Wait for HDR 4k or pull the trigger now?

[wazzickle]

First consideration is that my financial situation is likely to be markedly different in the next few months either way (living in my old parents' house at 0 rent while awaiting probate and there being a lot of uncertainty about estate value and liabilities).

Secondly, I have a decent 24" IPS, albeit with a noticeable dead pixel, in a space where a 55" would look appropriate.

Lastly, and I suppose most importantly, at present I stream or playback all my content through my HTPC, which uses its i3 6100 onboard HD 530 graphics. I have a PCI 3.0 x16 slot that I may consider putting a half-decent GPU into if it means good HDR playback but unimproved my 'rig' it should be able to handle 4k happily. There is a chance I will get a tv package in the future, though.

Prices on 4k sets seem to be getting better rapidly and lots of new, good models are entering the market. No interest in 3d, nor do I need a big name or a particularly good OS or other such features, curved would be a funky bonus.

[EndlessWaves]

HDR when applied to TVs essentially means 10-bit colour depth and a wider colour gamut right?

10-bit colour depth is neither here nor there. Your currently hardware won't support it but it's not going to make much difference to the picture.

A wider colour gamut is a completely different matter. It was popular in monitors a few years ago but fell out of favour because the software support isn't there. The large number of applications that aren't colour aware will be the wrong colour on a screen that isn't sRGB.

The TV world does also heavily use sRGB (Blu-ray for example) so I would expect an 'HDR' TV to be able to act as an sRGB display so it shouldn't cause any problems, but being able to fully use a screen with Adobe RGB or DCI P3 colour spaces outside specialised image applications is several years away at least.

I'd stick to a 3840x2160 sRGB screen personally.

[MrRockliffe]

HDR is high dynamic range. If you look at the specifications, you need very high contrast and high brightness (north of 1000 nits, depending on the black levels). Apparently, it makes a significant difference to movies.



https://www.avforums.com/article/what-is-hdr.11039

[Phage]

Personaly I'm waitung for Dolby TV which will be backwards compatible with HDR anyway.

[stevie lee]

Personaly I'm waitung for Dolby TV which will be backwards compatible with HDR anyway.

is that the Dolby Vision on the new LG's? http://www.lg.com/uk/tvs/lg-49UH850V

already out.

the UH770V is the non 3D version. and on sale at richersounds.

[wazzickle]

Personaly I'm waitung for Dolby TV which will be backwards compatible with HDR anyway.

My understanding was that Dolby TV is a rival specification within HDR, i.e. there are two, of a blu-ray vs HD-DVD ilk.

[Steve - P]

The current crop of HDR TVs do offer a much improved image over non HDR TVs. With OLED being superior to LCD+QD combo's, that said your going to need deep pockets either way.
ATM it reminds of the HD and HD Ready days, yes it can display HDR images and they look better but they are not fully meeting all aspects of the standard.
HDR vs Dolby Vision, I think better processing rather than different standard.
Wait till after Summer, cheaper and better sets, as well as something to watch in HDR.

[stevie lee]

from what I've been reading the new Hisense HDRs are out in may in the UK.
should be cheapish considering the current non HDR prices for their sets. 40" at richer and john lewis is £299 for example.

theres a new 50" 50M3300 for £449 http://www.richersounds.com/product/...0/hise-50m3300
no idea what it is though. no details on hisense website :shrug:
https://www.avforums.com/threads/his...96033/page-142 don't have much idea on it either. could be the 321 rebadged, could be a new one?? who knows. just wait until may.

the H7, H8, H9 are supposed to be the new ones, no sign of them in the UK yet.
the 55H9B2 is only $749 in the US though http://www.amazon.com/Hisense-55H9B2.../dp/B00ZGIJDOU

so if you can wait until, i'd say june ish then do so. a whole bunch of new stuff is out in may from everyone, read a bunch of reviews then go for one in budget, whatever budget it may be.

[wazzickle]

Well I don't think my system - even with a GTX 750Ti 2GB installed (the best low profile, single-slot GPU that seems to be available) will be able to handle HDR output anyway so I'll probably not bother.

[shaithis]

You would need one of the upcominig GPUs from either AMD or nVidia, both have promised HDMI2.0a, which is needed for HDR.

[DanceswithUnix]

The FHD LG TV I bought a couple of years ago for under £500 is better than the Samsung I bought a decade ago for over a grand. I think that is just the nature of these things, there is never a perfect time to buy as the technology and the features always improve. If you need a TV, you buy one.

I have read good reviews of 3D content on passive 4K screens. Otherwise, it probably depends on what material you watch, in our house it is largely Netflix with some HD satellite so 4K would be a bit of a waste but if I was in the market that is still what I would get simply because you don't buy these things very often.

[Saracen]

My first point is that a lot depends on your personal situation .... how keen you are, how much the current finances can bear a hit right now, and to a large extent, what you watch.

