Welcome, Anonymous  •  Sign In  •  Register  •  Help

4K Ultra HD

HDTV and Home Theater Podcast - Podcast #628: New Pioneer Receivers
Home Theater HDMI HD Receivers

HDTV and Home Theater Podcast - Podcast #628: New Pioneer Receivers

Pioneer's five new VSX-line receivers mark the first consumer AV receivers to support HDMI 2.0, enabling 4K/60fps passthrough and expanded color depth for Ultra HD displays. The flagship VSX-1124 ($599) pairs an ES9006S DAC running at 192kHz/24-bit with multi-channel FLAC/WAV playback and DSD 2.8 MHz support, while the Elite VSX-80 ($700) adds Crestron and Control4 compatibility with full two-way RS-232C-over-IP control. Buyers evaluating a 4K home theater upgrade will find these receivers cover both high-resolution audio and next-generation video connectivity in a single unit.

The HT Guys •
Podcasts
HDTV Expert - Samsung Has No Trouble With The Curve
4K Ultra HD

HDTV Expert - Samsung Has No Trouble With The Curve

Samsung's 2014 TV lineup centers on curved 4K LCD panels, spanning the HU9000 and HU8700 series (55 to 78 inches, $4,000 to $8,000) alongside a 110-inch S9 UHD set priced at $150,000. The SEK-2500V UHD Evolution Kit adds HDMI 2.0 and HDCP 2.2 support via an Intel Quad Core processor, while a $300 UHD Video Pack bundles five 4K movies for owners lacking streaming options. With global TV sales down 3% in 2013, Samsung's push into 4K content partnerships and Smart Hub software signals a strategic shift toward software-driven revenue.

Pete Putman •
Columns
4K Ultra HD Home Theater Projection HD

HDTV and Home Theater Podcast - Podcast #627: JVC 4K UltraHD Projectors

JVC's Procision projectors, including the entry-level DLA-X500R at $5,000, use e-Shift3 technology to simulate 4K by offsetting two native 1080p D-ILA chips by half a pixel diagonally, achieving high pixel density rather than true 4K resolution. All 4K input signals are downscaled to 1080p before processing, meaning the projected image approaches but does not match a native 4K display like Sony's VPL-VW500ES at $10,000. Buyers gain impressive contrast ratios up to 150,000:1 native and strong color reproduction, making these a compelling compromise for home theater enthusiasts not yet ready to invest in true 4K.

The HT Guys •
Podcasts
4K Ultra HD

HDTV Expert - Thursday Evening at a Sony Store

Sony's 84-inch 4K LCD TV at $25,000 MSRP anchors a broader discussion of the company's strategic pivot away from PC hardware toward a media ecosystem built around smartphones and televisions. Quantum-dot enhanced LCD panels, which deliver expanded color gamut at modest added cost, illustrate how quickly hardware advantages erode in consumer electronics. Sharp's Quattron+ four-subpixel technology offers near-4K picture definition at roughly half the price of true 4K sets, though patent protection may prove a temporary shield in a fast-moving display market.

Ken Werner •
Columns
Home Theater HDMI Standards

Living with 4K - Bought an UHDTV? wait, is it Upgradeable?

Early UHDTV adopters face potential obsolescence as the ITU Rec. 2020 standard introduces features beyond 4K pixel resolution, including 10/12-bit color depth, 4:2:2 and 4:4:4 chroma subsampling, HDCP 2.2 content protection, and HDMI 2.0 support for 4K at 60fps - capabilities many current displays cannot handle. Most manufacturers offer no upgrade path, while Samsung's replaceable connectivity box and Sony's in-home hardware upgrades for models like the $25,000 VW-1000 projector represent notable exceptions. Buyers should carefully evaluate upgrade commitments before purchasing, as connectivity gaps similar to the HDTV-to-HDMI transition of 1998-2003 could strand millions of early adopters again.

