By using this site, you agree to our Privacy Policy and our Terms of Use. Close
SvennoJ on 18 October 2012
Edit Thread
Viper1 said:
SvennoJ said:
It won't cost Sony anything extra to include 4K support, modern graphics cards are already capable of that resolution and HMDI spec 1.4b (which includes 2160p60) should be finalized at the end of the year.
(The ps3 can already output 4K images btw)

Maybe GT6 will be able to run in 2560x2160 on ps4. GT4 to GT5 went from 640x540 to 1280x1080, no reason why the same resolution jump can't be done again. 4k tvs will be affordable by the time GT6 comes out...

The ps4 is going to be around until 2021 at least. It's not unreasonable to buy a new tv in a 9 year period. How many people had a 1080p tv in 2004? (2 years before the ps3 launch)

The difference is that 1080p TV's had the benefit of a masive insdustry wide push for HD content.   We had a new movie medium, the switcch from analog to digital TV, the most from CRT to LCD based TV's, the jump to HD consoles...and it all cost several hundre billion dollars to pull off.   And even then we re still mostly a 1080i or 720p content industry.

4k does not have those factors coming along with it.  So the cost of the TV's will not come down as quickly. 

4K also requirees a massive TV just to even see a difference above 1080p.   Anything below 60" will have no real discernable increase in picture quality over 1080 to the average viewer.   And most TV's purchased over the last several years have been in the 40" range.   

When you stop and think about it all in business terms, 4K will not make much sense for a very long time.

4K will mostly be beneficial to pc users. Apple is already up to 2880x1800. 1080p is really rather low for big pc monitors. 1600x1200 was already common in 1997 on 17" monitors.

Tv's are getting bigger all the time. 6 years ago the high end model was 42", I had to place a special order to get a 52" tv. Now there are cheaper 70" LED models, and 60" models for less then half the price.

It all depends how close you sit. Sit at the recommended THX range and you will easily be able to see the difference.


But you're right about the content. Apart from pc games and 1 movie (Timescapes) there isn't anything to watch on 4K screens except your holiday pictures. The development of HVD has slowed down, 2016 is rumoured to be a launch date.

As for HDTV, it has only gotten worse over the years. The infrastructure desperately needs an upgrade. Most 'HD' channels nowadays are 7-8 mbps 720p or 1080i mpeg2 streams. Analog broadcasts looked better during high speed action scenes. (Let's say nothing of the crappy digital SD version we get now after analog has been nixed, some SD channels are worse then 360p you tube videos)

There is one little benefit to 4K screens, 720p and 1080p content can both be shown on it at native res. No more upscaling softness from 720p to 1080p.


In consumer terms, I'm ready to upgrade my projector and play some pc goodness in 4K. But I guess I'll still be waiting a while until 4K projectors become affordable. Hurry up with those fibre optic cables already. (Actually I do have fibre optic cable, to read my frigging electricity consumption remotely, tracked and billed by the hour. Yay.....)