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For normal viewing sizes and distances, and for anyone without incredible vision, the increase in resolution has about as much effect as oxygen-free solid gold

by bydo 11y ago

For normal viewing sizes and distances, and for anyone without incredible vision, the increase in resolution has about as much effect as oxygen-free solid gold directional HDMI cables. The enlarged color space and allowance for higher frame rates in the UHDTV specs, though, are definite improvements.

nsxwolf 11y ago
Ahh, so there's advantages, that could have been accomplished at 1080p but we won't see them because it wasn't spec'd that way. But resolution won't be a typical 4K TV viewing benefit.
- t0mbstone 11y ago
  Increased resolution (picture clarity and detail) is the ONLY benefit of 4K. The number 4K is literally referring to the increased resolution (Since the image is roughly 4,000 pixels across, compared to the 1,920 pixels that 1080p has).
t0mbstone 11y ago
I have 20/30 vision (without glasses), which means things are slightly blurry from a distance, and when I switched to 4K, I notice a BIG difference. With my glasses on (giving me 20/15 vision), the difference in picture quality is even more evident. Expensive gold plated HDMI cables, on the other hand, don't result in ANY picture quality difference, though. HDMI is digital, and even cheap HDMI cables can usually transmit an identical signal.
- bydo 11y ago
  Above you mention that this is with a 65" display from 10' away. A 65" television with a 16/9 aspect ratio is 56.65" wide. So: A 480p (DVD) image is displayed at 12.71 ppi. A 720p image is 22.59 ppi. A 1080p image is 33.89 ppi. A 4K UHDTV image is 67.78 ppi. With 20/30 vision at a distance of ten feet you are capable of resolving 19.10 ppi, so 720p is an improvement over 480p, but anything higher is wasted pixels. With "average" 20/20 vision you (or perhaps your guests) would be able to resolve 28.65 ppi, still somewhat less than the full resolution of a 1080p image but a distinct improvement over 720p. With 20/15 vision you are capable of resolving 38.20 ppi, so, with a viewing distance of ten feet and a 65" television, 4K is actually a modest improvement over 1080p. If you can actually see a difference in resolution from ten feet with your glasses off, you may want to speak with your optometrist, as by definition you have been provided with an incorrect prescription. Some further information and the formulae used above are available here: http://jaredjared.com/2012/10/visual-acuity-dpi/ http://jaredjared.com/2012/10/visual-acuity-dpi/ *Edit: I accidentally used 4096 pixels of width (the cinema standard) to compute the 4K ppi, rather than 3840 (UHDTV); corrected above.
  - t0mbstone 11y ago
    You can keep trying to delude yourself, and you can spout theoretical numbers all day, but I know when a picture looks better and more crisp. You're like one of those people who claimed that nobody needed 1080p televisions because 720p was more than enough.
thrownaway2424 11y ago
The problem is going to be end-to-end colorspace integrity. How much content is there going to be that uses the UHDTV color space, and uses it correctly? One thing that is nice about software is that it's going to be pretty easy to make a game use the full UHDTV gamut. Of course half the UHDTV equipment out there is going to do wide color gamut incorrectly, just like HDMI 1.3 "deep color" that only works right on high end displays.

by bydo 11y ago

nsxwolf 11y ago

Ahh, so there's advantages, that could have been accomplished at 1080p but we won't see them because it wasn't spec'd that way. But resolution won't be a typical 4K TV viewing benefit.

t0mbstone 11y ago
Increased resolution (picture clarity and detail) is the ONLY benefit of 4K. The number 4K is literally referring to the increased resolution (Since the image is roughly 4,000 pixels across, compared to the 1,920 pixels that 1080p has).

t0mbstone 11y ago

I have 20/30 vision (without glasses), which means things are slightly blurry from a distance, and when I switched to 4K, I notice a BIG difference. With my glasses on (giving me 20/15 vision), the difference in picture quality is even more evident. Expensive gold plated HDMI cables, on the other hand, don't result in ANY picture quality difference, though. HDMI is digital, and even cheap HDMI cables can usually transmit an identical signal.

bydo 11y ago
Above you mention that this is with a 65" display from 10' away. A 65" television with a 16/9 aspect ratio is 56.65" wide. So: A 480p (DVD) image is displayed at 12.71 ppi. A 720p image is 22.59 ppi. A 1080p image is 33.89 ppi. A 4K UHDTV image is 67.78 ppi. With 20/30 vision at a distance of ten feet you are capable of resolving 19.10 ppi, so 720p is an improvement over 480p, but anything higher is wasted pixels. With "average" 20/20 vision you (or perhaps your guests) would be able to resolve 28.65 ppi, still somewhat less than the full resolution of a 1080p image but a distinct improvement over 720p. With 20/15 vision you are capable of resolving 38.20 ppi, so, with a viewing distance of ten feet and a 65" television, 4K is actually a modest improvement over 1080p. If you can actually see a difference in resolution from ten feet with your glasses off, you may want to speak with your optometrist, as by definition you have been provided with an incorrect prescription. Some further information and the formulae used above are available here: http://jaredjared.com/2012/10/visual-acuity-dpi/ http://jaredjared.com/2012/10/visual-acuity-dpi/ *Edit: I accidentally used 4096 pixels of width (the cinema standard) to compute the 4K ppi, rather than 3840 (UHDTV); corrected above.
- t0mbstone 11y ago
  You can keep trying to delude yourself, and you can spout theoretical numbers all day, but I know when a picture looks better and more crisp. You're like one of those people who claimed that nobody needed 1080p televisions because 720p was more than enough.

thrownaway2424 11y ago

The problem is going to be end-to-end colorspace integrity. How much content is there going to be that uses the UHDTV color space, and uses it correctly? One thing that is nice about software is that it's going to be pretty easy to make a game use the full UHDTV gamut. Of course half the UHDTV equipment out there is going to do wide color gamut incorrectly, just like HDMI 1.3 "deep color" that only works right on high end displays.