unless you buy a bush or something)

Will i notice poor image quality if i dont at that size? Wanting the tv to do me for 3/4 years ideally so dont know hos important it is.

dieseluser07

Original Poster:

2,452 posts

115 months

Tuesday 29th March 2016
quotequote all
Also looking at buying a better manufacturer as picture quality on the hitatchi aint great.

devnull

3,745 posts

156 months

Tuesday 29th March 2016
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How good are your eyes for a start? Serious question!

Also, what are you planning on watching? Don't Freeview / Sky to look any better.


brman

1,233 posts

108 months

Tuesday 29th March 2016
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devnull said:
How good are your eyes for a start? Serious question!

Also, what are you planning on watching? Don't Freeview / Sky to look any better.

I assume that was meant to say "Don't expect Freeview / Sky to look any better"

I'd go further than that..... you may well find that Freeview/Sky looks worse! I've been looking to upgrade my old HD panasonic LCD with a larger 4k.
Trouble is, everything I have seen so far has worse image quality on standard definition than my pany. In fact a direct comparison (ie same SD broadcast source, same screen size, default screen settings) of a sony HD TV and a Sony 4k TV and I reckon the HD was noticeably better.

They all look brilliant with a 4k source though so if you watch netflix or whatever a lot I would go for one. wink


Gorilla Boy

7,808 posts

172 months

Tuesday 29th March 2016
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For gaming? Im going to presume on a console, if so 4k isnt worth it whatsoever.

However for PC gaming you'd be better off getting a good quality high refresh rate monitor rather than a TV.

272BHP

4,960 posts

235 months

Tuesday 29th March 2016
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Who watches SD these days though. I don't know why they even broadcast it anymore. if something was only on SD then I simply wouldn't watch it - it offends my eyes.

Of course that is just me, when my in-laws visit they always choose a SD feed over a HD one. I believe they think HD is somehow extravagant, unnecessary and middle class - like sending your child to a private school. When i turn it over to the HD alternative they laugh and say 'it looks exactly the same!'

No it doesn't.


dieseluser07

Original Poster:

2,452 posts

115 months

Tuesday 29th March 2016
quotequote all
Gorilla Boy said:
For gaming? Im going to presume on a console, if so 4k isnt worth it whatsoever.

However for PC gaming you'd be better off getting a good quality high refresh rate monitor rather than a TV.
On a console yes, will there not be much 4k content on tv in the next few years?
Dont really watch netflix

Also will panasonic generally have better image quality than budget brands

272BHP

4,960 posts

235 months

Tuesday 29th March 2016
quotequote all
If you want to keep it for 4-5 years then you might as well get 4K now, the sets are cheap enough to make it worth paying the difference I think.

What is your budget?

227bhp

10,203 posts

127 months

Tuesday 29th March 2016
quotequote all
devnull said:
How good are your eyes for a start? Serious question!
Not very good it seems as he posts up in the wrong section every week.

dieseluser07

Original Poster:

2,452 posts

115 months

Tuesday 29th March 2016
quotequote all
272BHP said:
If you want to keep it for 4-5 years then you might as well get 4K now, the sets are cheap enough to make it worth paying the difference I think.

What is your budget?
Ideally less than 500 which gets me only cheap brand 4k tvs or good brand full HD tv's.

272BHP

4,960 posts

235 months

Tuesday 29th March 2016
quotequote all
227bhp said:
Not very good it seems as he posts up in the wrong section every week.
I do worry when I see you post. Our usernames are so similar that I think I might get mistaken for you if you ever came out with something outlandish - good job you seem to be a sensible chap! laugh


272BHP

4,960 posts

235 months

Tuesday 29th March 2016
quotequote all
dieseluser07 said:
Ideally less than 500 which gets me only cheap brand 4k tvs or good brand full HD tv's.
Yeah that's probably a bit of tight budget for a 55" 4K at the moment. You would probably have to pony up another 150-200 to get a LG or Samsung.

Of course it all depends how far you sit from the TV as well; anymore than 9 feet or so and 4K is never really going to be worth the difference at that screen size.

227bhp

10,203 posts

127 months

Tuesday 29th March 2016
quotequote all
272BHP said:
227bhp said:
Not very good it seems as he posts up in the wrong section every week.
I do worry when I see you post. Our usernames are so similar that I think I might get mistaken for you if you ever came out with something outlandish - good job you seem to be a sensible chap! laugh
Yeah yeah, one day I'll be as good as you Dad!

272BHP

4,960 posts

235 months

Tuesday 29th March 2016
quotequote all
227bhp said:
Yeah yeah, one day I'll be as good as you Dad!
You're certainly more prolific, even with a 45 horse power deficit. biggrin

Ken Figenus

5,678 posts

116 months

Tuesday 29th March 2016
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I have a 4k TV camera. I connect it direct to a 42" Samsung and I cant tell the difference between clips shot in 4k (2160P UHD) or 1080P. It still very handy material to edit with but I'd suggest you need a much bigger screen and to be quite far away to make any real difference. >but shhhh - dont tell anyone< smile

227bhp

10,203 posts

127 months

Tuesday 29th March 2016
quotequote all
272BHP said:
227bhp said:
Yeah yeah, one day I'll be as good as you Dad!
You're certainly more prolific, even with a 45 horse power deficit. biggrin
It's not what you've got, it's what you do with it. I'll be back with more anyhow when i've turned up the boost and had a remap wink

brman

1,233 posts

108 months

Wednesday 30th March 2016
quotequote all
272BHP said:
Who watches SD these days though. I don't know why they even broadcast it anymore. if something was only on SD then I simply wouldn't watch it - it offends my eyes.

Of course that is just me, when my in-laws visit they always choose a SD feed over a HD one. I believe they think HD is somehow extravagant, unnecessary and middle class - like sending your child to a private school. When i turn it over to the HD alternative they laugh and say 'it looks exactly the same!'

No it doesn't.
Sorry but that is just cutting your nose off to spite your face.

I think less than 20% of the channels on my virgin feed are HD. To suggest I should not watch the other 40+ channels just because they are SD is a bit bizarre. plus none of them are 4k so a 4k TV would have absolutely no advantage (just disadvantages) on anything broadcast.

So my point still stands, it is a choice between better quality on 4k sources, if you actually have them, vs worse quality on SD (and, if you are lucky, equal quality on HD). Only the OP can decide what is right for him.

Alex

9,975 posts

283 months

Wednesday 30th March 2016
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272BHP said:
Of course that is just me, when my in-laws visit they always choose a SD feed over a HD one. I believe they think HD is somehow extravagant, unnecessary and middle class - like sending your child to a private school. When i turn it over to the HD alternative they laugh and say 'it looks exactly the same!'

No it doesn't.
My in-laws do that! They think they're saving electricity or something.

AlexHat

1,327 posts

118 months

Wednesday 30th March 2016
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This is a very useful thread, as I'm moving in a couple of months and was thinking HD or 4K TV? So far the consensus seems to be stick with HD until 4K becomes more popular channel wise.

jmorgan

36,010 posts

283 months

Wednesday 30th March 2016
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Needs to be a good upscaled. Watching a 4k OLED deal with a off air SD and it was soft, as you would expect, though a lot better than I have had to suffer in many a hotel. Watched off air HD and it was very good, side by side with a HD only panel I had to look at it for a short while to get the differences.

Then watching planet of the apes or the demo stuff in 4k as well as sport, just WOW!

I hope that a bluray will be a better deal.

Personal choice and all that.