Cheap 4K Monitors are on the way…

[Shane Ross]

And the 4K distribution system? is the cart appearing before the horse?

Shane
Little Frog Post
Read my blog, Little Frog in High Def

[Marcus Moore]

I think we’ll see some 4K VOD distribution next year via h.265.

But don’t forget these are computer displays- not primarily meant for watching movies and such.

[David Lawrence]

I’m just looking forward to replacing my 24″ Apple Display with something bigger and better.

_______________________
David Lawrence
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[Shawn Miller]

[David Lawrence] “Dell’s announcement today is especially interesting:
https://dell.to/1bdVvUk

Good roundup here:
https://bit.ly/1bdVyzo“

Nice! Thanks sharing.

Shawn

[Andrew Kimery]

Sony launched their 4K streaming service a few months ago and Netflix is planning to start rolling out 4K streaming sometime next year. It’s a classic chicken/egg problem and someone has to take the first step. I remember back in ’02 or ’03 HDNET had so little HD content that things repeated on a daily basis.

[Keith Koby]

The company I work for built an early HD network called INHD. Then INHD2… Then both got rolled into a network called MOJO. The story about lack of content on HDNet sounds familiar because we were fighting for the scraps of available HD content with them.

A couple years later, everyone else was HD or nearly, so the novelty wore off – and so did Mojo. It was fun working on HD when it first “came out”. (Although if you speak with folks like David Niles, he’ll tell you it was invented (by him?) in the 70s. (We love david by the way.)) But for sure it was difficult to acquire HD content (affordably or at all) at the beginning of that “experiment”. Within the first 2 years it just became difficult to acquire acceptable HD content affordably.

It was also difficult to produce quality HD at an affordable cost back then. I think the challenges to produce 4k at an affordable cost today are significantly less daunting than HD back then or 3D 4 years ago. Consider BMD cameras and these monitors… This 4k hurdle doesn’t feel so high.

And Marcus is correct in asserting that VOD distribution means will be attainable.

[Jeremy Garchow]

[Andrew Kimery] “I remember back in ’02 or ’03 HDNET had so little HD content that things repeated on a daily basis.”

You are being kind. It was hourly. 🙂

[Keith Koby]

HD production gear was not in front of HD distribution? I would think the cart before the horse would be the opposite: Making the distribution system before the production systems.

[Shane Ross]

I still say this is more marketing than anything else. Trying to get people to buy something they don’t need. You cannot tell the difference between 1080 and 720 when you are 10 feet from your TV, where most of us sit. You won’t be able to see much difference in 4K either. You might get a few videophiles who say they do…or they get 65″ to 90″ 4K TV’s where you might see the difference, but everyone else?

This will be the realm of the videophiles mainly…for 5-10 years. Many people just bought HDTVs, and some 3D HDTV’s. Getting them to trash those for 4K…?

Guess you can get one and say that you were the first on the bandwagon..bragging rights. That’s the only benefit I see to this. HYPER-REAL images is not my bag. The Hobbit at 48fps, 4K…even 3D? Sorry, that’s like looking out the window at someone, not going to the movies and being lost. I guess you all like that hyper-realism…?

I’m getting old.

Shane
Little Frog Post
Read my blog, Little Frog in High Def

[Marcus Moore]

I can only speak to my personal situation, and yes I’m in video production, so there’s that too.

Upstairs it’s a 42″ TV from 9′. So no discernible benefit there.

Downstairs I sit 2′ from my 27″ Monitor, and often watch movies in full screen. Here for sure.

Next door is my home theatre where I sit 7′ from a 92″ front projection screen. DEFINITELY HERE.

A couple factors to consider-

I figure the average TV size for anyone who bought 5-6 years ago was 42″.

With the cost of ever larger screens going down- 65-70″ screen will probably become the norm where space permits, and as TVs become lighter and easier to mount on a wall. So the benefit will go up for some.

On the flip side, do most people really need 20 or 30 megapixel cameras for what they do with them? Probably not. Technology is addictive. And as more people buy in the price comes down and what was a feature becomes a commodity. At some point the idea of resolution is going to become moot, because you won’t be able to see the pixels at any reasonable difference.

And it seems that the price of 4K displays is dropping way faster than HD did a decade ago.

You could today that most people don’t benefit from 1080 over 720. So does that mean we shouldn’t have bothered with 1080 either?