4K Television

Has anyone jumped on the 4K television bandwagon? Any thoughts?

My trusty DLP is dying and I need to decide if I should cheap out and buy a plasma, go mid-stream and buy a projector or go all the way and get a 4K television. 4K projector is NOT currently being considered.

I would hardly call getting a plasma "cheaping out", quite the opposite, if you can swing the purchase of the now out-of-production Panasonic VT or ZT series 60 or 65" panel there is really no finer image available currently.

The bandwidth issues that there are for 4K will mean any kind of "broadcast" including streaming is just not very likely to be in the cards and the degree to which the content owners like Sony want to keep the 4K owners under their thumb really concern me...

Eventually the manufacturing costs of Organic Light Emitting Diodes ought to be closer to the current plasma cost but I would not invest in that technology until 4K density is more common.

A 4K projector would of course have LOTS more potential for really knocking your socks off but the other factors that go into not just resolution but also an extended color space and more tightly defined specs for dynamic range (which Dolby is working on...) could be the trigger for a whole new era of "beyond UHD" sets but like other "format wars" the early adopters will get burned.

I'd agree with renov8r. A lot of people like being early adopters and have the finances to do so, but I'm not in that boat. Plasma displays look great and they don't suffer when you're at an off angle. Get a nice Panasonic plasma and I'm sure you'll be happy with it.

Cheaping out may not have been the best phrase. What I meant by that is I would probably stay with my current 50"ish form factor rather than jumping up in size and price. If I do that I can get a good quality plasma for 1/4 what I paid for my DLP projector back when I bought it.

I've owned DLP, LCD and Plasma and by far the plasma has the nicest picture.

Plasma sounds like the way to go.

Hmmm, I wonder if I can fit a 60" in my current space...

Well I finally had to put the old girl down: The DLP is dead.

I am now the proud owner of a 51" plasma.

And I also am upgrading to the OppO BDP-103 as one of the guys at work was selling his to upgrade to a -105. Everyone wins.

Can't wait to get it all set up.

Well I am going to resurrect this thread. Can't believe it's been 3 years. But I have gone through the entire 4K plasma roller coaster. I have been through 3 Samsung 4K TV's in the past year. Every single one I have sent back to Best Buy. The most recent one was their KS-8000 65 inch. It was better than the two I went through last year but still unacceptable. There are just things with 4k tv's, primarily LCD that I cannot live with. I ended up finding a ridiculous deal on a Panasonic VT30 65 inch and have had that in my home for the past two weeks. Hands down, the BEST picture I have ever seen. Throw it in THX mode and tweaked a couple of settings and I feel like I am in a movie theater. I was watching hockey last night and was blown away by what I saw. Going plasma, especially the higher end, top of the line ones like the VT and ZT series from Panasonic, is by no means cheaping out. In my opinion, you are taking a step up from 4K LCD TV's. I will watch this plasma until it dies on me. Hopefully by then, OLED will be in it's prime and will be more affordable.

I have never understood the decisions to stop making Plasma and DLP TVs. Both are the absolute best for watching sports.

The Samsungs aren't that great. Mine is a JS8500. The picture is almost okay, but plasma was far better, but the Samsung firmware is also terrible, and regularly blanks out. OLED looks good though.

Funny that you bring this up at this particular time HiFiJeff. I'm once again looking at 4K TVs and I'm really struggling with the decision to go with either the Sony 850D or 930D or paying the extra $$$$ and going straight to OLED.

Not a fan of Samsung so won't be looking at those.

I'm really afraid that if I change Plasma for LCD I'm going to be disappointed.

And yes, it's hard to believe it's been three years already.

I too am looking into getting a 4k TV. My plasma is on the way out. It has a panel issue. So I'm starting the process of deciding what to get.

I am interested in getting one with Dolby vision or HDR10. Hope to have one in place by the time the 976 arrives.
65" is what I'm looking to get as that is the largest that will fit in the area over my fireplace.

Viewing angles are one thing I'm worried about going from a plasma to LCD.

The Sony 850D is what caught my eye in the first place. The 75inch. But after reading reviews on rtings, went a different direction. The guy at the Magnolia theater was going to sell me a demo 950, I think it was but it was a little too steep for my wallet. Regardless,the conclusion I have come to, is if you are a plasma fan, and love the picture on a plasma, LCD is not going to cut it for you. So that you don't make the same mistake I did, my advice is to wait on OLED to hit it's prime. LCD's SUCK!

Your fears will be a realization if you go from plasma to LCD. It's unfortunate because I really wanted to like it but I didn't. I am SOOOOOOOOOOOOO happy I found the Panasonic VT30. I will watch it until it dies. Then try to find another plasma. In fact I might just go around and buy every higher end plasma I can find and keep some for myself and sell the other ones to videophiles who actually care about picture quality.

That's too bad. But I would try to find a used plasma. But it sounds like 4K is something you are interested in so just bypass LCD and go OLED.

Oh and if viewing angles are a concern, totally avoid LCD, off axis viewing is horrible! Picture loses contrast and looks all washed out.

FYI, I am not sure about any of the other brands but, since the 2015 models were introduced and going forward, on any 4K LCD/LED monitor 65" or less, LG has a newer type of screen that allows for considerably better off-axis viewing than what the older sets would allow. I purchased one several months ago and comparing it to the two older 40" 1080p LCD's I have elsewhere in the house in which the off-axis capability of both is minimal at best, I can view the screen from roughly up to at least a 30 degree angle without any noticeable degradation(color and brightness) of the picture and that is sitting about 10 Ft. away. I would love an OLED, but, the similar size, more upscale models, are still a little too expensive for my pocketbook.

Of course, compared to plasmas and OLED and other than the top-of the line models, black levels still remain somewhat of an issue, however, LCDs are getting better and a model with the "full array" back lighting feature and proper calibration of the monitor can help as well.

The Sony 850D has an ISP type panel provided by LG. It's claim to fame is the better viewing angle. However color and contrast with be better on the VA panel in the 900 series. OLED wins in both categories.

From what I've read on motion blur, plasma may still be the best of the best. I'm getting to the point where I'm talking myself out of a new TV purchase...

Nice little article on Motion Blur by rtings including test data.

Another yes vote for OLED.

Pulled the trigger on a new LCD 4k TV. It's the Vizio E70U-D3.
I chose this one for the upscaling feature, since I still have the 975 in place, and the Wi-Fi connectivity.
The ARC input can upscale from 1080p/1.4, and I like the picture quality of the Vizio.
The viewing angle is 176°. I mounted it over my fireplace and it fills that spot as the biggest that will fit there. I initially thought a 65" would be the largest that would fit, but no.
Had to run two HDMI cables through the wall. One for hook up to the 975 and the other, HDMI2.0, will be for a 976 when that arrives