I see 4K as mostly another marketing ploy by the TV manufacturers to shift more TVs. In the same way that they went all out for how awesome 3D was, until they finally realised hardly anyone cares. I'm very happy with my 1080p plasma.
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New Apple TV will be 4K
- Thread starter lke
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You know people say this about every advance in technology. I guarantee you that ten years from now when 4K is universal, and we're in the midst of the switch to 8K displays, people will be saying the same thing about that... and at the same time, 1080p will look as primitive as SD looks now.
I would also suggest that the analogy to 3D doesn't work very well - there's a much higher bar to entry. You have to have the right equipment and only a small niche of media is even in 3D, and in order to use 3D TVs, everyone watching needs to be wearing glasses - the payoff isn't worth the trouble. People don't watch TV (even when they're watching movies on their TV) the way they do in a movie theater.
It really depends on the screen size and distance to screen...
Where our TV is, and where our couch is, there is no reason to move to 4K. We cannot get a TV big enough for 4K to be noticeable that will fit where our TV is now.
That said, we do plan on moving the TV to a place where we COULD fit a big enough TV, and the couch in a place where, with a large enough TV, we could notice the difference.
I don't think anyone is arguing that.
Its the lack of content that is the hold up. Majority of channels aren't 1080p (any?) many aren't even 1080i. 1080p has been around for 15+ years and its still not mainstream when it comes to channels. You can get movies but thats about it and thats still a slow process. So how long before 4k is actually mainstream?
AppleTV is another doorway to the Apple store. We'll see a 4k set top when iTunes has content for it.
Source for channel information (I know I know its wiki but its accurate).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-definition_television_in_the_United_States
We sit about 12 feet from a 48" and its night and day from our 1080p set it replaced.
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4K will get there. They took forever to settle on content standards. Now that that's established its just a matter of production.
Isn't that what I said? "...movies will be the main if not only source of content..."
Apple will be slow to adopt. They always follow the pack. I really believe that it was the1080p adoption by cable/satellite/OTA providers that made 1080p a widely available standard and thus the need for 1080p tv's. At it will be the same for 4K.
In conclusion..the "new aTV" will not have 4K capability.
You have a better chance of getting hit by lightening than that statement coming true.
I hope the new Apple TV supports 4K video as an option and allows 4K movie downloads in iTunes. I own 200+ movies and TV shows on iTunes and I am an avid Apple TV 'hobbyist'.
This wouldn't mean 1080p is going away anytime soon either as it will be around for a long time and most current 4K TVs do a pretty decent job of upscaling it.
I own a Sony 65" 4K TV and I have to admit, even with upscaling, it is glorious. Also, if you take a walk around Best Buy these days, you will notice most all new TVs are 4K and prices are dropping every few weeks. The 4K content is coming, with streaming coming from Netflix and 3 layer Blueray supporting 4K which should debut in 2015. Future video game consoles will likely support it as well.
I can't see Apple taking the time to release a new Apple TV and then not include 4K video. It would end up being a stop gap product.
The new 'Apple TV 4K' has a nice ring to it. It would also be an awesome upgrade to the current generation.
This wouldn't mean 1080p is going away anytime soon either as it will be around for a long time and most current 4K TVs do a pretty decent job of upscaling it.
I own a Sony 65" 4K TV and I have to admit, even with upscaling, it is glorious. Also, if you take a walk around Best Buy these days, you will notice most all new TVs are 4K and prices are dropping every few weeks. The 4K content is coming, with streaming coming from Netflix and 3 layer Blueray supporting 4K which should debut in 2015. Future video game consoles will likely support it as well.
I can't see Apple taking the time to release a new Apple TV and then not include 4K video. It would end up being a stop gap product.
The new 'Apple TV 4K' has a nice ring to it. It would also be an awesome upgrade to the current generation.
The next Apple TV will definitely support 4K. The A8 chip can already support h265 (used for facetime now) so the chip will be capable. Also given the number of phones that are supporting 4K video recording it's a fairly high probability that the iPhone 6s will have this too - meaning that it will likely switch to h265 compression and will therefore need 4k support on the ATV.
It wouldn't surprise me if 4k came to itunes this year.
It wouldn't surprise me if 4k came to itunes this year.
Not only gaming but added the ability to add apps! Any App!!! That would be freaking great!
It's not even that complex to achieve as the 4K capability is really about bandwidth. It doesn't even need it at launch, they just need to build in support. I'm digging the idea of the store. They're getting into the perfect box area with that. With a DirecTV app we'd be able to stream from the DVR, provided they make an app or just use the same app. Stuff like that would be a game changer. I think the price point of this is going to be in the $200 neighborhood with maybe larger memory options at higher price points.
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Then either you have the eyes of an eagle, or your old set wasn't very good. Obviously, upgrading from a mediocre set (of ay resolution) to a good set (of equal or better resolution) will make for a night-and-day improvement.
I would wager that if you went from one of the cheap Chinese knock-off 4K TVs to a really high-quality 1080p TV (at a 48" screen size, sitting 12 feet away,) you would think the 1080p was "night and day" better.
I agree internet provider bandwidth is a problem (same as it was when moving to 1080p content). That is when downloading from the cloud.
If you stream files directly from your home network using Home Sharing in iTunes and have a reasonably capable wireless router such as 802.11ac, you will be in great shape.
Also consider 4K content means 4 times larger files. The current ATV has maybe 8GB of memory. 4 times this at 32GB makes it very much feasible for streaming.
Basically, 4K would be an option in the iTunes store for those who are able to take advantage of it. 1080p would still be available for those who use that. Who knows, maybe it is about time to discontinue SD content in the app store.
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I don't buy cheap Chinese knockoffs and you're wrong if you think the difference is imperceptible at that size and distance. The article you linked is two years old and dumb. Its not just about the resolution.
Try something newer:
http://hometheaterreview.com/the-colors-the-thing-that-will-make-4k-so-amazing/
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Judging by several threads on this forum, itunes 720p content looks better than 1080p content. I think Apple is trying to limit movie sizes to approx 4-6GB max. This is a reasonable limit of course, especially when the US has some of the lowest average internet speeds among first world countries.
However, this suggests to me that Apple is not likely to begin offering 4k itunes downloads, and therefore not likely to offer 4k appletv hardware, anytime soon. Even if they do, I'd hate to see what a 4k movie compressed down to 6GB looks like.
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1376130/
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1768685/
However, this suggests to me that Apple is not likely to begin offering 4k itunes downloads, and therefore not likely to offer 4k appletv hardware, anytime soon. Even if they do, I'd hate to see what a 4k movie compressed down to 6GB looks like.
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1376130/
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1768685/