I went in currys the other day and saw the new UHD T.V. These televisions cost nigh on £4,000 and are apparently 3x the definition of regular HD televisions.

Is there need for all these different HD televisions? Are we going to be seeing super HD projector screens in our living rooms in the very near future? It seems to be going that way, does it not.

I assume you mean a 4K television ?

As with a lot of new home entertainment technology, the price will start to come down almost immediately and in a few years they'll be as affordable as the current crop of HD televisions.

4K doesn't hold a huge amount of interest to me at the moment I suppose, but if the price of the televisions became affordable and the content providers provided enough relevant content then i'd certainly consider one in a few years.

Its called Ultra HD. Having seen them in action they do look impressive but you need a stupidly large screen for it to be beneficial and I certainly don't have the space. More importantly there are also next to no UHD sources currently available to use with it, though apparently Netflix have something in the pipeline.

You can get them for £1500, pretty amazed how quickly they have got them on the shelves. Still miffed they aren't actually 4k, think technically they are 3k but manufacturers always love to confuse the public.

I've seen some Adult 4k clips, very impressive. As usual they lead the way.

Interesting - wasn't actually aware of Ultra HD.

I'd always thought 4K was the next big thing.

UltraHD is essentially 4K.

I read the reviews of one of those £1500 4K sets. It may have the pixels but the image processing is compromised. There's a 50" Panasonic one which is better but it's another £600. I nearly went for it but I slept on it and decided to get a normal HD one instead.

Yes, I have one. The Samsung 65" UHD.

Stunning, simply stunning. It's just a shame there is so little content available for it - but it will come eventually.

4k and 8k both come under the "Ultra HD" banner, which sounds more consumer-friendly

All the sets currently out over here that claim to be Ultra HD will be 4k. The Japanese have some 8k systems but the tech is still very much in its early stages.

That's why I'm waiting. I don't see the point of going in early at an inflated price when there's hardly anything to watch in 4K. Just wait until there's a decent amount of content available and then buy at a much reduced price.

There are TV set which have 4 time the Number of pixel that an HD set - i.e. 3840 by 2160
This is UHD1 ( and and sixteen time HD is UHD2 7680 by 4320) They are NOT 4k which is used for thinsg in the film indtsry based on 4098 by 2160 ( but oftehn not tehse number because of asepcst rataios!)

But somehow the mareketters ahev got hooked on big numbers.

the sets you buy now will NOT work with what the broadcasters will be emitting,
They are looking for three things which you can see accross the room

Higher Dynamic range - makes the pictures brighter
Higher frame rate - makes it less judderey
Wider Colour gamut - give richer pictures

and also to have multi channel sound probably using object audio so that you can put your LS anywhere!

So they need to get the specisfication set and all the equipment made to capture the pictures and get them though all their systems and to your home.
Hear some speaking http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPrNhWcjW4c

Some things are there
The "film" camera exist but no "TV" cameras but the Film cameras have HDR HFR And Gamaut to some extent ( could be better)
The screens do not exist with HDR HFR And BT 2020 Gamut and even if the did the HMDI connector cannot take the signal
and so it goes on.
The broadcasters are worked hard on giving you a system which really wows for all content.

In the mean time buy a "4k" Tv does give good HD pictures
Just think of it as a bigger HDTV.

The biggest problem with these sets is although they look amazing displaying a 4k/UHD feed in the shop. In reality when fed a lower resolution picture things begin to fall down practically everything has to be upscaled, 1080p looks worse than with a 1080p screen very soft and with a bit of judder. 720p and SD are almost unwatchable and resemble an animated water colour.

When I've seen they in the shops, 4K looks almost clearer than reality, so I can't see the point in 8K - unless you're an eagle.

Yep - I wouldn't bother with 4k until the broadcast and playback technology has caught up. SD on a HD telly is bad enough as it is.

So they are selling these and there is virtually no 4K content? I hope the upscaler is good.

No. I'm happy with the flat screen tvs I've got.

It reminds me a bit of mobile phones where they are packing more and more pixels into a screen until it will eventually reach a point you will not see the difference and it is just a pissing contest over numbers and specs. A huge tv with 4K would be nice though.

It's not so much the technology that needs to improve to support it as the infrastrucure. UHD channels will self evidently require higher bandwidths for broadcast when the airwaves are already congested with SD/HD channels, so either Ofcom will have to free up more spectrum or existing channels will have to be ditched en mass. Alternatively it will need high speed streaming links that only people in fibre broadband areas are going to have, anyone in an area where that's not commercially viable is going to be struggling.

All for something that is going to be barely perceptible without even larger TV's (and given the amount of people I know who already complain than 42" sets dominate their living room I can see that being a struggle). It seems a little bit advancing technology because we can rather than because there's actually a need or demand for it.

True - I think my point was that until the content is available there's no point forcing a lower standard into that size of telly as it'll look poor.

I have a 46" telly, best thing I ever bought - and once I've got it wall-mounted it'll make my living room look fantastic.

On the more expensive sets upscaling is not too bad providing it is a fairly pristine 1080p feed and even then not as good as a 1080p screen. Anything less than good 1080p forget about it so much upscaling and processing needs to be done the picture is almost unwatchable and this was with a top of the range Samsung and Panasonic screens I have had a look at,I would hate to see the budget 4k screens Don't get taken in by the 4k feed in the show room ask for a proper demonstration with various media types and resolutions. Unless you intend to upgrade your entire film collection in my opinion 4k/uhd is a total waste of time.

It's to do with field of view. A standard TV might have a 10-degree vertical field of view (when viewed at just the right distance for its 576-line resolution, it will occupy about 10% of the vertical field).

HD would be 20%, while 4K, if it is double HD, would be 40%.

So.. perhaps you're right that 80% would be overkill! Unless you wanted the immersive experience such as Imax, where you are not so aware of the edges of the screen. It would be great to completely cover the walls in your house though. (I've seen an 8K demo BTW, it was astonishing. But needs 16 times more bandwidth/capacity etc than HD.)

(Note horizontal field-of-view will be different; the change in aspect ratios confuses things, but I believe HD is roughly 30%.)

Is that the HU8*** series with the curved screen? If so does the screen offer any real advantage to viewing? I was looking at one a week or so back and couldn't make my mind up as to if I should wait a while.

I won't be rushing out to buy one. In most cases, SD is good enough to my wonky eyesight on my 37" TV. I can just about tell the difference with HD but it's not so much better that it bothers me.

Most TVs sold in the UK are still 32"-42" and you really need a bigger screen than that to get the benefit of 4K/UHD.

I'm just pleased that the 3D fad seems to have passed by.

Heard about these a few years ago. Didn't realise they had been released here yet.

Will definitely get one once the cost goes sub £1k.

Well, exactly 1080 content won't look as good, and that's the majority of the content out there.

Its also guaranteed that in 6 months broadcasters will bring out a new codec that your earlier model will never work with, and you will need to buy a new one.