With economies of scale as they are, mass produced 4K TV screens means that we are also likely to get 4K computer monitors at reasonable prices – just like how 1080p monitors dominate the market now, even though such a wide, narrow screen makes little sense on a computer where we read mainly vertically-formatted articles, and how such a low resolution hinders productivity by having to waste time scrolling around.

Right now, a high resolution 2560 x 1600 display is priced prohibitively high for someone at the enthusiast level. Having access to affordable ultra high definition screens will revolutionize the video market and open it up to enthusiasts the way HDSLR revolutionized the video scene for enthusiasts 5 years ago.

And when enthusiasts rush in to take the place once held by the pros, the pro gear manufacturers step up their game and drop their prices and release a while bunch of shiny new toys.

This way, everybody with an ounce of talent or skill wins.

I would love to get some ultra high resolution displays – Imagine the work you could get done on a pair of 32″ 4K screens! I could see 10 tracks at once and still have the full 1080p output visible on the same monitor!

If panel technology is the same, then resolution has no discernible impact on overall contrast, colors etc.. And perception of resolution is totally dependent on the distance to the screen. The further you are the more the pixels ‘melt’ together in your vision. Humans are not eagles. There is no doubt that from 2-4 meters you would not be able to tell retina iPad from non-retina iPad. Also most people I know do not have perfect vision and are not wearing glasses..

So all these 4K TV fantasies basically boil down to one simple thing – how close are people to their screens? And I mean ordinary people, not video nerds. Whatever this distance may be, would they be able to see the difference at this distance to 1080p? This is of course debatable, but it seems that ordinary people actually sit too far away from their TVs to be able to tell the difference (and no, most people will not buy +60″ TVs). And lucky for them, because they probably cant’ see the horrible video compression that’s prevailing in most sources either..

All that said, I can see 4K creeping in the same way like 3D did. If you now want a decent TV, you probably can’t get it without 3D (even if you are not planing on using it).

Did you know films mastered for VHS have been remastered for DVD and *gasp* Blu-Ray as well? It took years, just like Tyler stated! All you do is insult and then restate the exact same scale of time.

I’m sorry Marcus, but you sound like a scrub.

Television will take years to catch up, but many of my favorite HBO, AMC and BBC series are shot in 3.5 – 5k and will probably be made available to watch in that format after airing. I think it’s exciting and plan on buying a 4k TV as soon as one is made available at a reasonable price.

But in the meantime, is there any other technology that can make tv screens have rich blacks and good contrast?

Because I am getting pretty tired of how bad stuff looks across the board on hdtvs.

I love shooting in 4k – it’s very useful for reframing, stabilization, and perceived sharpness but I don’t care to watch something that close to a tv

I am really rooting for OLED technology – to be able to get back to richer blacks and more contrast.

Its a struggle for them right now but hopefully it will improve.

I am liking the image out of my macbook pro a million times more than any hdtv screen I watch.