4K: The new standard for TVs and Monitors

The rapid spread of 4K surprised everyone: at the beginning of 2014, analysts were saying that 4K TVs were simply a novelty with another 5 years to go before mainstream acceptance, but by Christmas, 4K was everywhere – and not just high-end luxury models, but a wide range! Computer monitors in 4K likewise became available from prices as low as €450.

An Image impossible to resist!

Very high resolutions not only provide stunning detail, but also allow further increases in TV and monitor size. For smaller screens, 4k doesn’t make much sense because it doesn’t look that much different from Full HD, but on screens above 30”, the increase in detail is stunning. 4K is available in a wide range of prices due to the use of auxiliary technologies – more affordable models use TN displays with worse viewing angles but better refresh rates, while high-end models use expensive IPS Displays with superior color and wide viewing angles.

The rapid proliferation of 4K TV does bring one problem: 4K content is not yet widely available. There will be a delay of several months, as content producers scramble to release and transmit higher-quality video. Though there are several promising compression technologies that will make it easier to download UHD footage in the near future, right now the most common source of footage is upscaling (blowing up) Full HD images from Blu-ray or broadcasts. Still – where the hardware exists, software will catch up!

A Real Home Cinema

In the future we can expect “real” 4K, where films and sporting events will be shot, processed, and transmitted in true 4K quality.  For now, however, we can content ourselves with our own footage shot on devices such as the GoPro Hero 4, which shoots in incredible native 4K. And the next generation is already in the works – UHD 8K resolution will display 7680 × 4320 pixels.  Televisions like these can equal or even surpass the cinema in your own living room.

Alongside 4K TVs, computer monitors in this high resolution have also become increasingly popular. Many are truly huge, with sizes up to 32” that could qualify as a television. In spite of the large screen, they offer incredibly fine detail in their working area, which is equal to four Full HD monitors side by side.  They are perfect for working with video or photos: the pixels are so fine that they cannot be discerned by the human eye. The vast area is also suitable for working with large spreadsheets or multiple browser windows open side by side.

Connecting a 4K monitor requires certain conditions. The connection requires standard DisplayPort or HDMI, and your graphics card must support 4K – most new cards can handle it, but old ones may not.

Gaming at a Whole New Level

Rendering 4K images is four times as demanding as FullHD rendering, which means that even a powerful gaming system, capable of rendering 120 frames per second in FullHD, will barely be able to hit 30 fps in 4K quality. These days, it takes a pair of extremely high-end graphics cards such as the nVidia GTX 980 or AMD R9 290 to play 4K really smoothly. The industry is working on more powerful, single-chip solutions, but they probably won’t appear earlier than 2016.

The sky is the limit with the latest 4K models – there is a 105” version with a curved screen that costs roughly as much as an apartment. As with all emerging technologies, the best and newest models are sold at premium prices, but this has had a positive effect in a different category: Full HD TV prices have dropped dramatically, and it is now possible to get a very good model for €350 and an excellent one for under €900. A quality 32” can readily be found under €200.