Re: 4K isn't enough to nudge broadcasters beyond 720p [yet..
Posted: 28 Jan 2014, 21:16
I agree (though hopefully its nowhere near 20 years. yikes!).TheRulesLawyer wrote:Looking way beyond the horizon in 10-20 years something is going to replace 1080p. I'm just not sure 4k is it.
Manufacturer's introduce new technologies to sell more units. They are constantly asking themselves "What's going to sell more units?" and every year there is something else that they have to come out with to sell units.
720p is great. What's next?
1080p. Fantastic, it looks even better. What now?
LED backlighting? Moderate "Wow" factor. Now what?
Active 3-D! Sold well, what's better?
Passive 3-D! (opinion, I know). Looks great and helped us grab the consumers that passed on Active 3-D. Surely there is something we're missing.
Apps. What are "Apps?" You know, like a smart phone but its your TV. Oh! Well then heck yes. Ok that was great for 1 year, but it's not going to increase sales on its own.
960hz Ultra Smooth Extra Motion Feature Plus! Eh, how about we mostly just slap fake numbers on Spec sheets and call it 480hz or 960hz? Done. What now?
Every year since the "HD" TV boom, the manufacturer's have been looking for new ways to re-create the honey-pot that dried up when most of America bought into the HD craze. I fully support most of it (except the fake 960hz crap, that's just a punch in the face), but instead of trying to churn out "the next big thing" from a marketing department, the new formats should have been something more than just a numbers squeeze. With something like 8K, the drastic leap in resolution is likely what its going to take to get your average consumer to pull the trigger. When consumers buy enough of them, it would force the cable and media companies to move forward with new formats. 720p on 8K screens in 10% of the homes with the largest percentage of buying power, won't be up to par for the advertisers the media companies work for. There would be pressure for change from the consumers themselves, of course, but the important pressure on the media companies will come in the form of those with the advertising dollars.
I don't think 4K was a wrong move as long as manufacturers move on to something that does have the "Wow" factor that apparently quite a few people think 4K TVs don't have enough of (I am honestly not one of them, 4K is great. Its just not enough to push forth major changes). Maybe 8K is the answer, who knows. But I'm hoping whatever it is, that it comes sooner rather than later.