Buyer Beware! 4K 'hype' and the current pitfalls of anything 4K

[exar333]

Keep an eye out at Rakuten.com for weekly specials on Yamaha and Denon receivers marked down up to 40%. I have seen a couple of good deals this summer while I was shopping for a new AVR.

This is great advice.

I personally recommend any Marantz units, even the cheaper ones, for good sound quality. Mine was around $300, and I can probably sell it for similar a year from now when I get a dedicated pre.

I second Denon and Yamaha for bang/buck value as well. It really comes down to the features you want. The 1403 I got was very no-frills, but has HDMI, Audissey XT, and fantastic sound quality for a <$1000 receiver. If you want more features like streaming, etc. those will generally cost more.

 

[Garay002]

Good to know!

 

[Jumpem]

From the Onkyo website for their 636:

The TX-NR636 is one of the only A/V receivers to feature the latest HDMI 2.0 supporting 4K/60 Hz and 21:9 display format and HDCP 2.2 copy-protection compatibility.

The Vizio P series, which is arriving this fall, will support HDMI 2.0 and HDCP 2.2.

 

[Matt1970]

Yup, basically this. Who cares about Netflix 4k streaming at this point? It's all buzzwords. I guess I shouldn't even concern myself with 4k when looking for a new receiver. My refurb Denon is on the fritz but usually works well enough....

Netflix can barely stream 1080p much less 4K. 4K is 4 times the pixels bandwidth of 1080p You also need to go big or sit really close to your TV to even notice a difference.

 

[Hinda65]

Well, I'm glad I decided to wait for 4k....I went to BB yesterday and picked up an open box Samsung PN60F5300AFXZA, it should be against the law to display these on the floor like they do. Once I calibrated it and got my room real dark, I was blown away by the colors and how black it gets. I still want a 4k TV, but for $550, this will make me happy for a couple years.

 

[exar333]

From the Onkyo website for their 636:

The TX-NR636 is one of the only A/V receivers to feature the latest HDMI 2.0 supporting 4K/60 Hz and 21:9 display format and HDCP 2.2 copy-protection compatibility.

The Vizio P series, which is arriving this fall, will support HDMI 2.0 and HDCP 2.2.

The Onkyo only supports hdcp in the 'HDMI 3' in port only, and according to some reports the hdmi 2.0 slots don't all function (if at all) at the full 60hz when using lossless sound....plus Onkyos now all dropped audyssey...:/

The Vizios are great, but without a source that provides a real 4K signal at full strength AND HDCP 2.2, what good is it long term....that's the issue.

 

[purbeast0]

lol @ netflix streaming 4k content. they can't even stream uncompressed 720p yet.

 

[Raincity]

lol @ netflix streaming 4k content. they can't even stream uncompressed 720p yet.

Give it time and it will happen eventually. Still the consumer demand for Blu-ray right now is low due to streaming convenience and piracy.

 

[NutBucket]

Eventually? Not when I'm paying $60 for a 15Mbps connection that isn't anywhere close to supporting BR quality content.

I wouldn't put money on it happening in the next 5 years. ISPs are too greedy and most consumers don't care.

 

[Raincity]

The Onkyo only supports hdcp in the 'HDMI 3' in port only, and according to some reports the hdmi 2.0 slots don't all function (if at all) at the full 60hz when using lossless sound....plus Onkyos now all dropped audyssey...:/

The Vizios are great, but without a source that provides a real 4K signal at full strength AND HDCP 2.2, what good is it long term....that's the issue.

My new Denon has two HDMI 2.0 ports that don't mean squat since it does not have HDCP 2.2 hardware support onboard. I still don't care. I will make due with it until I am ready for the 4K or 8K jump. It was audyssey that sold me over instead of picking a Yamaha AVR in the same price range that has more connectivity.

