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http://www.forbes.com/sites/johnarcher/2014/11/17/4k-tvs-9-reasons-you-should-buy-one-and-9-more-why-you-shouldnt/2/The Cons1. 4K’s usefulness is debatable if you don’t want a really big TVWhile I don’t share the view espoused by some that 4K delivers no visible advantages on relatively small screens, it’s a simple fact that 4K’s impact is directly related to the size of the screen it’s appearing on. Your eyes won’t see as much difference between 4K and HD on a 40-inch TV as they will on a TV of 60 inches or more.
Based on the fairly cheap 40-42-inch 4K TVs I’ve seen so far (I reserve the right to have my mind changed by really high performance models!), I’d say that unless you’re wanting to buy a TV that’s at least 48-50 inches in size, 4K probably isn’t worth troubling yourself about. Unless you happen to sit extremely close to your TV…
For actually you can’t really talk about screen size without also mentioning viewing distance. As in, it’s generally advised that if you’re only going to buy a 4K TV with the same sized screen as your previous HD TV, you may want to sit closer to the screen to really feel the impact from your new TV’s higher resolution. That said, I don’t personally think you need to sit as close to a 4K TV to get at least some benefit from its resolution as some 4K critics suggest.
2. 4K costs moreAs discussed in the Pros section, 4K TVs are plummeting in price. But they do still command a premium over HD TVs – and with some of the best 4K TVs this premium is still significant enough that even were 4K TV prices to halve next year, the 4K/HD TV price gap could still be big enough to present a barrier to mainstream adoption.
It’s not just 4K screens that will cost you more either. As I discussed in a previous article, Netflix recently announced that it’s putting a near 50% premium on its 4K streaming service. And although we don’t have any firm numbers yet, history suggests that 4K Blu-rays will also attract a premium.
3. Resolution isn’t everythingAlthough resolution is the element of picture quality that consumers most seem to ‘get’, it is in truth only one part of the full picture quality story. Colour, contrast, brightness, and motion handling also have huge roles to play. So much so that an HD TV that excels in other picture areas could potentially outgun a 4K TV that wasn’t also good with the other stuff. LG’s HD OLED TVs especially spring to mind here.
That said, it’s hard to imagine anyone arguing that a 4K OLED wouldn’t be better than an HD one!
Perhaps the key point here is that you shouldn’t just assume that a 4K TV – especially a very cheap one – will automatically produce a great picture just because it’s 4K.
4. 4K connectivity is a messSo it turns out that HDMI isn’t a particularly great connection for next-gen video. Having already confused everyone with its problems handling 3D when that came along, HDMI is proving even more of a disaster where 4K is concerned.
The main issue is that the HDMI v1.4 standard you got with almost all 4K TVs last year and a disappointing number of 4K TVs this year isn’t really fit for 4K purpose, as it can’t handle 4K at faster frame rates than 30Hz. So the 60Hz/50Hz playback you’re used to with most of your viewing (bar Blu-ray movies) will be a bust.
You’ll need an HDMI 2.0 socket to handle 4K at 60Hz – though it’s not always clear which TVs have these and which don’t, or how many of a 4K TV’s HDMI ports are built to the HDMI 2.0 spec (very few TVs offer HDMI 2.0 on ALL their ports).
Another complication is that not all 4K TV connections support the HDCP 2.2 copy protection system developed for the 4K era. Also, some TVs’ HDMI 2.0 sockets can handle more colour information than others, and to top it all there’s a whole different connection option – the DisplayPort – that seems better equipped to handle 4K than HDMI. Panasonic already includes a DisplayPort socket on its top-end 4K TVs, and there are growing clamours for such ports to usurp HDMI as the AV world’s connector of choice.
The bottom line is that 4K connectivity is currently at best a work in progress, at worst an absolute car crash.
5. 4K sources are still in short supplyA few months back I wrote an article asking where all the native 4K content was, as I was finding myself testing lots of 4K TVs but finding precious little native 4K content to test them with.
