SIGNALS

I’m shopping for a new TV. Should I buy an older technology that performs well and costs very little, or a newer technology that is better but costs more? Specifically, I’m trying to decide which LCD to buy—HD or 4K? Two angels have landed on my shoulders. As you might expect, they have very different points of view...

Do the Right Thing
The angel on my right shoulder is gently coaxing me to buy a 4K TV. She recites all the advantages of 4K. Most significantly, 4K resolution is clearly superior to any HDTV. Do the math: 3840 x 2160 versus 1920 x 1080—that’s four times the resolution! Just look at the detail in that picture! Imagine what a huge, theatrical size screen you could get! Don’t forget that manufacturers usually put their best technologies in their 4K TVs; it isn’t just the number of pixels—4K TVs are often the best all around.

Buying a 4K is also smart because you future-proof yourself. You should never buy older technology; you’re just hastening obsolescence. It’s best to get ahead of the curve. Why spend money on an HDTV that you’ll most likely replace in a few years? Go ahead and get a 4K—that will be a wise investment for many years to come. Short-term, its upscaling will make lower-res content look great, and as 4K content ramps up, everything will just get better and better.

Beyond the technical advantages of 4K, she reminds me of the ethical imperatives. Every fledgling technology needs nurturing by early adopters to help it leave its nest. Turning your back on a new technology is tantamount to killing it. Conversely, the more people who buy 4K TVs, the more 4K content will appear, and that will spur sales of 4K TVs—chickens and eggs! Last, she reminds me that I am a tech guy; if I don’t support 4K, how can I expect anyone else to? I didn’t buy 3D, and look what happened to that. I am morally obligated.

Don’t Be Stupid
The angel on my left shoulder has other opinions. She argues that it would be a serious mistake to buy a 4K TV. Whenever a new technology comes along, manufacturers and retailers start hyping it. HDTV is inadequate, you must have 4K, blah, blah, blah. If you believe that load of bull, you deserve a 4K. Ouch.

For starters, 4K is a solution in search of a problem. That kind of resolution may be OK on a phone that’s a foot from your eyes, but unless your screen is gargantuan (say, 80 inches), it’s useless on a TV at a normal viewing distance. Your eyes simply cannot resolve that extra resolution. Besides, pixel count is irrelevant; a 12-MP camera is certainly not inherently better than an 8-MP camera; only suckers buy cameras based on the number of pixels.

4K is evil! It killed plasma and in comparison, 4K’s contrast ratio, off-axis viewing, and motion resolution are all mediocre. Don’t forget that 4K doesn’t magically appear. It requires fatter pipes or, more likely, even greater compression. In the real world, because of artifacts from increased compression, your 4K could look absolutely terrible.

Speaking of 4K content—there isn’t any. By the time native 4K content ramps up, your 4K TV will be old; new 4K TVs will be better and cost less. Why take the financial hit now on a 4K TV when you can’t utilize its benefits for years to come? Someday, 4K will be ubiquitous, but for now, it doesn’t make any sense.

Finally, in a clever bit of psychology, she argues that worrying about TVs is a first-world problem that I should be ashamed of. I shouldn’t buy a new TV. But if I must buy something, I should humbly get HD.

Wow. Their incessant chatter is driving me nuts. Now I am just totally confused. I guess that means I should get a curved 4K 80-inch OLED?