 

[purbeast0]

Give it time and it will happen eventually. Still the consumer demand for Blu-ray right now is low due to streaming convenience and piracy.

well the people that actually care about quality ... aren't streaming netflix. they are watching the actual bluray discs. and the people that care about quality are the ones that 4k is targeted to, not the people who think a stretched out 4:3 sd signal is high definition.

and netflix isn't even streaming the hd audio tracks yet.

we are not even close to streaming 4k video content with hd audio tracks.

 

[Raincity]

" and the people that care about quality are the ones that 4k is targeted to"

A market that the studios don't believe is large enough to be profitable these days. You may have to lean to live with some limitations until this is all sorted out. Unless there is a great uprising and the studios have a change of heart. The chances of 4K media being delivered through a disc are pretty slim right now .

http://www.techradar.com/us/news/vi...ray-format-could-be-dead-in-the-water-1246497

http://www.redmondpie.com/4k-bluray-discs-announced-but-dont-expect-them-to-be-available-soon/

http://www.theverge.com/2013/1/8/38...-4k-standard-disc-format-unlikely-but-not-out

 

[purbeast0]

" and the people that care about quality are the ones that 4k is targeted to"

A market that the studios don't believe is large enough to be profitable these days. You may have to lean to live with some limitations until this is all sorted out. Unless there is a great uprising and the studios have a change of heart. The chances of 4K media being delivered through a disc are pretty slim right now .

http://www.techradar.com/us/news/vi...ray-format-could-be-dead-in-the-water-1246497

http://www.redmondpie.com/4k-bluray-discs-announced-but-dont-expect-them-to-be-available-soon/

http://www.theverge.com/2013/1/8/38...-4k-standard-disc-format-unlikely-but-not-out

didn't make it to the 3rd article because the first 2 are retarded.

the first one talks about 4k, then goes to say so many people are streaming on their phones and tablets, and want that convenience. well 4k material won't be geared towards watching the material on phones or tablets that are 10 inches big. they will be geared towards people with 100+ screens where you will be able to see a difference.

then the 2nd article i stopped reading when they said that "1080p, for some, remains difficult to stream" when the reality is that right now there is NOTHING that is streaming 1080p uncompressed with hd audio, which is what bluray can deliver. but the title of the article talks about 4k bluray discs being announced, so i'm not exactly sure why you posted that to support your non-media take on this.

and if it takes 3 days to "preload" a full 4k movie with hd audio, that kind of removes any "convenience" that they talk about that streaming provides.

 

[nCred]

I'm pretty sure Samsungs 2014 4K televisions (HU-series) supports HDMI 2.0, HDCP 2.2 and HEVC codec. Mine does anyway.

 

[mmntech]

H.265 will make a big difference in getting 4K content available. The Xbox One and PS4 should be able to do it with just a firmware update. The PS3 should be able to as well since the Cell is still a pretty beefy CPU. I don't know about stand alone players though. Some of the higher end ones might be able to. You don't really need HDMI 2.0 for video content. At least not right now. The vast majority of video content is either shot at 24fps or 29.97fps, which the current HDMI standards can handle just fine.

The problem is the vast majority of 4K TVs on the market now don't support HDMI 2.0 or the new HDCP standards, which puts them at a big disadvantage compared to what will launch a year or two from now.

Right now we're about at the equivalent stage of when the first HDTVs started coming out. Like the CRT one I've got sitting in my basement that barely does 1080i and won't do 720p at all. Broadcast systems will be very slow to transition this time since they don't have the budgets for new hardware. My best advice is to wait a year or two rather than jumping in.

 

[sm625]

I really want to get a 4K tv just to use as a monitor. But I agree its just not ready yet. Most of what I watch is 800-2000 kbps anyway. And at 4k I'd be using the magnifier a lot.

 

[mmntech]

I really want to get a 4K tv just to use as a monitor. But I agree its just not ready yet. Most of what I watch is 800-2000 kbps anyway. And at 4k I'd be using the magnifier a lot.

Samsung has a 28'' one that apparently does 4K at 60hz. I think it pulls it off by using two DVI cables, and registers it as a multi monitor setup.
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product...0JC-0007-00009