The REAL cost of buying a 4K TV!!

Jon

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So we got a new 4K TV the other week.(LG, 49" etc.), we've not bought a new living room TV since 2012 so things have clearly moved on... a lot!

First is the fact I DIDN'T KNOW that you need to get a 4K Blu Ray player to get the most from the TV screen, a regular Blu Ray player just shows things at 1080p

Then comes the issue with streaming. I stream a LOT of content, Netflix, Amazon Prime, Now TV - We have them all.

Netflix does 4K (app on the LG TV)
Amazon Prime does 4K (app on the LG TV)
NowTV is stuck at 1080p (or possibly 720p) (app on the LG TV) but can go up to 4K IF I buy the NowTV Smartbox which is around £45

Also I stream a fair bit of itunes content (and own a fair bit of itunes content!) and if you have a film in HD and there is a 4K version Apple will let you have the 4K version as a free upgrade! GREAT! Except, my Apple TV Gen 3 outputs at 1080p and if I want 4K movies then I need an Apple TV 4K which is around £160

In Summary, don't upgrade any of your TVs cos it costs a fortune!

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Andrew

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So we got a new 4K TV the other week.(LG, 49" etc.), we've not bought a new living room TV since 2012 so things have clearly moved on... a lot!

First is the fact I DIDN'T KNOW that you need to get a 4K Blu Ray player to get the most from the TV screen, a regular Blu Ray player just shows things at 1080p

Then comes the issue with streaming. I stream a LOT of content, Netflix, Amazon Prime, Now TV - We have them all.

Netflix does 4K (app on the LG TV)
Amazon Prime does 4K (app on the LG TV)
NowTV is stuck at 1080p (or possibly 720p) (app on the LG TV) but can go up to 4K IF I buy the NowTV Smartbox which is around £45

Also I stream a fair bit of itunes content (and own a fair bit of itunes content!) and if you have a film in HD and there is a 4K version Apple will let you have the 4K version as a free upgrade! GREAT! Except, my Apple TV Gen 3 outputs at 1080p and if I want 4K movies then I need an Apple TV 4K which is around £160

In Summary, don't upgrade any of your TVs cos it costs a fortune!

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I've got two 4k tvs but always watch stuff in 1080p. Still looks great!
 

Jon

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I've got two 4k tvs but always watch stuff in 1080p. Still looks great!
well that's madness.
That's like buying a HD TV and playing everything on your VCR via Scart Leads!
 

Andrew

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well that's madness.
That's like buying a HD TV and playing everything on your VCR via Scart Leads!

It's got upscaling. But I bought them for the smart functionality. The 4k is just an added bonus!
 

Jon

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and today I have discovered that a regular HDMI cable is no good for 4k video transfer from Tivo / Sky Box / 4K player to TV. You need a HIGH SPEED HDMI cable!!!
 

Andrew

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and today I have discovered that a regular HDMI cable is no good for 4k video transfer from Tivo / Sky Box / 4K player to TV. You need a HIGH SPEED HDMI cable!!!

That's poundland HDMI cables out of the mix then :-(
 

Chammy

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Your own fault for not getting with the times sooner ;)

Xbox One S and X both have 4k Bluray players, we have one of each (S in Eban's room) and bought the S because it was cheaper than a 4k Bluray player haha
 

The Reverend

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and today I have discovered that a regular HDMI cable is no good for 4k video transfer from Tivo / Sky Box / 4K player to TV. You need a HIGH SPEED HDMI cable!!!

Give it time, Poundland cables will be fine.

I think they need to be 1.3 (or 1.4) and as long as they are, they should work fine.
 

The Reverend

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and today I have discovered that a regular HDMI cable is no good for 4k video transfer from Tivo / Sky Box / 4K player to TV. You need a HIGH SPEED HDMI cable!!!

p.s. I watch 4k on the apps on the TV for netflix and amazon prime - no cable needed! :D
 

Jon

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Right well I've been upping my 4k film (and TV) collection off itunes over the last few weeks. Over black friday / cyber monday weekend they had a 'build your own collection' type thing and I got Alien, Aliens, Alien 3, Prometheus, Alien Covenant (4k) for £9.99.

