If you haven't heard by now the old standard of 1080p is no longer the top dog in TV resolution. 4k is now the king of the consumer level TV market. We've gone from "Full HD" to "Ultra HD." But what exactly is 4k, and is it right for you? Those are some questions we hope to answer for you today. While we regret that this article wasn't ready before Black Friday, we would imagine some of you don't have the desire to fight it out for one day only sales.
As we mentioned previously, 4k is a name given to TVs of a particular resolution. Resolution is a measure of the number of pixels in the TV screen. The name 4k is a reference to the width of the screen in pixels which is just shy of 4,000. The 1080 in 1080p corresponds to the number of vertical pixels. If you wanted to put 4k into "p" format it would be 2160p.
In simplest terms more pixels typically means that the TV is capable of producing a better image because it has the ability to comprise the overall image from many more little pieces. How this translates if you do the math is 2,073,600 (1920 x 1080) pixels in a 1080p set, and 8,294,400 (3840 x 2160) in a 4k set. In simpler terms the pixel array is twice as high and twice as wide. This means that a 4k set has a resolution 4 times greater than a 1080. Usually anytime something is 4 times "better" than something else its a no-brainer to upgrade right? While it sounds clear cut there is more to think about.
The problem we run into with simply looking at resolution is that we disregard the fact that we can only take full advantage of this when we have source material that is at that resolution. As of today that is the biggest complaint against 4k. Outside of some streaming options there is very little available in the 4k resolution. Now this doesn't mean you can't watch things that aren't 4k, you absolutely can, the TV just has to do some work. Prepare for some nerdiness...
That work is called upconverting, and all that means is that the TV is taking whatever source you're feeding it and blowing it up. Upconverting is something that has been around for a long time, and goes way beyond just "stretching" an image. For the best results this is accomplished using some computer hardware and algorithms to make the image larger, by inserting extra pixels into the image to fill the gaps created by expanding to fit the higher resolution.. For many of you the best way to relate is with DVD and Blu-ray. DVD video is set in a 720x480 resolution, where as a Blu-Ray is in 1920x1080. If we play a DVD in our Blu-ray player the image doesn't fill just a little piece of our screen, it fills the whole thing due to upconverting.
However upconverting isn't perfect, and a side by side comparison of an upconverted DVD source image and a native Blu-ray source image will probably give you an idea of how this plays out in real life. The upconverted DVD will probably look very very good, but the same video from a Blu-ray disc will be a sharper and will produce finer detail. Here at CCC we have viewed many upconverted DVD's on our 1080p display and never have we said something was unwatchable due to the upconversion. In fact when it comes to purchasing or renting physical media, the decision of DVD vs. Blu-ray really boils down to what the programming consists of. If it is a slower paced not a lot of action sort of thing we're reaching for DVD almost every single time.
Remember 4k is simply a term related to the number of pixels in the display, it doesn't go beyond that. It's just like a car that has several different engine options. On the outside they all look alike, but we all know that when it comes to performance you have to look under the hood. TV buying 4K or otherwise is no different. The screen resolution is only one small piece of the purchase. If the TV doesn't have the hardware to do a good job with this conversion you should probably pass on that model. Not to sound all doom and gloom we're sure that many models do a very acceptable job, all we're saying is to confirm the model you want meets your demands. For what it's worth we watched some OTA football on Thanksgiving and the
image looked very good on a Samsung UN65JS8500. Granted that model is on the higher end of the Samsung offerings right now, but we saw it first hand and can attest to performance. That is not to say that there aren't other considerations with picture quality, but they are just the same as they were with previous LED TVs.
The next thing with 4K is that due to the large amount of information the signal carries, the cables you use need to be of the proper specification. As of today you need at a minimum HDMI v1.4 cables to move that 4K signal. Older cables won't be able to handle the demand. The good news is that these have been around for a while, aren't expensive, and you probably have some on hand if you've bought cables in the past 5 years. One of our biggest beefs is the up-sell that some sellers pull with HDMI cables. If you're spending more than $10, and that's being generous, on a cable you are almost assuredly being ripped off. If you need new cables and want to go for the top end stuff you can look for HDMI 2.0 cables, but for many of you they won't be necessary.
We've gone to Monoprice for our cables of all varieties for many years now.
Also worth weighing is whether or not your equipment can handle the demands streaming of 4k media. We love the Roku 3, but it cannot stream 4k content. That's not a knock against the Roku 3 whatsoever, but for 4k content one would need to use the TV's software. It's a small thing but when we're talking about dropping a lot of money, spending even more on new accessory equipment might be a turn off. While we're discussing Roku
they now offer the Roku 4 which can support 4k streams. At the time of writing the 4 is going for $129.99 which seems reasonable for what is probably a dynamite product.
We mentioned Blu-ray earlier but we didn't talk about 4k Blu-ray. This is because we just aren't there yet. It is coming very soon, but we're still in the earliest stages of consumer roll out so there isn't much to say about it now. When it does arrive it will likely be the best way to watch 4k content due to being completely uncompressed. We will revisit this when we get there, but for now there are bigger fish to fry. For now we're stuck with upconverting, which we discussed above. If you're shopping for a Blu-ray player today do some research into how well it upconverts. If it does a lousy job, and your new TV doesn't do a great job either you might want to look for a better performer in that regard.
4k changes that whole thing about viewing distance, so if you want a huge screen in your tiny living room you will want 4k since you can basically sit on top of them due to their resolution. That is hyperbole, but for smaller spaces 4k will give you a little more flexibility.
You've made it this far, and we haven't directly answer the question of "should you upgrade from your existing TV?" After all if you just plopped down hundreds or maybe thousands of dollars in the past few years you might be kicking yourself right now. Well if you bought a quality set then chances are you should sit tight for now.
CNET did a good job laying this out here, but the bottom line is if you're happy with your situation you can stand fast for the time being. Remember technology gets better, and prices go down as time goes on, but huge life altering changes happen less often than the manufacturers would like you to believe.
Obviously this was a very high level overview of the 4k tech out there, but hopefully it will help especially since we're entering a time when you'll see a lot of people pushing these new models. While we aren't quite ready to commit fully to 4k, there is no denying that this is the wave of the future. Just keep in mind whenever we hit a milestone like this it's always an opportunity to scoop some older stuff that is still very much top end for a discounted rate, so remember if you don't want to pour a bunch of money into new cabling, peripherals, and have less content available to you then 1080p might be your go to for a while longer.
If
you're an Amazon Prime subscriber you may or may not know that you have
access to a lot of streaming options that are bundled with your
subscription meaning you can stream to your heart's content. If you're not a subscriber you can sign up to try Amazon Prime free for 30 days. This will be a monthly piece covering the additions to their Instant Video line up included with the Prime service. 
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