Is 4k TV worth the extra over 1080P?

[Reloaded2]

It's probably ubiquitous amongst the tech or even any community the popular topic of 4K vs 1080p. However, I am going to buy a new TV sooner or later I need to buy a TV for my room and my mind is firmly set on a 55" TV. Then comes the topic of 4K or 1080p? Let's talk budgets then. My budget for a TV is preferably around the £300+ (after a bit of looking on eBay I can find a few 55" well know 1080p TV's for this price) but is it worth the stretch of an extra £300-400 and upgrading to 4K. Now, many people would argue the debate of "Futureproofing" and "Think Ahead" but I have been looking at comparisons and reading a few articles and most people say "really, for the current price its not worth it" and "However, don't expect to be watching most of your video content in 4K for another two to three years" - Tech Radar.

So should I wait longer and wait until 4K sets get cheaper or get a 1080P tv; will I be missing out on it? Now, I will be keeping this TV for some degree of time, so if I will be making a stupid decision to go with 1080? Please tell me. What should I do in your opinion? Finally, I will be at a viewing distance of 50m give or take, and I am willing to wait if necessary. Thanks in advanced.

 

[Insurance]

It's probably ubiquitous amongst the tech or even any community the popular topic of 4K vs 1080p. However, I am going to buy a new TV sooner or later I need to buy a TV for my room and my mind is firmly set on a 55" TV. Then comes the topic of 4K or 1080p? Let's talk budgets then. My budget for a TV is preferably around the £300+ (after a bit of looking on eBay I can find a few 55" well know 1080p TV's for this price) but is it worth the stretch of an extra £300-400 and upgrading to 4K. Now, many people would argue the debate of "Futureproofing" and "Think Ahead" but I have been looking at comparisons and reading a few articles and most people say "really, for the current price its not worth it" and "However, don't expect to be watching most of your video content in 4K for another two to three years" - Tech Radar.

So should I wait longer and wait until 4K sets get cheaper or get a 1080P tv; will I be missing out on it? Now, I will be keeping this TV for some degree of time, so if I will be making a stupid decision to go with 1080? Please tell me. What should I do in your opinion? Finally, I will be at a viewing distance of 50m give or take, and I am willing to wait if necessary. Thanks in advanced.

I have been in the market for a new TV last year. I had a budget of around €2000 and could possibly buy a decent 4k screen. I decided to go for a "top of the line" 1080p TV instead of a "not so great" 4k TV. Of course prices have changed over the year but i still have the same opinion.

If it was me, i would go for a good 1080p TV. Most content is aimed on "regular" HD (720/1080p). You'll only really benefit from 4k with -obviously- 4k content. Unless you're going to connect the TV to your computer and run games in 4k, i'd stick to 1080p.

I bought a Samsung F7000 in 55" and i don't regret it for a moment, the PQ is stunning and the features are overwhelming.

 

[remember300]

few questions really.

Number 1 how big is your house for a 50m viewing distance? ... honestly id be looking at cinema projectors.

Secondly do you have anything that outputs 4k?

Thirdly how many devices do you need to plug into it as if you have to buy splitters and things that will cut your budget.

Also anything over 2.2m you should not see any of the pixels at 1080p and 1.1m with 4k at that size screen. http://isthisretina.com/ handy little site that one for looking at viewing distances.

Does the 4k tvs your looking at have any upscaling features? or smart functionality as that will be the main way you will be getting 4k media for a while at least. I know 4k bluray players are on their way but they require certain hdmi or even display port connectivity which ironically alot of old 4k panels dont have.

I myself have a 1080p "HD" TV and a UHD "4k" monitor, due to the fact i dont have any media at 4k except the games i play on my pc and the odd movie i watch online.
The pictures great but for everyday normal viewing, which in the UK is at 576i at standard definition and HD can vary depending on the decoder.

I hope ive solved more questions than created but ultimately its your dosh and you know what you really want.

