2012: The Year of 4K

[Jeff Kilgroe]

Unfortunately i don't think this will happen. The problem is that a 4K resolution display will make anything that isn't 4K, well, look worse. This is what happens with sd broadcast shown in High resolution displays, for example. I think that Apple will not champion this . (However, I will be more than glad to eat my words if proven wrong!)

HD didn't make SD look worse, it just showed it the way it is. HD on 4K (or quad-HD) displays looks just like HD, you can't see the difference. Good upscaling algorithms can bring some benefits, just as we see up-scaled DVD out of Blu-Ray players looking pretty good, in many cases giving Blu-Ray titles a run for their money. The big issue we have here is that many HD sources and Blu-Ray releases are just not of very good quality. There are many factors, some of the biggest being over-compression and poor compression algorithms, clipped and compressed color spaces, that sort of thing. Apple is that wildcard rumor. And I actually do expect them to go 4K with their TVs when they launch. I don't think Apple will be launching their TV product in 2012. I bet it happens in 2013. What I do expect to see first is updated Macbook Pro and Macbook Air systems with "retina" or double-density displays. New iPad with the same. Next they will move on an updated iMac with double density screen and I also expect the new iMac to have many of the rumored TV features to be incorporated. Also expecting a 25" (yes, 25 inch) cinema display with actual 4K, 4096 pixels wide, resolution. ...I have my reasons/sources.

any hint of 4K bluray ?.... or we all have to wait Red Ray ? :)

Blu-Ray consortium is hammering out the Blu-4K spec right now. RED *NEEDS* to launch RED-RAY (or RED4K, or whatever it will ultimately be called) this coming year.


Oh, and Toshiba is first to market with consumer 4K displays. They're officially launching them friday (less than 48 hours away) in Japan. Should hit state-side in about 5 months. The 55" no-glasses 3D model is their flagship display, but they also have a 55" 4K without the no-glasses 3D (I don't know if it does 3D at all) for 650,000 yen, or about $8200 USD. 4K is here.

Sony will be showing 4K out of a PlayStation3 at CES next month. Surprisingly, I'm not under NDA about that... I don't have details though. They should also be showing preliminary 4K Blu-Ray content.

[Tom Lowe]

Has anyone ever seen these no-glasses 3D displays? It sounds too good to be true.

[Jeff Kilgroe]

Has anyone ever seen these no-glasses 3D displays? It sounds too good to be true.

I have not seen the Toshiba one that tracks faces and tries to align viewing zones accordingly.... So can't comment.

I have seen other no-glasses solutions and so far I have not been impressed by any of them. You have to keep your head and line of sight in alignment with one of the parallax barriers in the display. So if you tilt your head more than about 15 degrees, you lose the 3D and see blur or generally fucked up images. If there's a bunch of people trying to watch or if you're too far away from the display, you can't see the effect or can't even see a proper image. Right now, the no-glasses displays feel more gimmicky than wearing glasses.

no-glasses 3D is awesome on some handheld devices though, at least in moderation, it gets a bit hard on the eyes.

[Zac Dixon]

Sony will be showing 4K out of a PlayStation3 at CES next month. Surprisingly, I'm not under NDA about that... I don't have details though.

So do you mean the current PlayStation 3 that is available right now is 4K capable? Or is this some kind of upgraded version like the Xbox 360S? Either way... this would be incredible, and I could see a HUGE market opening up for 4k gaming monitors/TV's. At quadruple(ish) the resolution, that would give you a serious advantage in something like COD... lol.

[Bruce Allen]

So do you mean the current PlayStation 3 that is available right now is 4K capable? Or is this some kind of upgraded version like the Xbox 360S? Either way... this would be incredible, and I could see a HUGE market opening up for 4k gaming monitors/TV's. At quadruple(ish) the resolution, that would give you a serious advantage in something like COD... lol.

Yes it is 4K capable. But graphics card is not fast enough for heavy gaming at that resolution.

Sony probably has the Playstation 4 targeted at doing full-res 4K at high framerates, as well as 1080p stereo at high framerates.

Or maybe they will go all out and do 4K stereo at high framerates?

My guess is that there will be some kind of HDMI 1.5 standard to tie everything together? 4K at maximum of 24p just doesn't seem like something that the large Japanese companies will like - they love 60p... 4K/60fps at least would be their goal, I imagine (along with 1080p/60fps stereo). And 4K/60fps stereo if they can manage it.

Bruce Allen
www.boacinema.com

[L. Langer]

So do you mean the current PlayStation 3 that is available right now is 4K capable? Or is this some kind of upgraded version like the Xbox 360S? Either way... this would be incredible, and I could see a HUGE market opening up for 4k gaming monitors/TV's. At quadruple(ish) the resolution, that would give you a serious advantage in something like COD... lol.