They are also doing a new offer every day at the moment and today i've swipped Logan in 4K for £2.99!!

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So far I'm happy with my 4K decision of going DIGITAL ONLY, the only thing I am being cut out from is 4K Mainline marvel and Star Trek films where I can only for the BlueRay version on itunes but I'm OK with that......for now
 

Jon

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ah man i'm spending a fortune on all these 4k movies!

Well I say fortune but it's not it's like £30 so far lol

just found Terminator 2 in 4K on itunes for £2.99!!!!

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The Reverend

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...
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So far I'm happy with my 4K decision of going DIGITAL ONLY, the only thing I am being cut out from is 4K Mainline marvel and Star Trek films where I can only for the BlueRay version on itunes but I'm OK with that......for now

the smallest Ultra HD blu-ray holds 50gb.

There is no way

1) people can stream 4k content in 'proper' 4k
2) broadband companies could handle people streaming actual 4k

How are you finding the picture quality? Have you compared it to 'real' hd in there being any difference?

I have a 4k tv (not HDR) and can watch netflix/prime in 4k and the picture is good, but I'm not sure it is any better than 'normal' hd.
 

Jon

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the smallest Ultra HD blu-ray holds 50gb.

There is no way

1) people can stream 4k content in 'proper' 4k
2) broadband companies could handle people streaming actual 4k

How are you finding the picture quality? Have you compared it to 'real' hd in there being any difference?

I have a 4k tv (not HDR) and can watch netflix/prime in 4k and the picture is good, but I'm not sure it is any better than 'normal' hd.
netflix 4k I find VERY impressive, I noticed a HUGE difference in them compared to regular HD

I am on 300mb speed with Virgin Media.

I'm clever enough to KNOW that the best format will be phyical media. Broadband has ebs and flows and to ask it to give me a SOLID, what i dunno, 200mb connection while I watch the film just isn't going to happen but I just couldn't justify the £200 odd for a DECENT 4K player (ie, non Alba make lol) plus the cost of the discs seem to be insane around the £25-£30 mark

There is also another issue with 4K which hits both media types

Deadpool (as an example) was obviously filmed in 4K

The likes of Terminator or Saving Private Ryan weren't and so are upscaled to 4K and not all film studios seem to do this equally so no matter how you buy the film it may not look as crisp or 'popping' as a recent film in 4k such as Ready Player One

However, I'm glad I've gone the way I have. Amazon, Google Movies, iTunes etc all seem to have endless sales and I'm building up quite a catalogue of digital films that I can watch on any number of devices
 

Knopfler

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Is this your working week routine now (tongue in cheek), ha ha. Boys and their toys, eh! Don't worry, I know you've worked hard for years :)
 

JesseEverAfter

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I've switched to buying films digitally now (more for space than anything else - and that I can watch them on multiple devices - mainly on my kindle) but I'm stuck at a tad lower than HD resolution. Our TV is really old (we still have a CRT which needs 3 people to lift and scart connections - no HDMI for us).

Virgin came around a while back to diagnose a problem with something else and while he was there was going to upgrade our TIVO box to the V6 box - took one look at the connections on the back of the TV and it was a TV says no kind of deal.
 

Jon

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I've switched to buying films digitally now (more for space than anything else - and that I can watch them on multiple devices - mainly on my kindle) but I'm stuck at a tad lower than HD resolution. Our TV is really old (we still have a CRT which needs 3 people to lift and scart connections - no HDMI for us).

Virgin came around a while back to diagnose a problem with something else and while he was there was going to upgrade our TIVO box to the V6 box - took one look at the connections on the back of the TV and it was a TV says no kind of deal.
OMG A CRT!!

What

Why

What


Time to buy a new one!!!!
 

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