Future of 4k

[gatekeeper]

Since 4k is relatively new.

I found this interesting article on what is in store in the near future.

Newest gadgets

Japan is advancing the format quicker, and experimenting around with 8k and 10k.

I know it will be a while before we get full-time 4k channels.
Just like HD when it came out it was a slow process.

It will indeed be a long time before we get HDMI 2.1 and 8k/ 10 k

 

[patmurphey]

It'll happen when a cable channel sees a competitive advantage, then others will follow. Broadcast 4k is probably a way off.

 

[harshness]

Since 4k is relatively new.

Cinema 4K has been in theaters for a while now. It is probably just as easy to do a UHD conversion as it is a HD conversion. The problem continues to be HDR and WCG and which of the 3.5 formats (HDR10, HDR10+, DV and HLG) will ultimately win. UltraHD Blu-ray is also rather slow and perhaps for the same reason.

Japan is advancing the format quicker, and experimenting around with 8k and 10k.

I submit that Japan is wasting their time unless they're going to start offering affordable (less than five figures) >120" displays.

What I'd really like to see is 1080p with HDR and WCG. That's enough for all but the larger projectors in the smallest theaters.

Just like HD when it came out it was a slow process

UHD hardware is relatively plentiful and perhaps over half of the TVs sold are UHD capable. The problem is the standards battle where the winner may well be the late-comer (HLG).

It will indeed be a long time before we get HDMI 2.1 and 8k/ 10 k

I doubt they'll ever bother going there at the home theater level. It just doesn't make sense to be sitting closer to a screen than the screen is wide. You wouldn't do it by choice at the cinema so why would you do it at home?

 

[harshness]

It'll happen when a cable channel sees a competitive advantage, then others will follow. Broadcast 4k is probably a way off.

That's a two-step process. First there has to be a channel and then they have to find someone who will show it. I think the programmers understand that fewer than 100 titles does not a channel make (just ask Smithsonian) and finding someone who can set aside the bandwidth to carry a lot of UHD that isn't going to get watched repeatedly isn't entirely likely. Surely there are demo reels but it takes a lot more than a demo reel to get beyond one or two channels. For all of the talk of NASA's UHD venture, it is still just clips and pieces of largely unedited video.

Even with the compression efficiencies of HEVC, it still takes about the same amount of bandwidth to deliver a non-HDR, non-WCG video and that's just not enough of an improvement to chase after.