The shift to 4K is happening much faster than the move to HD did

[bluto 2050]

AFAIK 4K TV from Dish and Comcast is over IPTV like Netflix 4K (which is not bad on a decent TV ) with an IPTV bridge into or to inside the STB/DVR or an Ethernet cable or Coax from an IPTV bridge modem to the TV .

1080p/720p OTA or from ATT/DirecTV (best) or Comcast or BD and DVD looks way better than straight HDTV on something like this 55" 4K Sony XBR HDR TV in here or a Samsung 4K HDR SUHD TV than a cheap set or a decnt 1080p set .

The SDR 4K Sony and Samsung TV's are decent and decently up scaled to 4K 1080p/720p looks better anyway .OTOH Dish TV HD is rubbish .

Most 4K trashing comes from folks with 1080p TV's and not the 4K owners ☺



Nothing in the home beats a properly mastered high bit rate UHD HDR 4K Blue Ray but my high bit depth 4K HDR downloads are right there and can be stunningly good on this Sony XBR .

 

[Raoul Duke]

I still find it hard to believe how long we used the CRT and how poor that looks now, while we accepted it as good at the time. Seems we could build an atomic bomb, but not a color TV set, thermonuclear bombs and space travel, but not even something better than 480i picture. So happy we have hi-res audio and video, not so happy some older 4:3 formats (old documentaries, historical footage) is being cropped to be 16:9. Are two black bars so offensive that we are willing to lose historical footage?

 

[bluto 2050]

There were a lot of interrelated technical and affordable production barriers to all of that until the mid -late 2000's and beyond . HDTV in the US was developed by a consortium of companies including some significant contributors that no longer exist due to geopolitics and global trade results . OTOH my Sony XBR CRT Trinitron's were not all that bad looking for the day and way better than anthing else you could buy until plasma came out at 11 large for an HD ready 46 inch set .Ofc I passed on that and later got a 50" RP set in 2005 , my first LCD HDTV was a 32" Toshiba .

OTOH my Samsung 64f8500 plasma out front looks great so does my 55" 4K Sony XBR -HDR TV in here .

My first HDTV was a 36" Sony Triniton CRT set that cost $2100.00 in the early 2000's and an ATSC tuner was optional and HD programing was rare and BlU Ray and HD DVD disk players were $1000.00 ,the disc format wars were not settled and content was spotty so a lot of us bootlegged HDTV satellite feeds .☺

 

[ATLVM]

The transition from standard definition televisions to high-definition sets seems like it happened in the blink of an eye yet in reality, it was a drawn-out process that carried on for many years. The shift from HD to 4K, as it turns out, isn’t taking near as long.

OK need some advice. I am looking at buying a TV. 2 models: LG 55UH7700 Sony XBR-55X850D I don't need anything bigger than 55". What I am looking at is Netflix recommendation (why? Because 4K content, and Netflix will support it). I like HDR but it's not a must. I have looked at other TV's like Samsung 8000 series and Hisense models.. the 2 models I like are 900 bucks. So my question is anyone actually have a 4K TV w / o HDR or a model of TV they REALLY like? I saw LG has 6030 a slightly lower end for around 400 give or take on Black Friday. But reviews are not very good.. I don't feel like I need to spend 900 to get good quality but reviews are contradicting some sites show LG is better some say Samsung is better and Sony is always top 3.. but its not AS good as the others, but I love Sony, I have many of their products. If anyone has either of these TV models it would be helpful to know the experience and if you compared them with other TV's. I guess I really do not NEED 4K content capable its just fun to know that in the future I am ready if and when content is there en mass. Thanks :)[/QUOTE]

 

[ATLVM]

I'm waiting for affordable HDR and true 10 bit screens before I buy again.

Same here but according to reviews the LG 55UH7700 and Sony XBR-55850D are HDR, true 10 bit for 900 ~ 1000 given whatever store and sales are going on... they are 120HZ

That to me is affordable since I bought a 46" 60HZ 1080 TV 4 years ago for the same price...

 

[ATLVM]

Meh! I'm certainly not interested in forking over $861 for a TV which will be obsolete in 6 months time. I'll just stick with 1080p for a while still.

you have to consider that LED has improved since then, back lit, true contrast, depending on TV the refresh has at least doubled in some cased tripled.. you probably have 60hz standard is 120 \ 240 now.. so you aren't really comparing side by side you are only looking at price.

Also there is a lot of 4K content maybe you don't care ... NOW... but very soon you might.. 4K pictures are awesome..

It doesn't matter when or where you buy (1 year or 2 years from now) the price for a TV is going to stay at 900 for that same TV, I am on the fence for the same thing... Also the size of the TV;s are 30% larger for the same price, I paid 900 for a TV (on sale) for roughly those same old specs, and I think what we get now is MUCH better for the same price.. not to mention the built in Apps are better and the multi function remotes, everything is much improved..

so don't just look at price look at everything and then compare.