 

[Reloaded2]

I have been in the market for a new TV last year. I had a budget of around €2000 and could possibly buy a decent 4k screen. I decided to go for a "top of the line" 1080p TV instead of a "not so great" 4k TV. Of course prices have changed over the year but i still have the same opinion.

If it was me, i would go for a good 1080p TV. Most content is aimed on "regular" HD (720/1080p). You'll only really benefit from 4k with -obviously- 4k content. Unless you're going to connect the TV to your computer and run games in 4k, i'd stick to 1080p.

I bought a Samsung F7000 in 55" and i don't regret it for a moment, the PQ is stunning and the features are overwhelming.

Thank you for the reply will take into consideration!

few questions really.

Number 1 how big is your house for a 50m viewing distance? ... honestly id be looking at cinema projectors.

Secondly do you have anything that outputs 4k?

Thirdly how many devices do you need to plug into it as if you have to buy splitters and things that will cut your budget.

Also anything over 2.2m you should not see any of the pixels at 1080p and 1.1m with 4k at that size screen. http://isthisretina.com/ handy little site that one for looking at viewing distances.

Does the 4k tvs your looking at have any upscaling features? or smart functionality as that will be the main way you will be getting 4k media for a while at least. I know 4k bluray players are on their way but they require certain hdmi or even display port connectivity which ironically alot of old 4k panels dont have.

I myself have a 1080p "HD" TV and a UHD "4k" monitor, due to the fact i dont have any media at 4k except the games i play on my pc and the odd movie i watch online.
The pictures great but for everyday normal viewing, which in the UK is at 576i at standard definition and HD can vary depending on the decoder.

I hope ive solved more questions than created but ultimately its your dosh and you know what you really want.

5M not 50M, that's a typo. I haven't looked into any 4K tvs yet that's why I am asking is it worth it. But if I was, yes it would have an upscaler and will be smart although it will be connected to my PC anyways. I comprehend the point of not a variety of 4k content hence why I quoted Tech Rader. My actual point is shall I get an excellent 1080P tv now or should I wait until 4K sets get cheaper. As remember300 said, he would go with a 1080p, so what would you do if you was me - I am willing to wait if necessary.

 

[remember300]

Ha I was hoping so. Maybe dont go for the biggest set you can either.
I have a 42" roughly (they always round up haha) and I used to view at plus 5m distance when i was staying at my old place.
Quality is bang on. But if your set on 4k then maybe look at 47" might get better bang for your buck.
For 4k if your running it through HDMI it needs to support above HDMI1.4 revision, which will support 4k@30fps i dont know what rig you have as its not in your sig and your picture is tiny and you have been here since 2013 so i cant work out what rig you have to say that will support 4k, so even then your PC might be better off just running 1080p with high AA for games rather than not even support 4k.

I just want to help you get the best you can so your a happy bunny lol

 

[Reloaded2]

Ha I was hoping so. Maybe dont go for the biggest set you can either.
I have a 42" roughly (they always round up haha) and I used to view at plus 5m distance when i was staying at my old place.
Quality is bang on. But if your set on 4k then maybe look at 47" might get better bang for your buck.
For 4k if your running it through HDMI it needs to support above HDMI1.4 revision, which will support 4k@30fps i dont know what rig you have as its not in your sig and your picture is tiny and you have been here since 2013 so i cant work out what rig you have to say that will support 4k, so even then your PC might be better off just running 1080p with high AA for games rather than not even support 4k.

I just want to help you get the best you can so your a happy bunny lol

I'm pretty much set on 55" thought, my rig won't support 4k at a high fps so when gaming I'll use my monitor instead so it doesn't really matter, so with these factors in mind, what do you or anyone else recommend? 4K and wait or 1080p FTW? I will wait if necessary, I'm happy watching on a monitor atm.

 

[remember300]

I was not talking at a high Fps for 4k i meant in general you might not be able to output a signal in 4k what gpu(s) do you have.

Tbh i think 4k is wasted on tv's right now, so apart from the odd movie you might watch in 4k what other use for 4k do you have when something better comes out 4k will do what HD is now...

