Quote:
Originally Posted by ChrisW6ATV
Jeff-
The broadcast TV standards will not change to all-4K signals for decades, if ever, and if/when it happens, there will be converter boxes for existing TV sets just like we have now for NTSC sets.
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The only reason I brought up this issue is that Roku is introducing its version 4 (Roku 4) media player soon. This player will supposedly support 4K video, but from your comment, I'd say they are well ahead of the game. I have the first-generation Roku player, which seems to work well enough for my purposes. However, if you say the change to 4K from 1080/720p will not occur for decades (or ever), I think I can enjoy my Roku 1 with my present flat screen (and any set that follows it) for quite a while.
I wonder, though, why Roku is jumping on the 4K bandwagon so soon, when 4K television is still in the developmental stages and probably will not become mainstream in the foreseeable future. There have been many changes in the manner TV signals are transmitted in the last 50 years: first NTSC b&w, then NTSC color, then stereo sound (MTS), then HD, now UHD and even something Samsung refers to as "S" ultra-high definition, whatever that means.
I asked a question in a thread I originated some time ago, in which I wondered--After 8K, where will it (the development of television) end? There is, after all, a practical limit to the maximum size of any high-definition TV screen, which is why I stated in the thread that I thought most 8K+ resolution screens would be used almost exclusively as digital signage displays and sports scoreboards. Unless the video image is projected to an external screen, as is done with modern HD projection TV systems, the screen (in terms of a standard LCD flat display) would be so large as not to fit in most living rooms. Moreover, the viewing distance for an optimal HD experience with a screen that large (90 inches or more) would be as close as two or three feet or even inches (!) from the screen. Four-K, as was mentioned, would have an even closer viewing distance, assuming a screen of 50+ inches.
Four-K video does have its uses, say in very small displays as are found in laptop computers, tablets and smartphones. These devices are designed to be viewed at distances of well under one foot from the screen, so images seen on these screens will look much more like HD or UHD, etc. than the same image viewed on a run-of-the-mill HDTV, the reason being that the small screens will be much closer to the viewer's eyes and, being much smaller than a standard HD TV, the images will show much more detail than they would on, for example, a 32-inch LCD panel.
I do not care for HDTV, even though I have a flat screen set in my apartment and my Roku player supports HD video. In fact, I set the Roku a long time ago to output 4:3 video to the television, and the picture looks just fine as far as I am concerned. When the new Roku 4 player comes on the market I will not junk my 1st-generation player, especially knowing what I know now about 4K. As long as my first-generation Roku works, I will continue to use it. As to 4K, I have made up my mind not to even think of what I will do if and when it becomes mainstream. As long as my present video system works as well as it does, that is what I will use and enjoy until or unless it
doesn't work well any longer, or if new standards render part or all of it obsolete.