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Is 4k worth the upgrade?


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Old 04-12-2016, 17:43
linkinpark875
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I've not seen many demos of it is it worth buying an Xbox S and 4k Blu ray is there much difference over standard HD?
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Old 04-12-2016, 18:05
koantemplation
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Depends on the size of your TV IMO.

Over 50in I'd say 4K is a definite improvement, but the real improvement is HDR.

HDR creates a much more improved picture than 4K does compared to 1080p.

I'd say a 1080p HDR picture was better than a non HDR 4K picture.
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Old 04-12-2016, 19:16
Brian The Dog
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Seriously from what I have seen so far; NO!

Of course it depends on the source but as we know from the HD push, TV companies just kept cutting the quality down and down till a really good PAL transmission looked every bit as good as it. So good HD is very good to the point of stunning, but we got it so rarely.

It will be the same with 4K: So few sources to start with and when it gets going, the source will be cut down so much that it will look no better than HD.

So all they are doing with 4K is exactly what they did with HD: Sell an ideal and never deliver it.

Of course the "Must Have" mugs will be lining up for it and of course make big claims how much better Eastenders looks in 4K whilst the rest of us laugh.
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Old 04-12-2016, 20:34
Stig
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The future is streaming, and that will be in HDR and/or 4K.
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Old 04-12-2016, 22:09
drillbit
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regarding HDR, i use a satellite decorder....do i need a decoder with HDR built in to obtain it?
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Old 05-12-2016, 00:42
GDK
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I've not seen many demos of it is it worth buying an Xbox S and 4k Blu ray is there much difference over standard HD?
For screens over 55" at normal viewing distances, in a word, yes.

If all you're watching is soaps and "reality" TV, probably not.

If, on the other hand, you like sports or films in the best picture quality available, probably yes.

There's not a lot of content around as yet, but it's still early days and it's growing steadily. Netflix, Amazon Prime, other streaming services too, and Sky are all providing some UHD content. Quite a few titles now on UHD Blu ray. More than regular Blu ray had at this point in its development due to there being no competing format this time around.

Full disclosure: I jumped into 4K/HDR earlier this year. For once I could afford to be an early adopter. I bought a UHD Premium TV and a UHD Blu ray player and I'm very pleased with the results. YMMV, of course.

HD is better than SD and UHD (4K) with HDR is better than HD. The specs and results are undeniable. Anyone who says different either needs an eye test or is barking.

Whether it's worth the additional cost to you is a judgement only you as a potential customer can make.
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Old 05-12-2016, 05:57
Stig
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regarding HDR, i use a satellite decorder....do i need a decoder with HDR built in to obtain it?
Yes, of course. You won't get 4K or HDR without a source that produces it. For satellite that means Sky Q at the moment.
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Old 05-12-2016, 07:08
ney
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I have seen 4K demos and the pitcure dose look very good.
I got a 32 inch Samsung full HD smart TV in my living room and a 22 in one in my bedroom.
I don't think I could get more than a 40 inch BT in living room and may get a 32inch in bedroom at a push.
Anyway I'm still at lest another 2 years away before I even think about replacing any of the two TVs in the house.

Darren
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Old 05-12-2016, 16:29
gopher_uk1
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I was talking to our supplier of Smartboards, and he was telling me about the 8k devices he was looking at at a trade show. You just can't keep up.
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Old 05-12-2016, 23:01
koantemplation
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I have seen 4K demos and the pitcure dose look very good.
I got a 32 inch Samsung full HD smart TV in my living room and a 22 in one in my bedroom.
I don't think I could get more than a 40 inch BT in living room and may get a 32inch in bedroom at a push.
Anyway I'm still at lest another 2 years away before I even think about replacing any of the two TVs in the house.

Darren
I'm 8ft away from a 4K HDR 55in tv and I'd still like to go up to 65 or 70in.

I'd even go 100in if I could afford it.

IMO you can't go too big when it comes to TVs.

Only price and space constrain me.
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Old 06-12-2016, 00:45
barbeler
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IMO you can't go too big when it comes to TVs.

Only price and space constrain me.
And electricity bills.
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Old 06-12-2016, 01:55
koantemplation
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And electricity bills.
Not for me, I have solar panels installed. Even with a bigger TV my bill is a 3rd less than before I had them.

I'm stuck inside 24/7 so a large TV and a slightly higher electricity bill is a small price to pay.

The only thing putting me off getting a really big TV is the banding and back light bleed lottery.

I couldn't stand getting a big screen and having to put up with those imperfections.

And sadly price is no guarantee of quality.
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Old 08-12-2016, 09:58
GDK
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Not for me, I have solar panels installed. Even with a bigger TV my bill is a 3rd less than before I had them.

I'm stuck inside 24/7 so a large TV and a slightly higher electricity bill is a small price to pay.

The only thing putting me off getting a really big TV is the banding and back light bleed lottery.

I couldn't stand getting a big screen and having to put up with those imperfections.

And sadly price is no guarantee of quality.
I would say an OLED screen is the answer. OLED screens are a lot more expensive than the equivalent LCD/LED backlit TV. I have a 55" OLED screen, and in ideal viewing conditions it's great on UHD 4K sources, particularly for HDR material. No issues for 4K streamed content from Netflix etc, or on UHD Blu ray.

On broadcast HD content I do sometimes notice posterization on what should be smooth colour gradients (such as sky). I don't think that's due to the TV, it's the compression broadcasters use. I don't recall ever noticing that effect on Blu rays. Regular Blu rays are 8 bit colour too, but not so compressed.