 

[jimma47]

4k or UHD will become more common and better supported so depends on how long you plan on keeping your TV. I bought a 42" Standard Definition Plasma in 2006 (got to love a world cup) and it's still going strong. For general TV viewing it's still great as most of our stuff is broadcast in 576. HD channels, Blurays obviously are playing at standard definition but still watchable.

The price difference at the time - My TV was $2k, HD 720 was $3.5k and Full HD was still a dream. $10-20k for a 50"

If you live in an area where 4K youtube and Netflix etc are going to be viable - that is you have plenty of speed on your internet and healthy download allowances then go for it.

Reality is though by the time 4K content is widely and cheaply available, so next gen BluRay standards etc then the prices on the TV's will be about where 1080 panels are now. Cheap as chips.

 

[CreatiXx]

what i'd do, get a nice quality 1080 TV. And enjoy it as much as you can. By the time 4k will be a real thing and payable you'll be up for a new tv if not you can sell the one you'd have by then and put it in a new one, just a thought

 

[Master&Puppet]

I'm in exactly the same situation having been using my old 27" 1080p monitor in the lounge as a TV. Here's where my research is taking me so far:

4k is lovely on a decent sized screen but you will be largely relying on up scaling although there will be some 4k streaming services but even these will be of limited quality because of the lowered bit rate of streamed services.

For me the main draw by far will be the 4k bluray standard which should be available this year with releases rolling in soon after. You will of course need a compatible bluray player or optical drive too.

That all makes it seem worthwhile in certain cases but I've come across another technology which is due to enter the front room too - High Dynamic Range. It's basically designed to widen the colour gamut (current tvs are only able to show you about 80% of the range your eyes can actually see). Given the diminishing returns on resolution it makes sense for the industry to go in that direction but it's not the type of technology you will be able to watch with a firmware update. It requires a particular type of screen. At the top of the range of available tvs now you will see HDR filtering in.

So I guess that where I'm at is that I might as well wait for HDR 4k to become both more available and more reasonable in price.

 

[Kilbane]

Personally i would wait a while before going to 4k or UHD for a TV. There is still a lot of change happening within the 4k broadcast and delivery systems. HDMI 2.0 will be the standard for connections, so waiting for a TV that supports that will be a must. Secondly without a solid standard being set for 4k/UHD content, you can't guarentee the TV you buy now will fully support anything that is released in the not so distant future. 4K/UHD is still very slow on uptake, very little is being released due to the lack of any common distribution platform, I'm guessing that H265 (A must if you want to watch Netflix 4K shows) will be the most used codec for content but we will have to wait and see (think Bluray vs HD-DVD on a software scale).

 

[AlienALX]

Don't do it.

Last year my wife and I decided to basically 'clear the floor' in our flat's main room. Trust me when I say she's a bloody big room. At least 23 feet by 20 feet with high ceilings. So we decided we were going to get a TV to go above the fireplace. Problem with our 42" was once I offered it up there it looked effing stupid. It was tiny. Given where we had planned to put the sofa we were going to be sitting about 20ft away from the TV.

We got a 65" TV in the end. 4k and all that. How many things have I used 4k for so far? none. I connected my PC to it and got no display (wrong HDMI or something) and nothing on TV or streaming uses it either. So for about a year now we've never used it, preferring to stick to 1080p.

It'll be years before 4k becomes any sort of standard (Channel 5 for instance don't even have a 1080p channel yet FFS) so I wouldn't make it something you need.

Plus all of the 4k ports on TVs are gay. 30hz rubbish so PC gaming is out.

 

[SPS]

Tbh I wouldn't want to invest in a 1080p or 4K TV at this moment in time. 1080p feels ancient and 4K doesn't feel quite right yet. That said if I was forced I'd go 4K because I don't invest in old tech.

 

[Reloaded2]

Thank you all for your replies! I think I am going to wait until 4K sets get cheaper (1yr+) and for 4K connections to be implanted into everything and just use my monitor now.