Asking about 5K TVs in anticipation of new BluRay releases
Napoleon Plural
LondonPosts: 10,484MI6 Agent
Currently I have a basic but enjoyable 32in Panasonic flatscreen. I'd prefer it were 40 at least, but I got it second hand five years ago and it's holding up.
I was all set to get an LG 5K OLED 48in TV on the basis of Which magazine's recommendation. It's around a grand. However - and this is what you find - one review on Amazon hit home. They said the picture was just too good, too detailed, so that you could see every thread of clothing, every detail of hair, unlike how you see things in real life, it can prove distracting. They also said that with LG you had to sign up to their stuff to download Apps, hand over personal info and so on, so I am properly put off. Shame, as other OLED TVs are larger - too large for me.
We're all looking forward to the 5K Bond reissues but obviously you might need a 5K TV to appreciate it. But can we be sure we really want this? It reminds me - I'm old enough - of the talk surrounding CDs when they came out - why, you could hear the squeak on Ringo's drum pedal if you listened hard enough! But why would that be a good thing? It continues today, some say the latest White Album reissue just sounds so clear it's less enjoyable. Digital isn't always best and in some ways I enjoyed the analogue remastered videos of the classic Bonds more than anything - sound in analogue too. But I digress.
Something that looks spectacular isn't always better.
Also, does a 5K telly upgrade the picture when it isn't 5K? Old films on some channels can look a bit rough even on a small telly but look rougher on a larger one. Would an old print improve with a better, high def telly in any significant way, or would it just show up how bad it is?
Isn't 4K good enough anyway?
Roger Moore 1927-2017
Comments
Interesting thoughts NP.
I have a 32" Sony LCD, over 10 years old, really nothing special but a very good picture and the blu-rays are sharp. It upscales TV programmes that are shown in HD and it's super sharp when this is the case, although it won't be 4K image. Mrs TRK and I were watching a new episode of A Place in the Sun just yesterday which was being broadcast in HD, you could tell instantly as it was so sharp. Even Mrs TRK commented on it and thought it was too sharp.
So, I agree with you, is it better? Is it necessary? (Are we just getting old?!) It's like when you go into Currys and they have the TV's on display playing special super enhanced footage created to show just what the TV is capable of (under the right conditions). The fact you can see every rain drop, every office light in a skyscraper from 200m away, it's unnaturally clear. Much sharper than the human eye, and probably unnecessary.
My Dad has a 46" Samsung LED TV with latest Sky (whatever version, I don't know) and when we watch the football together, I always say, it's just too sharp. Too much contrast. You can see every blade of grass, every fan in the crowd. Big difference to watching The Big Match Revisited on ITV4!
I've held off upgrading my TV for a while, given its aforementioned good performance. I would prefer a size 40, 43, 46 for sure, but picture wise, I'm not really fussed with 4K presently. I always wait for these things to come down in price anyway, so if and when Bond comes out on 5K, I certainly won't be rushing out to purchase.
The human eye doesn't need to pick out every detail for the brain to understand what it is watching. That's part of the beauty of film, photography and art - and of life, I suppose. What is this obsession with detail ? Has nobody in these tech firms ever considered what creates a picture or why it is successful before they started to make everything pin-point clear?
Soft focus anyone? Gauze lenses? Foreground? Background? Zoom? Out of focus? Shadow? Back-lit? The list goes on. It's even longer for paintings.
Just look at a Picasso close up and you see all the details, the brush strokes, the scratches, the bold heavy lines, the picture looks a dog's dinner. Then walk across the room and view it from a distance of perhaps ten metres - suddenly everything is in focus and the impact of the picture is revealed. That's the human eye and the brain working together. WE do not need technology to show us what we can already interpret. The best piece of tech is already in our head.
I'm not a luddite, but some advances are more a trick of the light, so to speak.
They also said that with LG you had to sign up to their stuff to download Apps, hand over personal info and so on, so I am properly put off.
this is the part I'd be concerned about. Its now the business model of most IT companies that the customer does not own their own data, and that the data should live on the Company's Cloud rather than a personal harddrive. MicroSoft and Adobe encourage customers to save their own data this way, though you don't have to. Sounds like LG also think what you view using their TV is their business. I don't know that LG is going to anything evil with your data, they probably just want to measure how many people view what, and maybe where they live. But there's a lot of statistical data they could be gathering alongside specific shows viewed and the databases they build can be bought and sold.
aside from that, a better pictures gotta be a good thing, especially with a bigger screen.
Well, there you have a thing. I mean, if the TV is 'only' 40in or under 50in, would 5K really be that noticeable? You could see the benefit for a really large telly, but for one that size?
Roger Moore 1927-2017
Wow - never heard of 5k resolution on tv’s before 🤷🏻♂️
Most videophiles will tell you that unless you're sitting right on top of it, you really need a TV that's 55 inches or larger to really be able to appreciate the added resolution of 4K or higher. There also really isn't much content out that that is higher than 4K right now so any TV running at a higher resolution than that will only be upconverting the content to the TV's native resolution which doesn't always yield the most pleasing picture.
If you're looking at something 50" inches or smaller, I think finding a TV that also supports HDR (high dynamic range) will serve you even better. HDR allows for a greater range of contrast that in turn makes for more compelling and realistic imagery. It can make an especially significant difference in darker scenes where stuff might usually be hard to make out or brighter scenes where stuff can often get washed out. If and when you do buy a new TV, be sure that it supports the newer HDR standards like HDR10. Most streaming services such as Amazon Prime and Netflix are already streaming 4K HDR content so you'll reap the benefits of the feature right away regardless of how large the set is.
There you are @Sir Miles that's how you reply without being a smart ar$e... 😎
Roger Moore 1927-2017
Can you explain your comment to me please? How was I being a smart ar$e? 🤔🤷🏻♂️
Your comment on the rarity of 5K televisions contained elements of smartar$ery...
Roger Moore 1927-2017
In your opinion.
I genuinely have/had never heard of 5k in tv’s 🤷🏻♂️
Please explain to me - via PM (so as to not further derail this thread) - exactly what those elements are.
I love HD but I do remember that it slightly spoilt that matte painting in Moonraker of Drax’s chateau sitting in the California desert: it looked real before but on Blu Ray it looks like crude painting that someone’s wobbling the camera in front of! 😄
I know what you mean.
I watched the latest version of Return of The Jedi over Christmas on an all signing all dancing TV and I longed to just watch it again on a lesser TV and DVD player. It looked real before but in the Tatooine barge and Endor bike chase scenes in particular, you could really see the joins.
Hi Sir Miles, I thought you were having a dig at my lack of knowledge because I referenced 5K TVs when it appears there is no such thing, - only 4K as yet.
So I had a dig back - no offence meant, only cheek.
Roger Moore 1927-2017
@Napoleon Plural, nope absolutely none…I know about 4k & 8k…I think 5k is used in the high end Apple machines but I hadn’t heard about it being used in tv’s…but I wasn’t ruling it out 🤗