Rodolfo La Maestra •
Articles
Living with 4K - Nuvola 4K Player NP-1
Home Theater 4K Ultra HD HDMI

Living with 4K - Nuvola 4K Player NP-1

The Nuvola NP-1 is a $299 4K media player powered by an NVIDIA Tegra 4 quad-core processor with 72 GPU cores, running Android 4.2 and featuring a single HDMI 1.4 output limited to 4:2:0 chroma subsampling at 8-bit depth and 24/30 fps. It supports H.264-based 4K streaming and local playback via USB 3.0 storage, with H.265/HEVC support promised via firmware update, but its single-HDMI design forces buyers to use an HDMI splitter or sacrifice multichannel audio. Compared to Sony's $699 FMP-X1, the NP-1 offers broader TV compatibility and lower cost, though its video and audio connectivity limitations have real consequences for home theater installations.

Rodolfo La Maestra •
Articles
HDTV Expert - Samsung was King of the CES Hill
Events & Trade Shows 4K Ultra HD

HDTV Expert - Samsung was King of the CES Hill

Samsung dominated CES 2014 with a sweeping UHD TV lineup spanning 50 to 110 inches, featuring PurColor wide-gamut technology, a quad-core processor, and UHD upscaling claimed to deliver near-native-4K image quality. A joint announcement with M-Go and Technicolor confirmed that native-4K streaming requires 15 Mb/sec bandwidth while optimized upscaled content needs as little as 3 Mb/sec, giving streaming providers meaningful flexibility. Samsung also previewed a 4K content partnership with Amazon and an Evolution Kit for firmware upgrades, signaling a long-term ecosystem play that extends well beyond the display hardware itself.

Ken Werner •
Columns
Manufacturing 4K Ultra HD Market Trends & Analysis

HDTV Expert - Consumer Television: It's Business As Usual (Or Maybe Not)

Samsung sold an estimated 49 million flat-panel TVs in 2013, cementing eight consecutive years at the top of the global television market, while Samsung and LG together command over 40% of worldwide TV share. Sony and Sharp continue bleeding market share, with Sharp holding just 5% globally and 3% in the U.S. as of Q3 2013, and LG's 55-inch curved OLED has already dropped 67% in price to roughly $4,910 in the UK. Vizio's new full-array LED 4K smart TVs, starting at $1,000 for a 50-inch model, signal further price compression that threatens premium-tier manufacturers.

Pete Putman •
Columns
Market Trends & Analysis 4K Ultra HD

HDTV and Home Theater Podcast - Podcast #619: What's Hot Right Now (2014 Time Capsule)

A 2014 snapshot of the consumer TV and streaming market reveals a landscape in transition, with 4K sets just beginning to appear (a single 39-inch Seiki 3840x2160 panel at $599 cracking the top 100) while 1080p LCD dominates and plasma shrinks to just 5 top-100 entries. OLED remained a fringe category with only two curved models available, both priced near $9,000. For buyers tracking value, the data shows a 75-inch 1080p Smart LED TV at $2,658 undercutting a 65-inch model from two years prior by roughly $1,000.

The HT Guys •
Podcasts
HDTV Expert - The RCA Brand Prospers
Smart TVs 4K Ultra HD

HDTV Expert - The RCA Brand Prospers

RCA, now a licensed brand managed by Technicolor and manufactured by ON Corporation of Korea, is entering the Ultra HD TV market in 2014 with 55-, 65-, and 84-inch sets featuring native 4K resolution of 3840x2160, LED backlights, and the Google TV platform providing access to over 100,000 on-demand titles. The more affordable HDTV tier, ranging from 28 to 65 inches, integrates smart features via a Roku Streaming Stick inserted into an MHL port. Buyers considering value-tier 4K sets will find RCA positioning itself competitively as UHD adoption accelerates, with the brand reporting sales growth exceeding 20% in the past year.