 

[ATLVM]

I honestly don't think it has much to do with people DUMPING there 1080p TV as it does just people who are in the market for a new tv have 2 options 1080p or 4k

Why would ANYONE want to get a 1080p TV? Its pointless. So its just a really good time to get a TV.

And yet I see people coming out of the stores they are literally flying off the shelf.. said the SAME thing.. WHY?!? But people are doing it because TV's @1080 are super cheap! It may not be a main TV might be a spare bedroom or guest room TV, or kids TV also.. so maybe they don't care if they have latest and greatest.. but 1080 is STILL very popular... Don't let anyone say marketing doesn't work.. because I see it EVERY DAY

My 28" monitor is 4K, and ALL my TVs are still at 1080... so you know where my priorities are.. LOL

 

[ATLVM]

Well, this is interesting, but when HD came along, the technology, I.e., large LCD/Plasma screens, had to be invented first and the costs where astronomical. Now, however, the technology is improving rather than evolving. Even OLED, which had to be invented, is coming in at approximately $2K for LG's newest 55" 4K models.

As far as 4K OTA broadcasts, hopefully, ATSC 3.0 will be adopted soon; ATSC 1.0 only supports 1080p as its highest resolution. However, ATSC 3.0 will also get rid of the asinine multi-path reception problems with ATSC 1.0 and allow for mobile reception of OTA broadcasts even if you are in a tunnel. ATSC 3.0 is what ATSC 1.0 should have been.

You know I took a good look at OLED and to tell the absolute truth I see ZERO difference.. yeah they look great.. but that's ONLY because of the DEMO designed for that TV, go look at OLED with the SAME broadcast as a 1080 and really there isn't no difference.. I am talking diff between 4K and OLED.. 1080 there is a huge difference but not from 4K and up.

Also a technical hair split here but 4K TV's are really NOT 4K, 4K is 4096, UHD as they are called is 3840, so a 1920 x 1080 TV doubled gives you UHD, not 4K... so its almost lying to the public..

 

[ATLVM]

Um... here's an awesome idea! How about we fix what is wrong with HDTV (720/1080) before we go onto 4K? Wow, what a freakin' concept! Why didn't we think about that!?

I dare you, turn on your TV and look at something on TV. It doesn't matter who your TV provider is; it could DirecTV, Dish Network, TWC, uVerse, Charter, or Comcast. I bet you're asking what all of those companies have in common.

I'll give you a hint... they all compress the crap out of their so-called "HDTV" to the point where we can't even call it HDTV anymore!

That is largely because of infrastructure.. TRUST me they ALL want TRUE picture quality.. Cable (DOCCIS) is set at some small bandwidth because the standards were created way before anyone considered how much it would take to give higher quality, so they have to fit TV signals in the same confines.. Also everyone uses a set top box and the majority of those are in rural areas where they can't change.. YET, its also politics but mostly cost. They can't simply replace old STB without improving infrastructure first... So we hear the commercials about Xfinity X1 blah blah but that's only for CERTAIN areas.. they are not lying about that.

So if you have cable they have to rip out the old cable and put in fiber (which is the only thing that makes sense) that takes TONS of money...

Why the push for 1GB.. that's not a coincidence.. they NEED people to move off that old crap without telling people they NEED to move off, because they will lose customers.

In the mean time the satellite providers are not capped.. like ADSL / Cable subscribers.. another push is to cloud and TV over IP (which is essentially what ATT Uverse is). Comcast, Time Warner, Charter et. al.. are stuck with old technology and enter compression.. but MPEG does a REALLY good job of compression.. so its not as bad as you think.. they test quality before it leaves the site.. BELIEVE ME they know what they have and they are not clouded by judgement.. but they can't do anything in the mean time, because of government regulation, tarrifs, existing infrastructure which has built in union contracts... and ALL of this takes money to change, but NEW neighborhoods are fiber, even on Comcast which doesn't help the rest of us.. but future growth will have good stuff..

Which is why I want a NEW house and not buy an OLD house even though the deals are better.. I check the lay of the land FIRST to see if they can give me fiber.. otherwise I won't consider a house (call me crazy but if I have to live there for 30 years, damnit I want it right!)

 

[ATLVM]

Youngins!

Cable tv: Wow, no more antenna mess!
Digital cable: Woah, no more picture fuzz!
1080p: Damn, people are quite ugly now!
4K: Why? lol

Yeah that's what people said about larger phone screens and cars with bigger engines... its easy to say NOW but later you WILL regret!

 

[ATLVM]

Moving to 4k? I'm still on 480i!

In other words you are using a standard def TV.. so probably a projection TV.. or big floor model that weighs 150 Lbs..hehe

 

[ATLVM]

Hopefully The Comcast system will give SDR 4K and maybe 4K HDR adequate bandwidth at least what Netflix provides with thier 4K encodes or just pass them along on IPTV like I believe they do unmolested instead of 4K lite like the color stripped and soft HD lite they usually have .

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HD_Lite


My 55" 2015 4K HDR Sony XBR TV in here looks significantly better on 720p,1080p,4KSDR or 4K HDR than my still decent 2013 1080p SDR Sony TV it replaces in here .

