when to go 4k

[massacre]

how long till we see 4k around 2500 price point?

 

[everettT]

how long till we see 4k around 2500 price point?

Bout the time 8k comes out what's your objective? How large of screen? How far from the front row.

 

[MR.MAGOO]

is anything these days even worth 4K

 

[massacre]

my room is 22x22. I am thinking 120 inch thanks

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

With 120" screen, full benefits of 4k would be visible from about 7-8ft distance from screen and some benefits (ie you're going to see difference) no more than 12ft distance.
As for affordable 4k projector I'm afraid you'd have to wait a bit longer.
There are few gimmicks (and they do work) to improve regular full HD, like Pixel shift and new one is a native chip which has 66% of pixels needed for full native 4k.

 

[massacre]

I currently have a 4k 65 its nice but with a 18 foot wall I can do better

 

[panteragstk]

I'm waiting on the new Sony true 4k model. It's $5k MSRP, but it will probably sell cheaper than that. Other than that I'm not interested in the current offerings. If it can't display HDR, then the resolution difference isn't worth it to me.

 

[BMXTRIX]

The big jump in quality will come from the color gamut expansion with 4K, not from the resolution. The problem is that while 4K seems to be pretty happy, it's the color standard which seems to be all over the place. HDR has several standards associated with it, and projector manufacturers have really struggled with delivering on upgrades in the past decade.

DLP is almost entirely stagnant, if not devolving their technology. That is, they want to go smaller and cheaper, while dropping in quality instead of delivering a mid-tier product that is exceptional. They've had the same 1080p chip for years and years without any improvements, and while they own the entry level market (for good reason) Epson has made incredible improvements in the past few years, and their newest entry level products give DLP a run for the money.

The continued headache of fitting 8 million pixels on a 1" chip is a nightmare for developers. Only LCoS has really delivered on that promise at anything close to an affordable price to this point. But, IMO, you can get a nice Sony HW45ES today, and enjoy it for a few years, then get a new 4K projector 3-4 years down the road and have more quality than what any 4K projectors delivers today for twice the price.

I'm pretty sure that I will hang onto my W1070 for another 3-4 years before 4K will make sense and have enough standardization to be the way to go at a reasonable price.

 

[panteragstk]

The big jump in quality will come from the color gamut expansion with 4K, not from the resolution. The problem is that while 4K seems to be pretty happy, it's the color standard which seems to be all over the place. HDR has several standards associated with it, and projector manufacturers have really struggled with delivering on upgrades in the past decade.

DLP is almost entirely stagnant, if not devolving their technology. That is, they want to go smaller and cheaper, while dropping in quality instead of delivering a mid-tier product that is exceptional. They've had the same 1080p chip for years and years without any improvements, and while they own the entry level market (for good reason) Epson has made incredible improvements in the past few years, and their newest entry level products give DLP a run for the money.

The continued headache of fitting 8 million pixels on a 1" chip is a nightmare for developers. Only LCoS has really delivered on that promise at anything close to an affordable price to this point. But, IMO, you can get a nice Sony HW45ES today, and enjoy it for a few years, then get a new 4K projector 3-4 years down the road and have more quality than what any 4K projectors delivers today for twice the price.

I'm pretty sure that I will hang onto my W1070 for another 3-4 years before 4K will make sense and have enough standardization to be the way to go at a reasonable price.

I'm in the same boat with my Mitsubishi HC4000. For what I paid it's a great PJ. Only when HDR and all the iterations have been figured out or standardized will I consider upgrading. Unless I can't find a bulb for it. Then I'll have a difficult decision that will probably get me to a JVC unless I can get the Sony VW285ES for cheap.

 

[massacre]

wow you would think Its the age of 4k by now. I guess the projector market is slow or
not enough sales volume to warrant innovation. That is sad to compare to lcd, it has been around
for a long time now.

 

[Cos]

wow you would think Its the age of 4k by now. I guess the projector market is slow or
not enough sales volume to warrant innovation. That is sad to compare to lcd, it has been around
for a long time now.

Projector innovation has occurred, (i.e. increased quality of Pixel Shift & Laser Projectors) Its just that pricing has not.

 

[BMXTRIX]

There's a huge difference in fitting 8 million pixels across a 60" diagonal display vs. fitting those same 8 million pixels across a chip that is less than 1" diagonal. The technological jump to fit four times the resolution into such a small chip has proven to be incredibly difficult in the real world. I'm not sure why people think this is about being 'slow' or 'behind the times', when the reality is that this is very difficult technology to actually deliver.

It is compounded by 18Gb/s cables over long distances being questionable. True 4K and HDR content being scarce, and processing for 4K being all over the place.