Things have started to improve, mercifully. But with 4K Bu-ray still at least 12 months away; broadband speed/capacity issues causing headaches for 4K streaming; infrastructure issues holding up 4K broadcasting; the latest games consoles stubbornly stuck with HD (see my previous The PS4 And Xbox One Are Already Out Of Date article); and many films – especially those featuring a lot of special effects – still not being made in native 4K, 4K content delivery is clearly lagging way behind 4K screen production. This is probably the single biggest issue currently putting mainstream consumers off buying a 4K TV.
6. 4K TVs can make non-4K footage look worse.Since there’s currently precious little native 4K content around, most people who buy a 4K TV today will have to watch HD or even standard definition pictures that have been converted to 4K by the TV’s processors.
Some of these ‘upscaling’ processing systems have proved surprisingly effective this year. But with cheap 4K TVs in particular, HD and standard definition content can actually look worse after been upscaled to 4K than it would on a decent HD TV. It’s worth adding here, too, that upscaled 4K is no rival for true native 4K content.
7. 4K video standards are still in fluxAs well as being late to the party, the 4K content providers still haven’t fully defined exactly what video standards they’re going to bring to the party. Yes, 4K content is set resolution wise at 3840×2180, but the details of other picture information, especially where colour is concerned, are still being debated. There’s even potential for different parts of the world to settle on different standards.
Again, the bottom line is that as with 4K connectivity, if you buy a 4K TV now you run the risk of your new TV not being able to enjoy the full capabilities of future 4K content.
8. Not all 4K TVs currently support 4K video streams from Netflix and othersWith native 4K sources being pretty much limited at the time of writing to video streaming services like Netflix, Ultraflix and, at some point soon, Amazon Prime Instant Video, you’d think every 4K TV would at least be able to handle these sources. But they don’t.
No 2013 4K TVs can handle the HEVC compression format video streaming platforms currently seem set on using unless you pay to add a hardware upgrade (such as one of Samsung’s Evolution Kits, or an external decoder box). Alarmingly, even a number of 2014’s 4K TVs have shipped without the necessary HEVC decoders.
What’s more, even if a TV has an HEVC decoder, it may not carry the individual apps for all the 4K streaming services. In fact, for various technical or licensing reasons (including that bane of any new technology, brand-exclusive licensing deals), it’s actually very unusual for a TV to carry all the available 4K streaming apps.
Yet another point here is that while HEVC is currently the compression format of choice for streamed 4K, other types of more efficient compression are still being worked on. And if they catch on it could be that your TV won’t be able to handle them.
In short, if you buy a 4K TV now you could well find you have to add an external streaming decoder to it later.
9. 4K is hard to deliver without compromising qualityAs you might expect of a picture format boasting four times the resolution of HD, 4K video is very data intensive. Typical 4K masters of films create files of at least 30GB – and these only use 24 frames a second.
It’s not just the overall sizes of 4K content that’s problematic either. The rate at which data needs to be passed from source to screen is a key factor in determining the final quality of the 4K picture you see.
Both these issues represent significant delivery problems for the AV industry. As just one example, Netflix recommends that you have a broadband speed of at least 25Mbps for its 4K streams (though a stable 15Mbps should actually be enough for maximum quality, and I’ve even seen a more compressed Netflix 4K stream running at only 8Mbps).
Many people around the world just can’t get broadband speeds anywhere near that fast, and there are huge issues too – including the currently high profile net neutrality debate – over how IPs handle the vast amounts of data that will be running through their networks as 4K catches on.
But that’s not all. For making 4K deliverable even at 15Mbps (never mind 8Mbps) requires the original content source to be compressed digitally to make it more manageable. And wherever there’s compression, there’s the opportunity for final picture quality to be reduced in areas like detail, colour range, motion clarity and compression artifacts.