OTOH my 1080p Samsung PN64f8500 Plasma out front makes better color than any regular SDR LCD TV and maybe some 4K HDR LCD TV's as well it's not going anywhere .

A big part of all that aside from the usual superb Sony XBR color and up-scaling to 4K is the wide Color gamut Triluminous panel even on SDR HDTV 4:2:0 content and on a 4:2:0 480p DVD or 1080p Blue ray . The Samsung SUHD sets are real decent like all that as well .

OK now THIS is good info, thanks!

 

[bluto 2050]

FWIW on a decent 4K true 10 bit panel HDR TV set like my 55" Sony 4K XBR - HDR TV or a decent Samsung SUHD
OTA, cable /sat DVD ,and 1080p Blue Rays all look remarkably better and have better color remapped to a wider color gamut .Ofc. the 4K HDR OLEDS are superior as well .

720p/1080 I/p looks better upscaled to 4K for the panel . I have a legendary Samsung 1080p 64f8500 plasma out front and if that isn't a good 1080p reference to compare with I don't know what is besides a couple of Panasonic Plasmas or the Kuro ,there are simply no comparable 1080p LCD sets .

 

[bluto 2050]

Netflix recommends all the Sony Andoid TV's and just about anthing else that has Netflix embedded in it .

Note the LG 6030 is probably not a true 4K RGB panel like many of the cheaper LG sets that have an extra white pixel (RGBW) so it probably won't match the 4K RGB resolution of the more expensive RGB 4K LG or the Sony you are looking at and the picture on those cheap seats isn't all that anyway .

Note an LG or Sony 4K HDR set will have a 10 bit panel and many 4K SDR sets only have 8 bit or 8 bit + frc panels so they have m potential of 1.07 billion colors out of a 10 bit panel as opposed to 16.7 million colors on a straight 8 bit panel

Most HDR sets can enhance 2K HD and 4K SDR content to a much needed wider color gamut with better primaries keeping in mind we can see 14 bit color ( Billions of colors ☺) and 8 bit LCD /LED panels can not make Fire Engine Red or Coca Cola red or decent primaries and so on .

No contest IMO get the Sony ,IMO LG LCD sets arent all that but OK .

I have a 2015 4K HDR Sony XBR and also a 2013 LG 1080p LCD here and a 2013 Sony 1080p LCD .

The 2 Sonys LCD's here are better than similar LG LCD's IMO and usually have better parts content such as Nichicon and Rubycon capacitors and so on .

My neighbor's 2013 LG -LCD TV blew a mainboard and his extended warranty gave him money towards a new Samsung instead of fixing it .

The 55X850D uses an LG display IPS panel so the picture may be similar to the LG set you listed but the color and other things on the LG probably won't exactly match the Sony ,

The Sony XBR X850Dand the LG you listed have IPS panels ,they have poor blacks but that doesn't matter in a bright room where the X850D excels

OTOH don't wait too long to score an Sony 55X850D at $999.00 this is prime buying time and when I always buy ,it may go back up until spring like last year and by then they will be sold out it's probably the best thing going at under $1200.00-$1500.00 along with a similar Samsung SUHD KS8000/KS 9000 if you can find one and an inexpensive ambient TV backlight LED strip will help the night viewing a lot on the Sony .

OTOH the Samsung KS 8000/KS 9000 may be better for nighttime viewing in a darkened room like the Sony XBR -X930D and my 2015 4K Sony XBR 850C all these have VA panels with better contrast and min. black levels. Otherwise the X850D is very decent and will have better view angles with the IPS panels which are *much better* for off center seating than a VA panel .☺

 

[MoeJoe]

Clouding and uniformity issues displayed at 4K are still ...

Clouding and uniformity issues

 

[bluto 2050]

Clouding and uniformity issues displayed at 4K are still ...
Clouding and uniformity issues

Seting aside OLED ,
Clouding and uniformity issues are LCD panel issues at any resolution. light bleed and clouding are wholly apart from pixel resolution while uniformity issues display at the panels native resolution .

My advice buy a big three tier one brand TV or a reputable mainstream brand PC monitor that will have grade A panels (they are binned and graded like eggs. ) and keep the most acceptable panels withing the mean and average norms or get lucky like I have on 5 big three LCD TV sets here and 2 Acer and 1 Asus LCD PC monitors that were all within the acceptable norms for those TV's and PC monitors .

There is no perfect display technology to date and LCD certainly still has compromises .

OTOH the 2015 Sony XBR -X850C 4K HDR TV here is probably more than wholly acceptable to the 99% but it is not perfect .

 

[MarkHughes]

I got a 4k 49" TV for £280. It connects to the wifi for streaming on youtube and such but the best bit, The Netflix button. It's been great and I am sure Netflix must have paid to have that button on the remote thus making the TV cheaper and putting Netflix in easy reach of buyers. The picture and sound won't blow anyone away but it kicks the arse my old 32" set.