“If you watch a 65-inch 4K TV from eight feet away, you’ll approach the minimum size/distance ratio to deliver a discernible improvement. But just barely,” Gene Steinberg writes for The Tech Night Owl. “So unless you’re accustomed to sitting up close, which may be useful for gaming, the value of 4K is essentially non-existent for smaller sets. So you’re better off paying less and getting 1080p if the only improvement is display resolution.”
“There is more to 4K, but not all sets offer the feature, and these are the elements that will improve picture quality noticeably even on smaller sets. That is, if they offer a wider color gamut and HDR, short for high-dynamic range,” Steinberg writes. “The result is brighter and more detailed pictures, such as extremely inky blacks and brilliant whites. If a set offers HDR, that’s one half of excellence. The other half? Well, source material that contains HDR content.”
“Into the mix comes the 2015 Apple TV, which is expected to hit the stores later this month. As you may know, the new Amazon Fire TV and the Roku 4 support 4K. But not the new Apple TV,” Steinberg writes. “But neither the Fire TV nor the Roku 4 support HDR, and it may well be that streaming 4K fare won’t even be available in HDR because it will obviously consume more data and thus use a higher bit rate. Indeed, for most people, 4K streaming video is little more than a boast, not something that will offer a genuine improvement to the picture quality of your set.”
“So the answer may well be that Apple wants the Ultra HD/4K situation to stabilize more before adding the feature to an Apple TV. Indeed, it may well be that the new model already contains the hardware to support those technologies, and merely needs a firmware update to turn them on But that’s just a guess, and not an educated one. It’s not something Apple is apt to reveal, although there have been published reports that the A8 chips are perfectly capable of supporting 4K,” Steinberg writes. “So ideally, Apple will turn on that feature, and maybe even add support for more advanced HDMI technologies, in a future update.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: You can definitely see the difference between 1080p and 4K video on our 65-inch 4K Sony Ultra HD TVs from farther away than a mere eight feet. You can see ridiculous detail (dust floating in the air, makeup streaks on faces, etc.) with the 4K content that just isn’t there in 1080p. That said:
Obviously, Apple has the capability to offer and deliver 4K video. Certainly, they have their reason(s) not to offer 4K support immediately. Perhaps they will flick the 4K switch in software after they have signed deals with the content providers? If Amazon’s hardware is capable of 4K, the new A8-powered Apple TV hardware certainly is, too. And that would be just like Apple has always been with Apple TV: Under-promise and over-deliver. For the life of the product, Apple has constantly improved existing Apple TVs via software at no extra cost to users. If not, there’s always next year, but the new Apple TV offers much more than simply streaming video and 1080p is perfectly acceptable even on 4K Ultra HDs.— MacDailyNews Take, September 17, 2015
SEE ALSO:
Amazon embarrasses Apple with new 4K Fire TV box or something – September 17, 2015
Amazon unveils $100 Fire TV box 4K video support, Alexa voice control – September 17, 2015
With the all-new Apple TV, Apple changes the game, yet again – September 14, 2015
Analyst: Apple TV streaming service on the way, could cost at least $40 a month – September 14, 2015
Local media streaming app Plex coming to Apple TV – September 14, 2015
What Apple got right in Apple TV’s user interface – and what needs work – September 11, 2015
New Apple TV has the potential to do for television what iPhone did for mobile phones – September 11, 2015
Apple preps to conquer living room with all-new Apple TV – September 11, 2015
Hands-on with the all-new Apple TV – September 10, 2015
Gruber: Apple TV will define how all TVs will work in a few years – September 10, 2015
Here’s how much RAM is inside Apple’s iPhone 6s/Plus, iPad Pro and new Apple TV – September 10, 2015
New Apple TV sounds great, but where’s the 4K? – September 10, 2015