There are few things consumers love more than their television sets. Typically, when the industry introduces a new standard or technology, be it color sets, flat screens or high def, the stampede to the mall is quick and impressive.
This time there may not be a stampede.
Ultra HD television, sometimes referred to as 4K, is widely seen as a leap forward in picture quality. More pixels and big screens—some of which are curved, for an immersive viewing experience—do raise the bar in TV watching, critics say.
What's more, as production ramps up, prices are coming down to where some of the lower-end 4K sets are competitive with large-screen HD sets.
But have they fallen far enough for consumers en masse to buy? Or should shoppers wait until prices fall further?
Critics say some technical issues remain, such as concerns about whether there is sufficient bandwidth in most homes to support uninterrupted viewing. There is also relatively little to watch, so far, in 4K.
But supporters argue that a 4K television set, given its ability to improve current HD picture quality, among other reasons, is a better purchase even at today's prices than a large-screen HDTV, which threatens to lock viewers into an increasingly inferior standard for years to come.
It's better to wait, says
Yes: If You Buy It Now, You Are Set for Many Years to Come
By Jack Wetherill
When consumers shop for a large-screen TV, two requirements tend to be at the top of the checklist: a "wow" factor, and an affordable price.
Ultra-high-definition, or 4K, television sets meet the first requirement with flying colors. Ultra HD offers picture quality way beyond what is widely available in homes today: four times the picture resolution of today's HD. That means four times the number of pixels, the tiny points that make up the image. The greater array of colors and the sharper contrast, especially in the large-screen format, give viewers a feeling of being immersed in what they're watching.
There's your "wow" factor.
Long-Term Purchase
As for an affordable price, while 4K is still a relatively new technology, and price tags admittedly were astronomical to begin with, prices now have fallen to where they are competitive with high-end alternatives in the large-screen HD market. Today, 4K sets from leading brands with 55-inch screens are available for $2,300. It would be less expensive to buy a screen of the same size in 1080p. But large-screen TVs are a long-term purchase and represent great value for money. As the average U.S. household will keep its new TV for around seven years and use it for five hours a day, this equates to just 18 cents per hour used.
Larger screens and better picture quality are the wave of the future. Consumers are buying increasingly large TV sets (27% of last year's sales were 50-inch screens and larger, and 10% were 60-inch and above). As a result, 1080p picture quality is reaching its limits on larger screens. Shoppers who buy a bigger screen with 1080p now will be acquiring a TV that will be quickly outdated in terms of quality in the near future.
TV manufacturers are solidly behind UHD. Unlike 3-D television, 4K does not require the inconvenience of special glasses. Those who choose their 4K set carefully will be buying a television that is future-proofed for years to come. The key technology building blocks, HDMI 2.0, an interface for transferring video and audio data which supports 4K resolution, and HEVC, a video compression format, both of which will be necessary to enjoy the full benefits of HD as it continues to improve, are already available on many 4K sets.
Content Is Coming
Content in 4K still is limited, but in time, more will become available. Consumers who are concerned about a lack of native 4K content now can take comfort in the knowledge that TV manufacturers have put a lot of work into upscaling technology to ensure that today's HD content looks even better on 4K sets right now. And a new generation of Blu-ray players and discs that will be able to play back native 4K content in all its glory is in the pipeline, perhaps 18 months away.
Much of the first 4K content will become available via the Internet. A broadband speed of 15 megabits per second is enough to ensure a good experience of 4K, and many households already have this. Viewers who want to be among the first to watch must-see shows such as "House of Cards" in 4K will find 4K sets an attractive proposition. Those who choose to rely on Wi-Fi rather than their wired device for 4K streaming will note that many products are now emerging that feature enhanced Wi-Fi to handle 4K streaming.
Big sporting events often trigger households into upgrading their sets. With the World Cup starting in Brazil next month, the coming weeks will see many consumers upgrading their sets to enjoy the event in the highest quality possible.
Those who are in the market now for a new large-screen set should seriously consider 4K models. As with most new electronics products, prices will fall further. But the 4K sets are already good value for money. If you buy a 1080p set now, which you will likely keep until the next decade, the picture will look increasingly low-res as time passes.
If you can afford 4K now—why wait?
No: Little Content and High Prices Make It a Bad Deal
Strolling down to your nearby electronics store, you see a promotion for something called 4K TV. The clarity and detail of the picture is striking, even with your nose pressed right up against the glass of the TV screen.
Then, looking at the price tag, you are struck by clarity of a different sort.
Many consumers are encountering the 4K phenomena. But to enjoy the true benefits of 4K, three things need to be present: the television, the content, and a way to get the content to the TV. It's a bit like the proverbial three-legged stool. If one of the legs is a bit short of the others, the experience is, at best, uneven. Missing a leg? Then the system doesn't work at all.
TV makers rolled out 4K sets in early 2012, demonstrating 84-inch behemoths with stunning picture quality priced in the $20,000 range. By the end of 2013, prices had fallen dramatically, with 55-inch 4K TVs priced as low as $3,500. And by last month, prices had fallen further to $2,500.
But do you really want the least expensive television in 4K, one with limited features and a brand you may have never heard of?
One Buying Strategy
The difference in price between 4K and HDTV is greatest among the larger screen sizes. Consumers can purchase a 70" screen from well-known HDTV makers for around $1,700, compared with more than $4,000 for a similarly sized 4K TV. Effectively, a consumer could buy the 70" HDTV today, buy a 4K set when prices are lower, and still come out ahead.
Production of 4K content, meanwhile, is just getting under way. A few World Cup games will be in 4K, but regular broadcasts of live sports won't be available for some time. Sony offers more than 50 movies in 4K, and the movie studios are following suit. In Japan, 4K broadcasting could begin as early as this summer. The rest of the world, however, is still at least a year or two away from 4K TV channels.
Therein lies the industry's greatest challenge: getting 4K content to the TV.
Season 2 of Netflix's "House of Cards" is one of the first series available in 4K. But today, no U.S. pay-TV service or broadcaster offers 4K, either on demand or as a TV channel. Comcast Corp. and online movie service M-GO have both announced partnerships with Samsung to deliver 4K content sometime this year, but neither service is available yet to consumers.
The holdup is due to the size of 4K files. To stream a 4K video, you will need a broadband service that can provide a speed of at least 15 megabits per second, all the time.
Even if you subscribe to a 15 to 20 Mbps service, inconsistencies in the Internet speed from your provider as well as use of the Internet by other devices in the home may reduce your 4K viewing to a long series of pauses as your connection coughs out a few minutes of video at a time. Homes may need service of 50 Mbps or better to have an adequate 4K streaming experience.
Disc Slip
Physical media is also not the answer. Blu-ray discs cannot handle 4K content. The player can support playout of 2160p images and video, but the discs themselves don't have the capacity to hold most 4K movies and the extras that are often included in Blu-ray. For now, studios are putting 2K versions of movies on Blu-ray discs and promoting them as mastered or filmed in 4K. Once discs are developed that can handle 4K, they may require entirely new players.
Finally, it's true that when watching HD content on a 4K set there can be a marginally better picture. But why pay two to three times as much to get a slightly better picture quality when actual 4K content won't be available for some time?
Only the hardiest gadget lovers should think of buying 4K now while they still cannot get the full benefit of it. Everyone else can wait.
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