After five years of trying to convince us that 3D TVs are the future, it seems TV makers are finally ready to move on — to 4K UHDTV. At the IFA consumer electronics show in Berlin, Sony, Toshiba, and LG are all showing off 84-inch 4K (3840×2160) TVs. These aren’t just vaporware, either: LG’s TV is on sale now in Korea (and later this month in the US), Sony’s is due later this year, and Toshiba will follow in the new year.
LG
LG actually debuted its 4K TV back at CES in January, but it’s back at IFA with a launch date (September), a price ($22,000), a model number (84LM9600), and this time the company is actually letting people play with the set. Beyond its size and resolution, there’s plenty of connectivity down the side (HDMI and USB ports up the wazoo), passive 3D (and 2D-to-3D conversion), built-in WiFi, and a slew of other top-end features.In general, consumers and reporters at IFA all seem to say the same thing about LG’s 84-inch TV: It only really comes into its own when you get really close — close enough that all you can see is the TV (about five feet). Remember, despite having 3840×2160 (8.2 million pixels) — four times the resolution of 1920×1080 — the pixel density is still very low (54 PPI, vs. the 200-300 PPI found on modern mobile displays). An 84-inch 4K TV only has a slightly higher pixel density than a 50-inch 1080p TV (44 PPI).
Curiously, a few people are reporting that the TV seems to have very poor horizontal viewing angles (and the LG site doesn’t even list the viewing angles, which is usually a bad sign).
Sony
Sony, never one to be out done on features, has decided that its 84-inch 4K UHDTV will debut with a built-in 10-speaker 50-watt sound system, built-in WiFi, and Sony’s Entertainment Network, which provides access to Netflix, Pandora, YouTube, Skype, and other web services. The whole thing weighs a mind-blowing 176 pounds (80 kilos).Like LG, Sony’s XBR-84X900 (Sony sure loves its memorable model numbers) supports passive 3D at 4K resolutions, and for PlayStation 3 owners there’s SimulView, which allows two gamers to play a game at 1080p without split screen (using polarized glasses).
There’s no word on pricing — but it’ll probably be at least $25,000 when it launches “some time this year.”
Toshiba
The Toshiba 84-inch 4K TV, with an iPhone next to it for scale (Credit: The Verge)
We don’t know much about Toshiba’s 84-inch 4K display, other than the fact that it’s coming some time in 2013. Judging by the photos, Toshiba’s unit is sleeker than Sony’s TV, but not quite as svelte as LG’s. There aren’t any built-in speakers — but really, if you’re going to spend $20k on a TV, does Sony really think that you won’t also have a proper cinema-grade surround sound setup?
Our best bet is assume that the 84-inch model has the same features as Toshiba’s smaller, already-launched 55-inch 4K TV. The 55ZL2 supports glasses-free 3D through lenticular lenses, which direct redirect 3D imagery to different locations (i.e. different seats on the sofa). The 55ZL2 also has the ability to play video from online sources, but most reviews suggest that Toshiba’s offering pales in comparison to Sony’s, or indeed a $99 media streamer.
Perhaps most worryingly, the 55ZL2 only accepts 4K video input through Toshiba’s proprietary “digital serial port” — and the only device that outputs to a digital serial port is Toshiba’s own professional, very expensive media servers. Hopefully the 84-inch model will accept 4K over HDMI, like the Sony and LG UHDTVs.
Finally, a friendly reminder: While a 4K monitor or TV sounds like a good idea, bear in mind that there’s almost zero 4K content on the market — and short of spending a thousand bucks on a monstrous video card setup, nothing that will even come close to rendering a game at 3840×2160. There isn’t a 4K Blu-ray standard, and 4K broadcast TV transmission is still very much in its infancy.
No comments:
Post a Comment