On the other hand, I have seen some complaints on another forum of banding on the 65" version of my TV.
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Old 08-12-2016, 19:29
koantemplation
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I would say an OLED screen is the answer. OLED screens are a lot more expensive than the equivalent LCD/LED backlit TV. I have a 55" OLED screen, and in ideal viewing conditions it's great on UHD 4K sources, particularly for HDR material. No issues for 4K streamed content from Netflix etc, or on UHD Blu ray.

On broadcast HD content I do sometimes notice posterization on what should be smooth colour gradients (such as sky). I don't think that's due to the TV, it's the compression broadcasters use. I don't recall ever noticing that effect on Blu rays. Regular Blu rays are 8 bit colour too, but not so compressed.

On the other hand, I have seen some complaints on another forum of banding on the 65" version of my TV.
Yes I'm sure that OLED is less prone to banding, but sadly they cost a lot more and LG make most of them and I don't buy LG any more after the way they treated me over a faulty TV.
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Old 12-12-2016, 17:30
drillbit
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can someone in the know please tell me...

is HDR an actual chip built onto the motherboard of a 4k TV
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Old 12-12-2016, 17:38
Stig
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can someone in the know please tell me...

is HDR an actual chip built onto the motherboard of a 4k TV
It will part of the chipset, yes, and the screen itself must support the colour range.

There's no way you can upgrade a TV, if that's what you're thinking.
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Old 12-12-2016, 17:54
drillbit
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^^^^^^^^

a salesman told me i could get it through a firmware update? (on a 4k TV) is that so?
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Old 12-12-2016, 18:01
Night Crawler
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^^^^^^^^

a salesman told me i could get it through a firmware update? (on a 4k TV) is that so?
Some manufactures have offered a HDR upgrade via firmware update, Panasonic CX series for example.

Best port of call would be the manufacturers support page.
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Old 12-12-2016, 18:05
drillbit
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its this model in particular

but there's no mention of HDR to begin with so i don't know how it can be updated through firmware ?
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Old 12-12-2016, 18:23
mal2pool
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i have super fibre broadband and the streaming is still rubbish. especially broadcasts in hd. they jam a lot and buffer...cant see the future being streaming for me
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Old 12-12-2016, 18:27
Night Crawler
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its this model in particular

but there's no mention of HDR to begin with so i don't know how it can be updated through firmware ?
Nothing on their support page.

https://hisense.co.uk/support/download-centre

There are reports their H7/H8 models can be updated, but I have a feeling they are US models.
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Old 12-12-2016, 20:28
Night Crawler
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i have super fibre broadband and the streaming is still rubbish. especially broadcasts in hd. they jam a lot and buffer...cant see the future being streaming for me
Something wrong somewhere, my brother has Sky fibre and they have no problem with streaming HD on multiple devices, they can even stream UHD on Netflix and HD on iPads/mobiles.

Who's your provider?
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Old 18-12-2016, 17:03
HHGTTG
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Seriously from what I have seen so far; NO!

Of course it depends on the source but as we know from the HD push, TV companies just kept cutting the quality down and down till a really good PAL transmission looked every bit as good as it. So good HD is very good to the point of stunning, but we got it so rarely.

It will be the same with 4K: So few sources to start with and when it gets going, the source will be cut down so much that it will look no better than HD.

So all they are doing with 4K is exactly what they did with HD: Sell an ideal and never deliver it.

Of course the "Must Have" mugs will be lining up for it and of course make big claims how much better Eastenders looks in 4K whilst the rest of us laugh.
Yes, it's amazing to what lengths people will go and spend, just to watch rubbish in higher quality (presumably).
To me, the quality of the broadcast programme is important foremost and watching a better picture is secondary, accepting that it should be in reasonable focus to alleviate eyestrain. Colour is a useful enhancement as well.
Still, there are always suckers around to part with their cash or rather load their credit cards.
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Old 18-12-2016, 18:03
anthony david
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Yes, it's amazing to what lengths people will go and spend, just to watch rubbish in higher quality (presumably).
To me, the quality of the broadcast programme is important foremost and watching a better picture is secondary, accepting that it should be in reasonable focus to alleviate eyestrain. Colour is a useful enhancement as well.
Still, there are always suckers around to part with their cash or rather load their credit cards.
So very true, as someone who bought dreadful stereo LPs in the 60s just because they were in stereo, at a time when most were still in mono, I was just as foolish. They went to the charity shop years ago. According to BARB only around 20% of viewers watch the mainstream channels in HD so I can't see people rushing to buy 4K and enhancements such as HDR and HDR will leave them cold. The only thing viewers have found exciting in the last 50 years has been colour, the only thing that was a blindingly obvious improvement. People also loved flat screen TVs because it freed up a large area of the living room, they weren't interested in HD, but found the widescreen shape appealing. However in the early days they seemed quite happy to stretch 4X3 analogue pictures to fit it.
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Old 18-12-2016, 18:54
Eve Elle
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Has anyone mentioned HDR10 vs Dolby Vision yet?

I think 4k is great personally, setting up is complex though. Plus, my Nvidia based media centre can't do HDR yet. Anyone interested in 4k should probably research it a lot before buying any expensive hardware.

EDIT: Forgot to mention, although upscaled Blu Rays and stuff are great and all, be sure you have sources for 4k content if you intend to get a 4k tv, otherwise there really isn't much point.
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