Open Forum Friday: Will You Be Upgrading to 4K Anytime Soon?

Posted by on January 8th, 2016   Filed under: Open Forum Friday

openforum4k

Will 2016 be the year that 4K finally catches on? 4K TVs have been available for a few years now, but up until now, the amount of true 4K content has been essentially limited to streaming video from Netflix, Amazon and YouTube. At CES this week in Las Vegas, however, Samsung, Panasonic and Philips have all unveiled their Ultra HD Blu-ray players while most of the major studios have announced their first batch of Ultra HD Blu-ray titles. (Highlights include Mad Max: Fury Road, The Lego Movie, The Martian, Kingsman: The Secret Service, X-Men: Days of Future Past, Chappie and Pineapple Express.) The Samsung player and the first wave of UHD Blu-rays will hit stores in March.

That being said, many people are still advising the general public to hold off on buying just yet. Prices are high and the technology is still evolving, plus there continue to be arguments about the whether the difference in quality is even noticeable. On top of that, asking people to commit to a new physical format now that Netflix is taking over is going to be an uphill battle. The good news is that Ultra HD Blu-ray players are backwards compatible. Either way, more and more 4K content is going to be added to the various streaming services over the next year, although whether or not your internet connection can handle it is another matter. What do you think? Is the jump in quality worth the investment? Could Ultra HD Blu-ray help save physical media or is it already dead? Will you be buying a 4K TV or Blu-ray player in the near future? Give us your thoughts here on Open Forum Friday.



  • bobsponge42

    Based on my (limited) understanding, HDR is where the biggest gains are in regards to noticeable picture quality improvements.

    I won’t be upgrading until my current TV needs to be replaced. I’ll definitely go for HDR if it comes close to living up to what I’ve read so far from those who’ve seen the early results. Time will tell.

  • I’m gonna pop on a 4K TV just for the simple fact that they don’t make plasma screens anymore. I’m hoping that the black levels will look better on 4K compared to the shittyness that is 1080p LED

  • I’m fine right now with a 70 inch 1080, I’d rather not pay double for the same in 4k, or slightly more and have to downsize. I’ll wait for the players and everything to come down in price.

  • LordAwesome

    Not while the majority of the releases are 2K/3K upscales and/or shot on digital video.

    Once they start releases great movies shot on film that will actually benefit from this, then yes.

  • Stinker

    Wait and See. The first Series of TV´s and Player will be a) expensive and b) full of “features”. When they got to Lawrence of Arabia and Blade Runner i will start looking for a possible upgrade, but honest Sean who will upgrade to see FANTA ….Up in ultra high def. Not even Josh Trank will buy a 8k upgrade, and he made the movie(Ok he hated it, but it is his Baby). So i fear the only one who will play it 8k will be Electronic Shops, and the poor employes will have to endure it.

  • 1138sw

    Not really sure how much resolution we need. I mean I see zits on the faces of actors with 1080p and to be honest that is rather distracting. I see loose threads on actors clothing on old movies and that is rather distracting. I mean do movies and shows really need that high a resolution…at some point the magic of entertainment gets somewhat compromised.

    One day I’ll invest in the tech especially when the prices come down, but right now 1080p makes me happy and its cool enough. I’m certainly in no rush.

  • Right now I’m rocking a beautiful 1080p projector with a 100″ screen, so until 4K projectors become affordable, I won’t be compromising screen size for detail. HD is good enough for me until 4K blu-rays start falling into the $10-15 range.

    That said, I love the black cases.

  • Flo Lieb

    If I’d be rich I’d get all of that. But I’m just an average Joe with a less than average paycheck :(

  • B.J.

    Fuck no. 4K is for dudes who can´t get hard otherwise. Like the viagra for technerds. Better focus on the quality of the movies that you buy than watching complete garbage in high resolution.

  • Gerry

    The 2014 and 2015 Japanese electronics trade shows had lots of 8k TV’s on display.

    I’ve heard of TV stations in Korea who say they’re skipping 4k TV and are waiting for 8k.

    From what I can see the only reason electronics companies are pushing 4k is because people didn’t replace their perfectly good 1080p TV’s with 3D TV’s. They see 4k as hopefully persuading people to replace their perfectly good 1080p TV’s with 4k TV’s.

    4k reminds me of when the first widescreen TV’s came out in 14:10 format rather than 16:9.

    If my TV breaks irreparably and there’s a cheap 4K TV capable of showing 1080p 3D then I’ll buy one, otherwise no.

    I’m more interested in a cheap 1080p consumer grade bulb-less projector and in 3D games running on my PS4 (if they ever transpire – the 3D effect on Zen Pinball 2’s 3d table looked great).

  • Kenneth Serenyi

    Many of the cheap 4K TVs out there have a terrible refresh rate that takes away from the higher resolution. Also to notice a difference in picture quality, the 4K screen needs to be 60″ or greater. Most of my Blu-Rays look fantastic on my 1080p TV so I’m certainly not in a rush to go to the newer technology. The companies making Blu-Ray movies took a few years after movies started coming out to fully utilize the technology – the file codecs improved and dual layered discs allowed for the higher quality movies to fit on one disc – so I don’t have high hopes for the initial run of 4K movies. I’m more interested in the OLED technology which is an improvement over plasma, and definitely over LED.

  • Mrespony

    I have owned a 4K TV for over a year now, I do not believe I’ve seen any content yet that can really show what this thing will do, it’s like having a Ferrari that never leaves the garage. It’s still a great panel (Panasonic) that puts my previous to shame and I think it’ll keep pace with whatever content upgrades are to come for another 5 years at least.

  • Anthony

    I’m still rocking a basic 1080p LCD and it’s good for me.

  • 4k upgrades aren’t just going to be the cost of the TV, I’ll have to get a 4k player and I’ll have to upgrade my 7.2 receiver to an Atmos ready one (not just for the Atmos but for the hdmi capability in hdmi 2.0a and beyond)…

    All that money just so I can watch a few things beautifully… Not worth it. I’d rather spend that $ on a vacation.

  • fang berry

    Do not need to be so terrible.Just buy a useful blu-ray ripper.

  • fang berry

    hello,everyone

  • fang berry

    Upgrading to 4K is not easy.However, you can prepare a 4k Blu-ray player to waiting the 4k century come.