Ken Werner •
Columns
Living with 4K - Nuvola 4K Player NP-1
Home Theater 4K Ultra HD

Living with 4K - Nuvola 4K Player NP-1

The Nuvola NP-1 is a $299 4K streaming player powered by an NVIDIA Tegra 4 quad-core processor with 72 GPU cores, running Android 4.2 and outputting via a single HDMI 1.4 port at 4:2:0 chroma subsampling, 8-bit depth, and up to 30fps - specs comparable to the $699 Sony FMP-X1 but at less than half the price. Unlike Sony's proprietary player-TV pairing, the NP-1 claims compatibility with any UHDTV and supports USB 3.0 external storage for downloaded 4K content encoded in H.264, with H.265/HEVC support promised via firmware update. The single HDMI output creates real-world audio routing challenges for users with A/V receivers that cannot pass through 4K video, likely requiring an HDMI splitter or direct TV connection.

Shane Sturgeon •
Testing Grounds
HDTV Expert - CES 2014 In The Rear-View Mirror
OLED TVs Streaming HD Events & Trade Shows

HDTV Expert - CES 2014 In The Rear-View Mirror

CES 2014 showcased a wave of 4K LCD and OLED televisions, with HEVC H.265 encoding poised to halve required bit rates and enable 4K streaming at roughly 10-20 Mb/s over existing broadband infrastructure. Quantum dot film technology, already deployed in Sony's 55-inch and 65-inch 4K LCD TVs, offers a compelling alternative to OLED by delivering stable, narrow-bandwidth color without the differential blue-emitter aging that threatens OLED longevity beyond 5,000 hours. Consumers weighing early adoption of these technologies will find the display interface landscape still evolving, with HDMI 2.0 capped at 18 Gb/s and DisplayPort 1.3 promising higher headroom for 10-bit 4K at 60 Hz.

Pete Putman •
Columns
Home Theater OLED TVs Events & Trade Shows

HDTV and Home Theater Podcast - Podcast #618: Best of CES 2014 and Top Tech to Watch this Year

Podcast episode 618 recaps home theater highlights from CES 2014, covering award winners across Digital Trends, Engadget, and CES Innovations categories, including the LG 77-inch Curved Ultra HD OLED TV (77EC9800) and Sony FMP-X1 4K Ultra HD Media Player pre-loaded with 10 feature films. Notable audio picks include the Philips Fidelio E5 wireless 5.1 surround system and Bang and Olufsen BeoLab 18, while the Samsung UN65H7150 touts a Real 240Hz Full HD panel with quad-core processing. Consumers tracking display and audio upgrades in 2014 will find a concise cross-source roundup of the year's most significant product launches.

The HT Guys •
Podcasts
Events & Trade Shows 4K Ultra HD

HDTV Expert - At CES, Sharp Calls Its Quattron+ Almost-4K TV a "Game Changer"

Sharp's Quattron+ display technology uses a four-sub-pixel pixel structure (red, green, blue, and yellow) to generate two luminance peaks per pixel both horizontally and vertically, effectively upscaling a 1920x1080 Quattron panel to a 3840x2160 near-4K output via its proprietary Revelation Technology. Demonstrated at CES 2014, the resulting image quality is described as nearly indistinguishable from true 4K at typical living-room viewing distances, at roughly half the price of native 4K sets. Sharp's roadmap reportedly extends this approach to 4K panels delivering 8K output by CES 2015.

Ken Werner •
Columns
HDTV Expert - CES 2014: First Impressions (4K, Curved Screens, OLEDs, and All That)
OLED TVs Events & Trade Shows 4K Ultra HD

HDTV Expert - CES 2014: First Impressions (4K, Curved Screens, OLEDs, and All That)

CES 2014 brought a wave of large-format display technology, highlighted by three manufacturers unveiling 105-inch 21:9 curved 4K LCD TVs, LG's 77-inch curved 4K OLED as the world's largest, and Vizio's 120-inch 4K LCD using Sharp's Gen 10 ASV glass from Sakai, Japan. Chinese manufacturers replicated nearly every Samsung and LG breakthrough with far less fanfare, while Panasonic's conspicuous absence of a consumer LCD lineup signals a potential exit from the TV market. For buyers, the practical takeaway is that large 4K LCDs are on track to become the standard within 2-3 years, with competitive pricing pressure accelerating from Chinese brands.

Pete Putman •
Columns