4K might become a reality quicker than we think

[Andre Van berlo]

“Try shooting a sharp image at 1/48 with a still camera.”
Isn’t that the same then for all sizes? whether it’s 540p, 720p, 1080p , or 4K?
By that logic shooting at 720p with a 50mm lens with the same aperture, shutterspeed and fps would yield a result that is sharper than shooting the very same way only now with 4K.

[John Heagy]

[Andre van Berlo] “Isn’t that the same then for all sizes? whether it’s 540p, 720p, 1080p , or 4K? “

Yes

[Andre van Berlo] “By that logic shooting at 720p with a 50mm lens with the same aperture, shutterspeed and fps would yield a result that is sharper than shooting the very same way only now with 4K.”

If by 720 you mean 720p60, and by 4K you mean 4K @ 30 or 24, and by shutter speed you mean shutter angle then yes that would present a sharper image to the sensor assuming the lens can resolve it.

John

[Bob Cole]

A reality-check aside: “Broadcast tv” may say it is HD, but when you see it through cable, the compression is so severe that it probably should not qualify as high definition.

I just cut the cable, and started looking at over-the-air HD, and the difference is stunning.

Bob C

[Keoni Tyler]

Exactly.

While 4K -thru- 12K are all great from a production acquisition and archival point of view, recent shoppers at Sony retail stores watching a 4K screen from 10 feet away said “Mewww, it’s nice but not that much better than the Sony HD we have at home.”

History holds the lesson: When we went from LPs/vinyl to CDs, the quality difference to the average consumer were giant leaps forward, and the recording and retail industry forced it by slowly vanishing LPs in stores.

Newer technologies after the CD? DAT (Digital Audio Tape), Digital Compact Cassette (DCC), Sony MiniDisc (MD) and SuperCD (SACD) all failed. Audiophiles and perfect-pitched musicians aside – the average consumer could not hear a difference between newer formats and their freshly-renewed CD collection, and were not about to start over again as they just did with their vinyl collection. Further, there was no “force” at the record companies and record stores to replace CDs with the newer tech.

In 1992, High Def could be compressed into a Standard Def 6MHz ‘t.v. channel,’ making delivery to the home possible. But HD’s implementation also needed a force: it took the federal government’s mandate that all broadcasters transmit digitally (SD or HD) to usher HD into the home en masse, ala 2009. Chicken or egg.

The 2K or 4K compressed signal to the home is only slightly better than HD, not significantly better. With no FCC mandate this time around to force broadcasters into unilaterally sending 3D, 2K, 4K, the marketing hype may fall on deaf consumer ears.

-keoni tyler

K. Tyler