It uses HDMI 1.3 which does not support 4K video but Sony is releasing a PS3 system update to allow 4K-ish photos just as they did to enable 3D. That is what they are demonstrating at CES using their 4K display products. If Sony were to launch a 4K video capable Playstation, it would be the PS4. Naturally, it won't play games at the resolution, but it could certainly play back video.

[Brian Merlen]

Plus computers can do 4k too when Ivy Bridge drops! 2012 is quite exciting! Almost all our current monitors, computers, and accessories are doorstops now! Gotta love how fast the tech changes!

[Hrvoje Simic]

Has anyone ever seen these no-glasses 3D displays? It sounds too good to be true.

Right now no-glasses tech is ridiculous. I've seen a bunch of those, (but not the head tracking model also), either on TV sets or on mobile devices and although it has been improved over the years, it's still a joke.

It works with displaying depth but the price is too high...with resolution loss, and having to keep mostly still + perfect distance(s) to maintain the 3D effect, with optimal barrier-to-eye angle. One cannot relax because 3D effect brakes up unless perfectly aligned and eyes have to compensate even the minimal oscillations. The principle itself is flawed.

At this point, "multiple-viewer-adaptive ultra-high-resolution barrier with flawless real-time head tracking" sounds beyond wishful thinking. With that in mind, avoiding to put glasses on seems just lazy, and I'd say glasses solutions will get much better than glasses-free ones. At least in near future.

[Jeff Kilgroe]

So do you mean the current PlayStation 3 that is available right now is 4K capable? Or is this some kind of upgraded version like the Xbox 360S? Either way... this would be incredible, and I could see a HUGE market opening up for 4k gaming monitors/TV's. At quadruple(ish) the resolution, that would give you a serious advantage in something like COD... lol.

I don't have details, but it looks like it will be a minor update to at least push some content to show it's possible. And there's a good chance that it may be hardware/software/firmware that won't actually be released to consumers, just a demo showing that they can make it happen. They like to do that, you know... As L. Langer mentions, it won't play games at that resolution, just video or show images. If there are any games being output to a 4K display, they would just be up-scaling for now, or running off PC hardware. I fully expect the PS4 (or whatever next-generation console they will come out with in the next year or so) to have 4K output ability.

[Iannis Holwech]

If you are close to Galveston, Texas January 9-10, 2012, you can attend the 2nd Annual Moody Digital Cinema Symposium with D3D Cinema and Barco to Present Giant Screen (IMAX screen) 4K 3D Laser Projection Demo.

UNCHARTED TERRITORY
The FIRST demonstration of Barco’s revolutionary laser light engine on a giant screen
The FIRST demonstration of true DLP 4K resolution 3D on a giant screen
The FIRST 3D comparison of ‘ultra-reality’ 48 frame/sec & 60 frame/sec content on a giant screen
The FIRST 4K vs. 15/70 shootout at full 4:3 giant screen aspect ratio

WHO: ALL STAKEHOLDERS IN DIGITAL CINEMA PRODUCTION & EXHIBITION
WHAT: THE 2ND ANNUAL MOODY GARDENS DIGITAL CINEMA SYMPOSIUM
WHEN: MONDAY & TUESDAY, JANUARY 9-10 (8:00am-6:00pm)
WHERE: MOODY GARDENS, GALVESTON, TX
WHY: THE FUTURE IS NOW

Register Now: Moody Gardens Digital Cinema Symposium 2012

It would be nice with a future where 4K TV's where up to 70-80" and from 90" they where 8K.
That would of course make larger projection screens lacking in the resolution/ppi department.

A 50" HD TV is just 44ppi.
iPhone 4 = 326 ppi.
Toshiba tablet 6.1" = 498ppi. (not yet released)
Galaxy Note 5.3" = 285ppi.
50" 4K TV is 88 ppi.
50" 8K TV is 185 ppi.

As soon as (other than JVC, they have made a 8K projector) Sony and Texas Instruments makes 8K projection chips, the movie industry will jump past 4K.

SMPTE should have the new UHDTV1= 4K and UHDTV2= 8K Broadcast standard ready soon.

NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corp.) have been testing and talking 4K TV for many years. Now they are only talking about 8K Broadcast.
They have also developed a A Camera System Using Three 33-megapixel CMOS Image Sensors for UHDTV2; [7680 x 4320/59.94 p, (RGB) 4:4:4]. (SMPTE Members can find the whole text in pdf via the link).

If the AMOLED InkJet printing technology problems are solved according to press release from DuPont, we could see Large high PPI OLED screens in a couple of years.
Huge InkJet printed OLED screens could make projectors obsolete in the future.

Only a matter of price, and that the manufacturers will step up the game and not milk the market with AMOLED HD screens first.