73Bruin: $3 - $4k is an astronomical price for a 50" display - wow.
twistybox: I agree with your first paragraph, and given 73Bruin's cost estimate of a 4k 50" TV/monitor, adoption of that amongst consumers would take a L O N G time. The majority of consumers are happy with 720p. 1080p is still a party for them. We must remember that us audio/video nuts are a small minority.
I also agree with leaving out the phono input on the 978. Take $50 off the my cost and delete it.
Sorry Hank, but you must be having long term memory issues. First top of the line TVs like the Sony XBR line still have MSRP's in the $3,500 range (e.g. XBR-55HX929). It was only a few years ago that other top of the line TV's could and did sell for close to $6K. Do a google on the 50" Pioneer Kuro FD111 if you don't believe me. Hell when I purchased my rear projection Toshiba it wasn't unusual to find 50" 720p plasma's with burn in issues selling for over $4K with some units in the 8K price range. Nor was it that long ago when buying a 1080p TV commanded a substantial premium (as did the first 3D units).
Yes, prices have come down, because of demand and the economics of silicon. Will it take 20 years for 4K resolution? I very much doubt it. Nor will it require source material. All it will take is a good scaling chip. If you recall, it was DVD's with their 720x480 maximum resolution that drove early adopters to wide screen TV's. At that time, sales started picking up, broadcast TV was 4 or 5 years away from the first digital broadcast and satellite was digital but of SD quality (640x480). It was a long time before bluray came out.
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