Ultra high-definition (UHD) televisions have been on the market for a couple of years now. Commonly referred to as "4K," these units promise twice the resolution of the standard 1080p televisions, which dominate the current market. So, should one rush out to get a 4K TV during this holiday season?
From a utilitarian standpoint, the answer for most folks is "no." The 4K TVs are typically three to four times more expensive than similarly outfitted 1080p sets. Further, content specifically produced for 4K TVs is just not readily available at the moment. So most stuff that you’re going to watch is really going to be lower resolution anyway. Take into account that true 1080p content today is really only available from Blu-ray players, when the format was introduced more than a decade ago.
Most industry experts expect 4K to be adapted faster than 1080p, but still, it’s going to be years, if at all, before 4K content is pervasive. More cynical experts deride 4K as a marketing gimmick like 3-D. After all, 3-D TVs were all the rage for a Hollywood minute about three years ago. While many higher-end TVs today include 3-D, it’s really not a selling point. In fact, 3-D capability does not affect the street price of most manufacturers’ offerings.
Bio-nerds will tell you that the human eye can’t tell the difference between 1080p and 4K from more than about 10 feet away depending on the size of the screen. But anyone who has seen a 4K TV, whatever the distance from the set, will tell you its brilliance is clearly discernible.
Keep in mind, though, that most showrooms are using 4K content to demonstrate their wares. Clips from last year’s Sony Open golf tournament, for example, seem clearer than real life near Kahala Beach.
This is where utility might be trumped by flashiness. After all, many folks love the newest toys, and a 4K TV certainly qualifies as a status symbol, especially the latest models with curved screens. Sitting directly in front of one those babies, and all the chatter about whether you can tell the difference or not becomes white noise. If you are not directly in front of a curved model, however, sports content can appear skewed in the corners of the screen, especially lines that are supposed to be straight, like yard lines, foul lines and out-of-bounds markers.
What about computers? There are many video cards available for PCs that support true 4K output. The newer Macintosh models support 4K as well. This resolution, combined with the size of the displays, offer unprecedented real estate on which to work. Of course, the limitation on content extends to computers as well.
John Agsalud is an IT expert with more than 20 years of information technology experience. Reach him at johnagsalud@yahoo.com.
