This week Sony announced the imminent arrival of one of their first 4K television set. The Bravia X9 will be released in mid-June, and will be offered in 55-inch and 65-inch models. They’ll retail for approximately €4,800 and €7,000 respectively. If they seem like extremely high prices, they’re only a fraction of the €30,000 Sony were looking for last year when they released the 84” KD-84X9005.
Sony aren’t the only ones offering 4K sets, with LG and others already selling the latest tech in Irish stores. While they’re currently prohibitively expensive for a vast majority of consumers, the prices are slowly falling, and within the next few years they will be within the price range of people looking to upgrade their current HD sets. The question is: will that upgrade be worth it?
What is 4K?
4K – sometimes referred to as Ultra HD – refers to the resolution of the screen. It offers a display of 3840 × 2160 pixels. Full HDTV, in comparison, offers 1920 x 1080 pixels (aka 1080p). Although 4K is the standard resolution being offered by most manufacturers, there is also a competing resolution called 8K UHD, offering 7680 × 4320 pixels. However, 8K is as yet not being offered for the consumer market, with most hopping on the 4K bandwagon rather than the more expensive alternative.
Why 4K?
Simply put, it offers a superior resolution to current HD technology. Industry-standard digital cameras, for example, generally shoot in either 4K or 5K resolutions (sometimes even less), so 4K television would be able to effectively display the full ‘raw’ image (although likely with heavy compression). Indeed, digital cinemas as standard project in 2K or 4K, so 4K TV would bring cinema quality resolution into living rooms.
For classic film enthusiasts, 4K would be somewhat of a gold standard – although digital images and celluloid ones aren’t directly comparable, the latest tech will be able to capture most of the detail of film.
Although 3D’s popularity is declining, 4K would be able to provide a better quality three-dimensional image, while it will also massively benefit gaming the same way HD has. Add to this the fact that HD televisions are likely to be offered with all sort of ‘smart’ features and internet access.
Significantly, many expect 4K to be a plateau of sorts. 4K would be the ideal format for presenting most existing television & film material, and any further upgrades will provide diminishing returns. Until companies inevitably invent new novelties and ‘better’ technology for future productions, 4K is theoretically all most people would need.
Drawbacks
Cost, naturally, is the biggest concern at the moment. 4K is probably a few years away from mainstream acceptance. A similar problem is size. A 4K image will benefit most from bigger displays – a 38” or 42” set will not be ideal for displaying such a rich image, let alone smaller sets. This is a practical restriction – many people can simply not fit massive televisions into their homes (especially in the significant Japanese market).
Access to 4K data is also a problem. Files in Ultra HD are massive, even when compressed, and many countries – arguably Ireland included – are simply not equipped for that. With no successor to Blu-Ray in sight (Blu-Ray itself still somewhat of a niche format), no physical format barring expensive hard-drives will be suitable. Internet providers in many areas of Ireland still can barely stream HD Netflix consistently, let alone 4K. There are sample videos and some test channels already displaying 4K content – but its mass distribution is not yet wholly practical.
Although 4K technology can ‘upscale’ HD and SD content to some degree – the same way DVDs look a little better through your Blu-Ray player – it will once again render people’s existing DVDs, Blu-Rays and even digital libraries somewhat obsolete. SD content particularly will not look pretty on a 4K TV without proper remastering (if indeed remastering is popular – old TV shows, for example, would have been shot on low-quality stock). Will people be willing to put up with that?
4K isn’t quite ready for everyone’s living room, so, but it is coming. Whether it will be the next big thing or simply an enthusiast extravagance remains to be seen. There are no doubt many theoretical benefits to the upgrade, but it will be up to the various manufacturers to ensure we’re all able to make the best out of 4K before we consider investing.
