Kevin's Watch

That's why I've opted out of the TV licence when I moved into my own place. I watch some series on DVD, some films, and a couple of web shows on Youtube, nothing else.

We have 2 old fashioned square TVs, one with cable, the other with a digi box. I watch neither, except for the odd Time Team, but one has a DVD slot and a video slot, both of which I do use. C will watch cable last thing at night, for about an hour, and uses the digi box telly to see the lottery results! That's it! Must admit I did watch the Jubilee stuff, and Wimbledon of course.

Eh, entertainment is entertainment. It all "wastes" time, depending on your definition of the term. But all work and no play ...

Sure, lots of people watch some dumb crap. But lots of people also read some dumb crap. I think most people on this site already enjoy a "higher" level of escapism, or we wouldn't be here. There are plenty of inspirational, educational, horizon-expanding, life-enriching things you can see on a TV. And there are things that are a pleasure to watch/hear while enjoying a few beers. A significant portion of my TV time is spent watching concert blu-rays of my favorite bands. Aside from going to a concert, there is no other way to reproduce this experience. Music for me isn't a background element. I don't have a car stereo or an ipod. When I listen, it commands my full attention, in one spot (i.e. my couch). And I like to see it and hear it in high resolution. [Music through ear buds is like sex with a condom.]

Zarathustra wrote:The only reason to have ultra-HD is if you need a massive set. Higher resolution only is necessary for larger sizes that spread the HD picture across a space large enough for picture quality to suffer, or rather, for an increase in picture quality to be noticeable.

I don't think that problem is going to stop resolution increases. Maybe it is just a sci-fi dream, but it makes me think of those movies where you talk to your wall and it becomes a video.

I can imagine houses being built where the wall is basically a screen with a screensaver of a wall (or any photo you want). By that point online digital movie libraries (Vudu) and/or services like Netflix will be the standard, and since the house will probably have a built-in receiver and surround sound system, you won't need an entertainment center or any kind of furniture against your TV wall.

I doubt that such things built into buildings and other places will ever become the definite standard, for the same reason these new TVs are coming out: The technology keeps getting better, new things come along. Building a TV into the wall just condemns the house to obsolescence, much like all the people who bought older iPod-dock sofas are now stuck with sockets by their seats that don't fit the current generation of device.

Good point.

--A

Okay, I take back everything I said about 4K. I had no idea. Seeing is believing. It's incredible. I saw it on a 50 inch at Best Buy, and I couldn't stop staring at it. The damn thing almost has more resolution than reality. (Yes, I know that's impossible.) As soon as they drop below $1000 and there are movies to watch on them, I'm buying. They're spectacular.

Cozarkian wrote:I don't think that problem is going to stop resolution increases. Maybe it is just a sci-fi dream, but it makes me think of those movies where you talk to your wall and it becomes a video.

I can imagine houses being built where the wall is basically a screen with a screensaver of a wall (or any photo you want). By that point online digital movie libraries (Vudu) and/or services like Netflix will be the standard, and since the house will probably have a built-in receiver and surround sound system, you won't need an entertainment center or any kind of furniture against your TV wall.

I'm Murrin wrote:I doubt that such things built into buildings and other places will ever become the definite standard, for the same reason these new TVs are coming out: The technology keeps getting better, new things come along. Building a TV into the wall just condemns the house to obsolescence, much like all the people who bought older iPod-dock sofas are now stuck with sockets by their seats that don't fit the current generation of device.

Yep Murrin's right. Obsolescence is the precise reason why you won't see inbuilt screen walls any time soon.

However, the next development due (mark my words) will kinda allow this. We're going to see ultra-thin flexible LCD/LED screens... so thin that you'll be able to roll them up like wallpaper. That'd give you a "wall-sized" screen quite easily - just stick it on.

@ Z, I suspect the greatest issue with 4K is transmission bandwidth limitation... so initially only useful for 4K DVDs etc.

Zarathustra wrote:Okay, I take back everything I said about 4K. I had no idea. Seeing is believing. It's incredible. I saw it on a 50 inch at Best Buy, and I couldn't stop staring at it. The damn thing almost has more resolution than reality. (Yes, I know that's impossible.) As soon as they drop below $1000 and there are movies to watch on them, I'm buying. They're spectacular.

It's unbelievable. We ended up getting a helluva deal on an "obsolete" 65" curved 4K Samsung. It upconverts standard 1080P input from Blue Ray or off the satellite feed, and the results are stunning. 4K material is so close to realistic it gets into uncanny valley territory.

Oh, and the "obsolete" TV.....It's got a slower quad-core processor so it was discounted $2000......

It's even more unbelievable. I watchad two old movies on freaking DVD tonight (not Blu Ray, freaking DVD) and it was like Lee Marvin was standing in my living room.

The only negative thing I can say about 4K is that it's so smooth that it makes everything look like it was shot on video. The warmth of film is lost, and with a modern BR or HD source, it's like looking through a window.

Please tell me I won't have to replace my video library again. I haven't even upgraded from DVD to Blu-Ray yet...

aliantha wrote:Please tell me I won't have to replace my video library again. I haven't even upgraded from DVD to Blu-Ray yet...

Well, at least you can skip the Blu-Ray step ...

Ali, when it comes to optical disks, backwards compatibility tends to be preserved.

Netflix is streaming the new season of House of Cards in 4K, and it looks glorious. Switching back and forth between standard-def and 4K is unbelievable.

My wife is finally on board with this. We went to Best Buy yesterday and she saw the latest Transformers movie in 4K and finally 'got it.'

I can't believe how fast these have dropped in price. A little over a year ago the first set I saw was $5000. Now you can get them for a little over $1000. I said I'd buy one once it dropped below that threshold and there was content to watch. Looks like we'll get one this year or next.

Cail, how fast is your internet connection to stream 4K? We've got 30 Mbps. Is that enough?

I just tested it on my laptop (thru WiFi) and I'm getting 150 Mbps; I'd assume that the wired connection is a bit faster. I don't have any buffering issues. Netflix says you need at least 25, so you should be good to go.

150? Holy crap. How much speed are you paying for? Our cable company doesn't even offer anything more than 100 Mbps.

Are you sure you're not measuring your LAN speed? That's quite a bit faster than your actual connection, usually. I've got a wireless N adapter on my old desktop that's capable of over 100 Mbps, but I don't use all that power since our Internet connection isn't that fast.

You can check your upload/download speeds by going to a site like www.speedtest.net/.

Yup, 150. Not sure what we're paying for. I know when we were using Comcast we only got about 35.

Benefits of living in a bedroom community for DC.

Anyone still considering upgrading to 4k? Best Buy has several models for < $1k now.