Toshiba to launch line of 4K TVs in August, pricing starts at $4,999

[Shawn Knight]

Toshiba’s upcoming line of Ultra HD 4K resolution televisions were on display at CES earlier this year with the promise that we would see them become available this summer. That time has arrived and right on cue, the Japanese multinational conglomerate sends word of a solid launch date and pricing on three upcoming models.

For starters, the company’s 58-inch set will retail for $4,999 while the larger 65-inch unit will set buyers back $6,999. If you’re planning to go all out, an 84-inch model can be yours for a cool $16,999. All sets include Toshiba’s Resolution Restoration technology which essentially upscales the quality of non-4K programming so it looks better on the high resolution display.

The company’s 4K line is powered by CEVO 4K Quad+Dual Core Processors with Surface Brilliance Enhancement and Color Gamut Enhancement. Refresh rates come in at 240Hz using ClearScan and we’re told the sets utilize Color and Depth Adaptive Resolution+ to boost resolution and colors for overall better image quality.

As evident by the price, 4K technology is still relatively new. Toshiba’s digital products division VP of product marketing and development, Scott Ramirez, pointed out that content creators are still working to create more 4K content and perhaps more importantly, they still need to figure out how to distribute it.

Truth be told, we’re probably still at least a few years away from 4K being a viable option that fits into the budget of most individuals. Of course, if you’ve got the coin to spare and want to see what the future of television will be like, Toshiba will have you covered starting in August.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/53075-toshiba-to-launch-line-of-4k-tvs-in-august-pricing-starts-at-4999.html

 

[BlueDrake]

It's nice to see some company interest in developing for this, but how many home are actually even watching things in HD? Not to mention you don't find a huge majority of channels, broadcast in HD so obviously you find more in SD channels. Unless you're happy to pay for those special HD options, I'm hoping to see as it's coming into market, prices will eventually drop as tech continues evolving.

Of course don't expect to be streaming 4k video anytime soon, unless providers plan on pretty big connections with no bandwidth limits / caps. You'll easily burn through that 250+ GB cap I'm sure, for just what.. a handful of movies? I don't know the exact rates, so someone else can possibly fill that in.

 

[MilwaukeeMike]

A good indicator of 4K success would be how well Blu-ray displaced DVD. But unfortunately, streaming came along and displaced them both, so now we'll have to wait and see.

I've heard a 2 hr HD movie from netflix will take about 2GB of data. And since 4K is 4x the pixels that'll be 8GB. 8GB in 2 hours breaks down to about 1.11MB per second. That's about the max I could get on my cable internet on a good day. I could always pay for faster service, but that still wouldn't guarantee no lagging, and it pretty much rules out buffering.

And you know what Netflix does when your connection slows? It lowers the quality to compensate. D'oh!

 

[gamoniac]

All new technologies go through this life cycle; 4K is at the early adopter phase now, aiming for the wealthier target. The price is a lot better than what I had expected. $4999 for 58" and 4 times the resolution, the price per pixel is actually cheaper than what I had paid for my 52" 1080P 5 years ago. Let's just hope the price will come down quicker before my aging LCD breaks...

 

[BMfan]

A 2hr movie only 2gb's,How? A uncompressed blu ray 1080p movie is about 22gb's(That's the movie only,no extra's) with HD audio as well.

What I would also like to know what is the proper HZ?
My TV says it's 240HZ yet with my PC plugged into it,it still 'only' runs at a max of 60HZ and looking at the newer Z87 boards that support 4k they only can run at 24HZ at 4k

 

[PinothyJ]

A 2hr movie only 2gb's,How? A uncompressed blu ray 1080p movie is about 22gb's(That's the movie only,no extra's) with HD audio as well.

What I would also like to know what is the proper HZ?
My TV says it's 240HZ yet with my PC plugged into it,it still 'only' runs at a max of 60HZ and looking at the newer Z87 boards that support 4k they only can run at 24HZ at 4k

That is not uncompressed as an uncompressed BR quality movie would be HUGE!

 

[Railman]

Considering how expensive the early HD TVs cost the and the size I don't think the price is that bad. Not that I could afford to buy one! I remember when video recorders used to cost £2,000 which was the early 1980's. Assuming that inflation doubles the costs every 15 years that would be an equivalent of £6,000 in todays money. The price should come down in the next few years.

 

[PinothyJ]

It is important to note the great quality that you get from a Toshiba TV. My 1.5m Toshiba LED 3D TV is just an absolute dream to watch.

?

 

[oldikes]

Ill worry about this when most pcs can do 4k at 60 hz. a 4k 50 inch "monitor" though...makes me drool. assuming it runs at 60 hz.

 

[Railman]

These 4k TVs have a refresh rate of 240 Hz. The problem is what to connect to the TV and the type of connection. I gather that HDMI is not up to the job and there are very few devices that can cope with 4k.