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Still of relevance: the "when will 4k matter to you?" chart. http://s3.carltonbale.com/resolution_chart.html http://s3.carltonbale.com/resolution_chart.html S

Still of relevance: the "when will 4k matter to you?" chart. http://s3.carltonbale.com/resolution_chart.html http://s3.carltonbale.com/resolution_chart.html Short version: you might get some benefit from an 8k tv (and associated 8k media if/when it arrives) if you're routinely sitting closer than 5' from your 80" television. Otherwise, not so much. I generally try to avoid dissing new technology/software/ideas, but really, 8k TVs appear on the face of it to be pretty pointless. You literally won't be able to tell the difference between a 4k and an 8k film if you're sitting at a reasonable distance from a normal-sized TV. (I'm defining "normal-sized" as "55 inches or smaller" here. If in actual fact lots of people are buying 90" TVs that changes things.) For reference, I've been a video professional for 20 years, I have a reasonably large television in a not-massive living room, and in my living room I can just about tell the difference between 720p and 1080p content playing on it, if the source is high-quality and I'm concentrating. The resolution has to drop down to 480p or less before I find it starts actively interfering with my enjoyment of whatever I'm watching.

melling 11y ago
How about when I'm standing in front of the screen and drawing on it with my Apple Pencil? I want to use my TV as another screen for my phone, tablet, computer, and Rasberry Pi. Sure, if watching a movie video is your only use case, your needs are much less.
ordbajsare 11y ago
No bad that chart is in arcane units of measurement.
- realusername 11y ago
  I have about the same problem, I can't grasp feet at all and for screen sizes, centimetres would be easier with just an additional point for laptop screens, it's quite difficult to read indeed. I can represent a 15' screen thanks to my laptop but absolutely not a 40' or 50' screen, it would be better in centimetres with a dot for common screen sizes.
  - Abraln 11y ago
    Just so you know, ' is pretty much always used to designate feet, " is inches. Source: I'm a mechanical engineer in the US.
  - dogma1138 11y ago
    What country are you from that uses CM for screen sizes? this space has pretty much been dominated by imperial units since pretty well forever...
    - realusername 11y ago
      I'm french. While people use inches for laptops, anything bigger is in centimetres.
    - deleted 11y ago
      [deleted]
forgueam 11y ago
I agree that these resolution jumps aren't overly relevant for casual TV viewing. The increased resolutions are important, however, for the success of VR headsets where the display is literally inches away from your eyes.
- thenomad 11y ago
  Oh, definitely. No disagreement there. I'm very much looking forward to my CV1 Rift :)
  - forgueam 11y ago
    Me too!
- shalmanese 11y ago
  Resolution is independent of distance, it's a function of viewing angles. A 4K image 5 inches away from your eye that covers 30 degrees of FOV is identical to a 4K image 100M away that covers 30 degrees of FOV (modulo issues of accommodation and vergence). The biggest change with VR is that it demands much larger viewing angles and subsequently much higher resolutions to achieve the same DPI. Fortunately, viewing angles can at most be 360 in theory (and about 200 or so in practice) so we're less than an order of magnitude away from ever having to worry about resolution again.
throwaway7767 11y ago
I have a projector at home which casts about a 120ft image, I sit about 15ft away. So looks like I might actually see a difference at 4K, though I don't think my wallet would approve of me upgrading quite yet. I have difficulty imagining a home setup where 8K would make a difference, assuming that chart is accurate.
- thenomad 11y ago
  Yeah, projectors are a different kettle of fish, at least for 4k. I'm strongly considering a 4k projector when they get to a decent bang-for-buck ratio.
- lttlrck 11y ago
  120ft!?!
zimbatm 11y ago
It's fine. Consumers are basically going to pay for the technology that is going to be needed for high-quality VR displays (at least resolution-wise), other other applications we haven't thought of. Some things are only possible until technology reaches a certain level.
Retric 11y ago
That chart ignores aliasing effects, fixed resolution can always cause noticeable issues with the wrong source image. EX: Brick wall can show up with banding effects even at absurd resolution given the right distance. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aliasing https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aliasing Screen doors, and chain link fences are also fairly common examples.
- thenomad 11y ago
  Interesting! I shall have to test that.

melling 11y ago

How about when I'm standing in front of the screen and drawing on it with my Apple Pencil? I want to use my TV as another screen for my phone, tablet, computer, and Rasberry Pi. Sure, if watching a movie video is your only use case, your needs are much less.

ordbajsare 11y ago

No bad that chart is in arcane units of measurement.

realusername 11y ago
I have about the same problem, I can't grasp feet at all and for screen sizes, centimetres would be easier with just an additional point for laptop screens, it's quite difficult to read indeed. I can represent a 15' screen thanks to my laptop but absolutely not a 40' or 50' screen, it would be better in centimetres with a dot for common screen sizes.
- Abraln 11y ago
  Just so you know, ' is pretty much always used to designate feet, " is inches. Source: I'm a mechanical engineer in the US.
- dogma1138 11y ago
  What country are you from that uses CM for screen sizes? this space has pretty much been dominated by imperial units since pretty well forever...
  - realusername 11y ago
    I'm french. While people use inches for laptops, anything bigger is in centimetres.
  - deleted 11y ago
    [deleted]

forgueam 11y ago

I agree that these resolution jumps aren't overly relevant for casual TV viewing. The increased resolutions are important, however, for the success of VR headsets where the display is literally inches away from your eyes.

thenomad 11y ago
Oh, definitely. No disagreement there. I'm very much looking forward to my CV1 Rift :)
- forgueam 11y ago
  Me too!
shalmanese 11y ago
Resolution is independent of distance, it's a function of viewing angles. A 4K image 5 inches away from your eye that covers 30 degrees of FOV is identical to a 4K image 100M away that covers 30 degrees of FOV (modulo issues of accommodation and vergence). The biggest change with VR is that it demands much larger viewing angles and subsequently much higher resolutions to achieve the same DPI. Fortunately, viewing angles can at most be 360 in theory (and about 200 or so in practice) so we're less than an order of magnitude away from ever having to worry about resolution again.

throwaway7767 11y ago

I have a projector at home which casts about a 120ft image, I sit about 15ft away. So looks like I might actually see a difference at 4K, though I don't think my wallet would approve of me upgrading quite yet. I have difficulty imagining a home setup where 8K would make a difference, assuming that chart is accurate.

thenomad 11y ago
Yeah, projectors are a different kettle of fish, at least for 4k. I'm strongly considering a 4k projector when they get to a decent bang-for-buck ratio.
lttlrck 11y ago
120ft!?!

zimbatm 11y ago

It's fine. Consumers are basically going to pay for the technology that is going to be needed for high-quality VR displays (at least resolution-wise), other other applications we haven't thought of. Some things are only possible until technology reaches a certain level.

Retric 11y ago

That chart ignores aliasing effects, fixed resolution can always cause noticeable issues with the wrong source image. EX: Brick wall can show up with banding effects even at absurd resolution given the right distance. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aliasing https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aliasing Screen doors, and chain link fences are also fairly common examples.

thenomad 11y ago
Interesting! I shall have to test that.