You would think that 4K would be figured out after half a decade after giving it to the public, but the entire industry is still running around in circles trying to figure out what the heck they are doing. Hopefully in the next few years they will actually standardize 4K a lot more and we will see a lot more of what 4K has to offer in the front projection market place. But, there is no LCD 4K native chip yet and without real competition, there won't be much to drive pricing.

 

[English210]

The big jump in quality will come from the color gamut expansion with 4K, not from the resolution. The problem is that while 4K seems to be pretty happy, it's the color standard which seems to be all over the place. HDR has several standards associated with it, and projector manufacturers have really struggled with delivering on upgrades in the past decade.

DLP is almost entirely stagnant, if not devolving their technology. That is, they want to go smaller and cheaper, while dropping in quality instead of delivering a mid-tier product that is exceptional. They've had the same 1080p chip for years and years without any improvements, and while they own the entry level market (for good reason) Epson has made incredible improvements in the past few years, and their newest entry level products give DLP a run for the money.

The continued headache of fitting 8 million pixels on a 1" chip is a nightmare for developers. Only LCoS has really delivered on that promise at anything close to an affordable price to this point. But, IMO, you can get a nice Sony HW45ES today, and enjoy it for a few years, then get a new 4K projector 3-4 years down the road and have more quality than what any 4K projectors delivers today for twice the price.

I'm pretty sure that I will hang onto my W1070 for another 3-4 years before 4K will make sense and have enough standardization to be the way to go at a reasonable price.

So, you’re suggestion is to continue waiting until the dust settles on the resolutions standards before committing too heavily? I’m researching now to add a projector to a family room that I can make dark for movies for a visual impact to match the audio that’s (almost) there. $1500 for a good projector now, then invest in a longer-term one once the standards are, well, standardized?

 

[BMXTRIX]

So, you’re suggestion is to continue waiting until the dust settles on the resolutions standards before committing too heavily? I’m researching now to add a projector to a family room that I can make dark for movies for a visual impact to match the audio that’s (almost) there. $1500 for a good projector now, then invest in a longer-term one once the standards are, well, standardized?

In my opinion, yes. Unless money is pretty free flowing, which it rarely is. The 4K standard is a long way from actually being a standard yet. The lack of true 18Gb/s inputs on many of the faux-K projectors on the market is a prime example. The lack of proper HDR support is another. Things are just all over the place, and while they will get better in a few years, they aren't there now.

You have tons of great 1080p choices under $2,000, pick one that matches your room and see what is best for you, then pick one of the 4K models which will not be in short supply a few years down the road. It makes a ton of sense to me.

 

[English210]

So the Sony hw45es that’s comfortably under $2k might be a better option than I thought after all. A good learning experience for a first projector setup anyway..

 

[BMXTRIX]

I would get the Sony if that was a reasonable target budget. The BenQ 2050 is a nice model as well if you can place it in your room, but not nearly as dark the Sony gets. I thought the Sony was a great value when it was 'under $3,000', but now with the pricing, it's just a really solid pick.

In about 3-5 years, 4K will really be figured out and it will look spectacular. There will be a long list of comparison, and competition will be running much stronger. That will be the best time to buy, and should be about the peak point for the technology. 8K will come at some point, for no obvious reason, and then we will start again. But, that's just silliness when they can't figure out how to reliably work with 4K yet.

 

[English210]

My use will be movies/Netflix etc streaming. Everyday TV will likely remain the 65” plasma for a while that’s on the wall currently. No gaming. The Sony can be had for $1700, so what would I have to spend to get a better projector. Epson 5040/6040? Any JVC’s? Light control isn’t great during the day, but pretty good. Night time of course can be fully dark.

Screen research is proving even harder....I have to have a retractable, and it will be behind the plane of the main speakers that are only 88” apart, so I need to keep it close the ceiling, like the TV is now. 2.35 would actually be better aesthetically, but I don’t want to have a screen that costs more than the pj. Anyway, I’m sure there’s a better thread for that discussion, thanks for the help on the projector!! I appreciate your time and input!

 

[MR.MAGOO]

Is it true an additional item is needed besides a 4K TV, like a 'conversion box' or similar?

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

I say it's time to buy a 4K PJ when/if your old 1080p PJ dies.

Otherwise, just keep on using your 1080p PJ.

 

[English210]

I say it's time to buy a 4K PJ when/if your old 1080p PJ dies.

Otherwise, just keep on using your 1080p PJ.

This will be my first pj. I know there’s a learning curve that I’m on that requires actually having a projector to continue with. Given the pricing and video standards that still need to be settled, and my inclination to prefer a laser over a lamp, I thought a more entry level pj that would still be good would be a good way to go.