4K Format

[Falstaff13]

I figure the collective wisdom up here will have the answer, as my (admittedly lazy) attempt to find an answer through Google just led to generic information, but can you watch a 4K disc on a regular DVD player? Or does it take a Blu-Ray player or its own special thing? I somehow missed this part of the digital revolution and then didn't find what I was looking for in some searches.

Thanks in advance.

[boss]

You’ll need a 4K player and 4K TV. My XBox 1S plays them. I bought a stand alone 4K player for around $100 last Christmas, too.

[emeraldknight47]

I’ve got a Samsung 4K player connected to my 65” curved screen OLED LG 4K TV and the picture is incredible, especially with 4K Blurays that have had the video and audio information translated correctly. FANTASTIC BEASTS and SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING are just two examples of movies that, when watched in the 4K format, are just utterly gorgeous! Broadcast television looks better than the norm (but not up to true 4K levels just yet) and most of the stuff I stream through Netflix and Hulu looks beautiful, as well. There will likely be some pretty decent deals out there come Black Friday; I would highly recommend taking advantage of them if you can.

[drquest]

You can watch 4K movies on a non 4K TV if you have a player that will play that format. Your TV not being 4K will only be able to play it at the highest resolution it will support and will down convert the video to that format.

[boss]

^just because you can, doesn’t mean you should. ;-)

[drquest]

^just because you can, doesn’t mean you should. ;-)

For sure! I still want to swing by and check your setup out! I go past O'Fallon twice a day during the week

[EmergencyIan]

My 8 year old Samsung HDTV gave out this summer. So I splurged and got a 75” Samsung QLED 9 series 4K TV. I also learned that cables really do make a difference. You should use higher end HDMI cables with higher end equipment (and not so high end)...that’s my experience, anyhow.

4K via a 4K TV with a 4K Blu-ray player is unbeatable, as of now. As was said, broadcast TV hasn’t caught up, yet, but it does look considerably better on my TV. Streaming services such as Netflix and Amazon look terrific on the TV as does a good number of YouTube’s content. I have also really enjoyed watching sports on my new TV over the last few months.

- Ian

[Werewolf]

I'm not upgrading. 1080p is good enough. Seriously, unless you have perfect vision and your screen is ginormous and you are sitting really close you cannot really detect the difference. The human eye cannot actually see 4k at a normal viewing distance on an average size tv. For IMAX sure. For home use it's not really needed.

[EmergencyIan]

I'm not upgrading. 1080p is good enough. Seriously, unless you have perfect vision and your screen is ginormous and you are sitting really close you cannot really detect the difference. The human eye cannot actually see 4k at a normal viewing distance on an average size tv. For IMAX sure. For home use it's not really needed.

Bah, Humbug! If it were up to you, we’d all still have VCR’s connected to 32 inch tube TV’s.

- Ian

[Hedji]

So I will weigh in as a medium level video enthusiast.

Some thoughts:

1. 4K is VERY confusing in how it is marketed to the average consumer. It is not the number of pixels or resolution increase that improve one's quality... it is the HDR (High Dynamic Range). But even that is processed differently with HDR10 or Dolby Vision. The long and short is, it's a very tricky thing to get right. You can't just get a 4K Black Friday Walmart Deal and expect to have a revelatory picture quality increase. In some cases, it can look worse, and often people are disappointed in a darker, granier look to certain films. There's lots of variables, and that I find to be its biggest weakness.

2. It is very expensive to replicate UHD discs, so you won't find too many unusual or rare catalogue titles in this format anytime soon, if at all. So if you like Scream Factory, Arrow, Criterion, or Severin, you can likely rule out a UHD 4K upgrade in the near future, if at all.

3. My 4K TV upscales a regular HD image. So if I pop in the blu ray of Infinity War that comes in the combo pack with the UHD disc, I have a REAAALLY hard time seeing much difference.

4. Encoding can still ruin a good 4K UHD. There are new 4k discs of John Carpenter's The Fog that are taking criticism from videophiles due to a great scan of the negative ruined by encoding issues that manifest as macro blocking during certain scenes. Meanwhile, the accompanying standard Blu-Ray in the combo pack does not have the issues.

My humble, biased opinion? I think it's a very minor upgrade, if at all. And I resent the manufacturers' desire to kill 3D in favor of marketing the newest, best thing. I will take a good high definition projector with a 10 foot screen over 70 inches of 4K clarity.

[EmergencyIan]

^ I don’t doubt or disagree with anything you’ve said. However, the thing is if you’re in the market for a new, “main” TV what you find are mostly 4K models. I wasn’t even thinking 4K until I had to purchase a new TV this summer. What I can say is that my 4K TV’s picture is just as nice as I expected it would be, maybe even a bit better. Saying that, I did spend more on this TV than I had ever intended (it’s considered Samsung’s top of the line, this year). That may be the reason my 4K experience has been a good one. After I purchased the first TV this summer, we replaced our bedroom TV with another, but less expensive, Samsung 4K TV, as my wife really wanted a smart TV to watch. While it’s a very nice TV, it’s picture is far from the picture of the first 4K TV I bought this summer.

- Ian

- Ian

[Hedji]

Oh definitely... If you're looking to buy a new TV, there's really no other choice. I'd just recommend anyone looking do your homework and don't just jump on any Black Friday deal.

But if you have the means and the space, there's nothing like a projector!

[cjefferys]

My humble, biased opinion? I think it's a very minor upgrade, if at all. And I resent the manufacturers' desire to kill 3D in favor of marketing the newest, best thing.

Agree with both of these. I made sure that the last big TV I bought for our family room had 3D capability because I noticed that 3D was getting phased out and I do have a dozen or so 3D Blu-rays. . Turns out the TV I got doesn't do a good job with the 3D (normal video looks great on it though) so I'm bummed about that.

I recently replaced my office TV with a 4K model (not on purpose, I just ended up getting a hell of a deal on one). As I'm seriously phasing out my buying of media (other than vinyl albums) I'm sure not planning on upgrading my discs with 4K ones (I'm done with that after going from VHS to DVD to Blu-ray) but I'll pick up a 4K capable Roku for it on Black Friday.

[EmergencyIan]

Oh definitely... If you're looking to buy a new TV, there's really no other choice. I'd just recommend anyone looking do your homework and don't just jump on any Black Friday deal.

But if you have the means and the space, there's nothing like a projector!

Yeah, I tried to do my homework before I purchased both 4K TV’s. I think I did a good job with both, especially with the main purchase. I’m very happy with it. It so happens that my wife loves the new 4K TV that’s in the bedroom. However, she probably streams Netflix on it more than anything else. However, from what I have seen, broadcast TV looks real good on it, just not as good on it as it looks on the living room 4K.

- Ian