How important is HD, really?

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761 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1788614 26-May-2017 10:43

1080 is important to me, 4k is not.

I bought a 4K HDR TV. 4K netflix is cool, and so is 4k youtube. But 1080 is generally more than sufficient - looks great on my 50".

SD is rubbish.

Jaxson

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#1788617 26-May-2017 11:04

This thread is reading like a justify my desire to not upgrade, not keeping up with the Joneses piece.

If you don't see an improvement, or if you do but don't think it's worth the money/effort to upgrade, then that's totally 100% fine.

Over time, just like SD TV options, you simply won't be able to get a TV that's not 4K. And over time after that, when 8K comes in, it will be the same again.

Be you an early adopter or a later adopter, at some stage you are simply going to have to purchase a TV that is 4K capable, and prices are falling all the time.

Wait long enough and you won't have to worry about not spending extra to get it...

We recently replaced our (still fully functional) Full HD plasma TV, mostly because of energy consumption aspects to be honest, but also through a desire to move it on whilst it was still worth something working.

We opted for a 4K replacement, and went 5 inches larger also. The price difference was small between Full HD and 4K, and given standards have settled down a little bit now and 4K content is now available, we opted for the 4K option. I'm really glad we did, although the Plasma picture quality is still pretty stunning, when compared to standard LCD (OLED looks pretty exciting), regardless of resolution.

As mentioned by others above, you do have to turn off a bunch of the processing, especially anything related to 'motion flow', as that was genuinely quite nauseating. All major name brands are smart TV's now, which in the case of the Sony means it's quite slow at times to turn on, and using them is way more complex for older people than it ever was back in the day. Despite being 5" larger, it's only 3cm wider than the last TV, because the plasma had a relatively thick edging bezel compared to the new one.

None of this is a 4K specific discussion really.

I think that's the main takeaway really. 4K is just a resolution, nothing more, nothing less.
In itself it's nothing special, you either want it and appreciate it, or you can take or leave it.

(HDR options are part of the 4K standard though, so there is that. I don't think you have options to HDR modes/standards on non 4K TVs?

Arguably support for HDR viewing options is a more important discussion long term than the resolution alone.)

richms

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#1788635 26-May-2017 11:28

You can still get junk 768p panels, so the market for cheap nasty TVs for people that do not care is still operating well.

I dont expect low end stuff to go anywhere anytime soon, right up to the end of CRTs there were useless TVs with only composite inputs, lousy picture quality and similar drastic shortcomings over better ones. They still sold.

Richard rich.ms

DarthKermit

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#1788640 26-May-2017 11:38

Hell, I was in JB Hifi last evening and they had a budget DVD player with only a composite output (not even component video). I think it was going for about 30 bucks.

Rikkitic

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#1788641 26-May-2017 11:39

The HDR information is interesting. Even if I can live without it, I certainly can appreciate it. I haven't been in a shop for awhile (which is where I formed my initial opinions about HD vs SD) but I will make a point of checking out 4K HDR one of these days just to experience the difference. Where we live the only viable source of this would be disks. Our Internet can barely do HD. For me it is maybe a bit like owning a Tesla. It would be nice but not having one doesn't ruin my ability to enjoy life.

Plesse igmore amd axxept applogies in adbance fir anu typos

Paul1977

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#1788644 26-May-2017 11:46

DarthKermit:

Hell, I was in Ji Hifi last evening and they had a budget DVD player with only a composite output (not even component video). I think it was going for about 30 bucks.

That reminds me of back in the day when I went from composite to component for DVDs on my old CRT, and remembering how much better it was.

ilovemusic

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#1790603 28-May-2017 13:04

hi jaxson;

what did you get ?

and how old was the tv getting replaced ?

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Jaxson

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#1796743 8-Jun-2017 15:40

Just as a heads up, make sure you get quality cables for any interconnects.

You want one that specifically provides 3D + 4K Support with Ethernet:

old3eyes

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#1796793 8-Jun-2017 16:28

Ethernet??

Regards,

Old3eyes

Jaxson

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#1796849 8-Jun-2017 19:23

old3eyes:

Ethernet??

Yep

shk292

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#1796862 8-Jun-2017 19:27

The HD thing I cannever understand is the glut of 15.6" laptops with crappy 768-resolution displays. How anyone could use one of these, let alone buy one, is beyond me. Without doing the maths, the pixel size of one of these viewed at 45cm is probably way bigger than an SD TV viewed in the typical lounge room

driller2000

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#1796868 8-Jun-2017 19:35

Jaxson:

Just as a heads up, make sure you get quality cables for any interconnects.

You want one that specifically provides 3D + 4K Support with Ethernet:

Yeah nah....nah

https://www.cnet.com/news/4k-hdmi-cables-are-nonsense/

richms

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#1796882 8-Jun-2017 19:49

I have plenty of cables that claimed to meet high speed with ethernet and will not pass 4k 60 to the TV. Some barely work at 4k 24 but are fine at 1080 60. Its just they slapped high speed on it because it worked on everything available at the time. If they say 4k support and it doesn't, then easy return. If they didnt say that and just said high speed then you have to argue with sellers to get the refund.

Richard rich.ms

D.W

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Ultimate Geek

#1796947 8-Jun-2017 21:48

Yep, as soon as you enter the realm of 4K @ 60fps, cable does matter. I have a bunch of cables that had to be replaced because they couldn't manage 4K @ 60fps between my 4K devices, AV receiver and TV.

blakamin

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#1796950 8-Jun-2017 22:20

richms:

I have plenty of cables that claimed to meet high speed with ethernet and will not pass 4k 60 to the TV. Some barely work at 4k 24 but are fine at 1080 60. Its just they slapped high speed on it because it worked on everything available at the time. If they say 4k support and it doesn't, then easy return. If they didnt say that and just said high speed then you have to argue with sellers to get the refund.

Had that problem with a purchase last week on ebay. Contacted the seller and the guy told me some BS and tried to tell me HDMI standards etc, so I said "your ad is BS and I'm starting a refund process". Had the money back 5 minutes later.

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