Personally, I don't much care whether I watch standard or HD, never mind 4K, but clearly, lots of peoole are passionate about it, and if it toots your flute, fair enough.

However, the background is that two main factors would influence my decision IF I were interested in either 4K or HDR (which, so far, I'm not), which are :-

- rarely do prices on new technologies go up. Usually, they go down and often way down. I shudder to think what I've spent, over the years, being at or near the leading edge but it'd probably buy a holiday home.

- Often, as with HD, the ability to benefit from bew technology depends on availability, and cost, of suitable source material. Therefore, if that applies here, do you have a substantial source of content that will utilise HDR, etc?

I remember going out and duplicating quite a bit of my LP collection on CD when CD first came out, just to get music I already had. The difference there was that I listen to most of that again, and again, and again ... and
...
.
.
. decades go past ...
.
.
.
.... and again .... and still do.

Typically, though, for TV, films, etc, I rely on some repeats but largely new stuff.

So for me, the availability of new content makes waiting for later generations of a forthcoming tech much easier to bear, since my existing libraries (of film and TV series) won't much benefit anyway.

Were it my decision, I'd wait, and I'd wait not just for release but until the bleeding edge prices had .... moderated, significantly.

But you're not me. All I can advise is what I think the issues are, as above, but you have to decide whether you can restrain the urge to scratch the consumerist itch. And for how long.



Oh, and on a more serious note, if you're awaiting probate, then depending on your individual situation and how many ways any inheritance may have to be split, you have a possibility of a significant but one-off financial injection that might, again dependent on circumstances, give you a hell of a foot on the property ladder, or a savings safety net.

I would advise very substantial thought on how to best utilise that, for the long term, before starting to dip into it for tech toys. That goes at least triple if you're relying on it to dip into befoe you've even got it. If that's what this is about, I urge .... don't do it. The tech toys will, still be there in a year or two. Meantime, think it through carefully.

[Saracen]

My first point is that a lot depends on your personal situation .... how keen you are, how much the current finances can bear a hit right now, and to a large extent, what you watch.

Personally, I don't much care whether I watch standard or HD, never mind 4K, but clearly, lots of peoole are passionate about it, and if it toots your flute, fair enough.

However, the background is that two main factors would influence my decision IF I were interested in either 4K or HDR (which, so far, I'm not), which are :-

- rarely do prices on new technologies go up. Usually, they go down and often way down. I shudder to think what I've spent, over the years, being at or near the leading edge but it'd probably buy a holiday home.

- Often, as with HD, the ability to benefit from bew technology depends on availability, and cost, of suitable source material. Therefore, if that applies here, do you have a substantial source of content that will utilise HDR, etc?

I remember going out and duplicating quite a bit of my LP collection on CD when CD first came out, just to get music I already had. The difference there was that I listen to most of that again, and again, and again ... and
...
.
.
.
. / decades go past
.
.
.
.... and again .... and still do.

Typically, though, for TV, films, etc, I rely on some repeats but largely new stuff.

So for me, the availability of new content makes waiting for later generations of a forthcoming tech mych easier to bear, since my existing libraries (of film and TV series) won't much benefit anyway.

Were it my decision, I'd wait, and I'd wait not just for release but until the bleeding edge prices had .... moderated, significantly.

But you're not me. All I can advise is what I think the issues are, as above, but you have to decide whether you can restrain the urge to scratch the consumerist itch. And for how long.



Oh, and on a more serious note, if you're awaiting probate, then depending on your individual situation and how many ways any inheritance may have to be split, you have a possibility of a significant but one-off financial injection that might, again dependent on circumstances, give you a hell of a foot on the property ladder, or a savings safety net.

I would advise very substantial thought on how to best utilise that, for the long term, before starting to dip into it for tech toys. That goes at least triple if you're relying on it to dip into befoe you've even got it. If that's what this is about, I urge .... dont't do it. The tech toys will, still be there in a year or two. Meantime, think it through carefully.

[DanceswithUnix]

Interesting article just turned up in my inbox on future TV trends which mentions 55" panels that can roll up into a tube when not in use, panels that can tile together into one giant screen. This is on top of OLED being still quite a young technology. When HDR 4k is out, there will be something else just around the corner worth waiting for.

http://spectrum.ieee.org/consumer-el...our-tv-goodbye

[Saracen]

.... When HDR 4k is out, there will be something else just around the corner worth waiting for.

....

Agree 100% with that.

It's one of the primary methods of corporate success, along with intrusive advertising and built-in obsolescence .... once the market starts to get saturated, move the market.

[Phage]

is that the Dolby Vision on the new LG's? http://www.lg.com/uk/tvs/lg-49UH850V

already out.

the UH770V is the non 3D version. and on sale at richersounds.

That doesn't seem to say Dolby ? Super HDR whatever that is ?

http://www.richersounds.com/product/...0v/lg-49uh770v