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Random Thoughts — Page 626

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It’s getting harder to not buy a 4K tv these days. I’m not sold on the 4K disc format yet, but future proofing your gear is always a good idea. I just hope all the technical specifications are settled this time. Wasn’t fun when I found out my first LCD couldn’t receive unscrambled HD cable channels.

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I have a giant projector screen but it’s stuck at 1080p. It looks truly gorgeous, which is good because I don’t see myself shelling out 2000 for a 4k projector anytime soon. Although I’m sure it would be well worth it I’m still extremely pleased with how the 1080p looks.

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As silly as it is, I hope 4k never really takes off. Something bugs me about all the fanedits I have saved becoming increasingly obsolete. 480p is probably the lowest resolution I’ll go if I really want to watch something, and I do have some 480p fanedits saved; I just don’t like the thought of those becoming nigh-unwatchable on a 4k monitor. Hopefully upscaling technology gets better, as well, so it won’t really be a problem.

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Even on large screens (in excess of even 120 inches which is as about the size of mine) 1080p still looks great. No pixelation and plenty of fine detail.

That’s not to say it wouldn’t improve with 4k, but it still looks very good.

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Most people don’t have a wall big enough to get the most out of 4K. It’s not the giant leap in resolution we had going from DVD to Blu Ray. And many 4K titles are actually 2K upscales because the Digital Intermediate was only 2K to begin with.

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The main benefit of 4K are the new wide color/HDR standards.

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DominicCobb said:

Just got my first 4K TV. Wasn’t even planning on it either, and don’t have anyway to watch 4K.

Haha, I did this Halloween weekend - ordered a Samsung MU7000 while I was drunk because it happened to be $200 cheaper than usual on Amazon. It’s definitely an upgrade over the 32" I’ve been using for years.

Now I’ve gotta decide whether it’s worth it to shell out $400 for a hacked region-free UHD BD player, or stick with $150 for a Region 1/A one…

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Are there any UHD players that don’t have cooling fans yet? Fan noise in early Blu Ray and HD DVD players could often drive me nuts. The one’s I still own seem a bit quieter with age now though.

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Honestly couldn’t say. I was looking at the Samsung M8500, anyone have experience with/thoughts on that model?

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Got a Vizio D55un-E1 (55"). I’ve had good experiences in the past with Vizios (good balance between quality and price) so that was pretty much the only thing I was looking at. Wanted to get something in the high 40" to low 50" range. Was originally going to get just HD, but at $398, it was easily the best price for the size even if it was HD, the 4K was basically an added bonus.

The bitch about the 4K though is if I want to utilize it, I’ll need to spend more money, but I don’t think the offerings are enough at this point to make it worth it. Netflix has 4K but it costs more, HBO doesn’t have it, Amazon Prime does - but it’s not a smart TV (which for the most part isn’t a problem since I have an Xbox) so I’d need to get a Roku or something. And even then I’m not sure if my internet can handle it.

At some point I’ll make the 4K blu-ray leap, but at this time I don’t think the price is worth it. There’s a threshold for what the human eye perceives.

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Aye, Vizio… my experiences have not been positive. I have a 42-inch from them, and while it was cheap, I think the quality sucks. This is a circus 2011 model, so it might be better now, but this one can barely display an adequate black and colors just appear washed out.

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I’ve had a few, no complaints so far. Shrug.

Well I did have to adjust the settings a bit first on this new one, but now it looks pretty good.

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yhwx said:

This is a circus 2011 model

There’s your problem right there, circus folk have never been able to make a good television.

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SilverWook said:

Most people don’t have a wall big enough to get the most out of 4K. It’s not the giant leap in resolution we had going from DVD to Blu Ray.

I suspected as much. I mean 120 inches is still pretty large and the way the room is set up it’s nice and cozy so it looks bigger to your eye, but still at 1080p it’s hard to imagine it really looking much better resolution wise. It’s very sharp with no pixels visible and plenty of fine detail.

I could envision the colors and contrast being slightly better though. Not that they aren’t already good enough but I could see them improving more than detail or sharpness so that would probably be the main benefit of getting a 4k projector but I don’t think slightly better contrast and colors is worth 2000 when they are already quite good as long as it’s dark. (And it’s in a windowless room that can get pitch black even in the daytime so that’s not a big deal)

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I’ve heard that the HDR color is a much more worthwhile improvement than 2160p resolution, but I haven’t had a chance to watch anything HDR yet, so I can’t really comment on that.

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What I’m really looking forward to are ultra thin tv’s that eventually could come rolled up like a carpet. LG already has a flexible display that hangs on the wall with magnets. Still fairly expensive at this point.

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ChainsawAsh said:

I’ve heard that the HDR color is a much more worthwhile improvement than 2160p resolution, but I haven’t had a chance to watch anything HDR yet, so I can’t really comment on that.

Yeah absolutely right. My plan had been to make sure to get HDR when I finally went for the 4K upgrade. And I will at some point, but I don’t mind not having it on this one - like I said, I was looking for HD, the 4K was just a bonus.

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I’m waiting until they solve burn-in on OLEDs. I miss my old Panasonic plasma - gorgeous picture, perfect blacks, but that fucking burn-in…and based on the OLED phone’s I’ve had and what I’ve seen of burn-in tests on OLED TVs, they’re at least as bad as plasmas, if not worse.

I’d still buy a 4K UHD plasma in a heartbeat if anyone made one, though.

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I thought burn in was really only a plasma problem? I’ve personally only ever had that issue with plasma at least. Part of the reason why I avoid plasma.

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Plasma was killed off before its time 😦.

OLED does indeed have burn-in issues.

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Yeah, it’s a bit better on my Galaxy S7 than it was at the same stage on my old Moto X, but it’s still noticeable. And like I said, tests I’ve seen with OLED TVs are old-plasma-level bad.

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The original 4:3 seasons of Futurama are now being cropped to 16:9 on the Sci Fi Channel. Since they’re still SD, it looks fuzzy. Where’s Roberto when you really need him?

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 (Edited)

Truck advertisement. Dodge RAM, I think. Guy cleaning out his truck and going through memories of raising his family, song playing in background and a voice over saying something about how nothing lasts, “but you get to keep the memories.” A fine ad.
But then… lyrics from the song come forward: "Time, she said, there’s no turning back."
And with those words I sink into a deep sadness. Total depression. Every. Time. And the ad seems to run constantly. I have to change the channel.

Ray’s Lounge
Biggs in ANH edit idea
ROTJ opening edit idea

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Upgraded from a PS4 to a PS4 Pro today to go with my new 4K TV (selling the original to my brother to slightly offset the cost). Fooled around with Skyrim in 4K and Rise of the Tomb Raider in 1080p with enhanced graphics. Both were neat, Skyrim looked nice and sharp.

But I’ve gotta say, the biggest thing I noticed was the difference in HDR color when switching inputs between the standard PS4 (in 1080p HDR) and the Pro (in 4K HDR). I expected both to look about the same color-wise since both were outputting in HDR. I dunno if it’s the Pro hardware versus the standard, or 1080p HDR versus 2160p HDR, but holy shit the Pro looks amazing in HDR while the standard looked…much less amazing. And that’s just the home menu of the system.

I can’t fucking wait to get a UHD BR player and toss in an HDR movie. I really didn’t think it would be that huge of a difference, but I get it now. Hot damn.

When’s that Dark Knight Trilogy 4K remaster coming out again…?