Even with the hardware now more readily (and affordably)
available, one major problem remains for 4K: the lack of content.
Plenty of big movies have been shot in 4K over the past
several years, but no discs you buy in the store are in 4K. Netflix has just
begun toying with 4K streaming, but it’s very early, and most of what you can
find there and on YouTube are more proofs of concept than things you’d actually
want to watch. (Netflix, however, is promising expanded 4K content offerings in
2014, including episodes of its acclaimed original series, House of Cards.)
Sony sells the $699 4K Ultra HD Media Player, which does have several hundred
movies available in a downloadable library. But that unit requires a Sony 4K
TV, which is a ridiculous limitation.
One major problem
remains for 4K is the lack of content
If you’re looking for a monitor, the situation is better:
The most recent generations of video cards from both AMD and Nvidia support 4K
output, so you can at least run Windows and other programs on more real estate
than you probably ever thought possible. And though you can, of course, play
games as well, don’t expect to be able to crank the visual details all the way
up and still play at flawless frame rates - not even AMD’s and Nvidia’s most
expensive cards can handle that task yet.
Shoot it yourself
Don’t want to wait for your favorite movies come out in 4K?
Shoot your own with a 4K camcorder, such as the Sony 4K Handycam Camcorder
FDR-AX1. It has everything you need to take super-sharp 4K video at 60 frames
per second. The catch? It’s price: $4,499.99. But less-expensive camera are
expected to hit stores within the next few months.
Sony 4K Handycam
Camcorder FDR-AX1
Is 4K okay?
When we first covered the burgeoning 4K phenomenon a year
ago, we concluded that you didn’t need it at that point - and, really, you
still don’t. But manufacturers have made it clear that they don’t consider 4K
another 3D-like fad. And as new displays and devices in all categories keep
appearing, it seems increasingly obvious that 4K is in it for the long haul.
The good news is that the hardware problem is mostly solved.
The latest group of 4K HDTVs and monitors look terrific, and shouldn’t
immediately seem outdated in ten years. They have thin bezels, fast response
times, tons of features - everything you’d want from 1080p displays, except
with a much sharper screen. So it’s just a matter of price now, on the hardware
side.
Unfortunately, without greater availability of content a 4K
purchase remains a nonstarter for nearly everyone - unless you want to get in
early and be ready to try each new 4K source that appears, and you already
needed a larger TV or monitor to begin with. But if you need a new display now
and don’t care about 4K, it’s definitely not worth paying two to four times the
price of a good 1080p set. Not even close.
Without greater
availability of content a 4K purchase remains a nonstarter for nearly everyone
If there were, say, 50 or 100 movies currently available,
with the promise of several hundred more coming down the pike in 2014, that you
could actually buy or stream - the story would be different. Yes, 4K is here to
stay. But as things stand, even for the people who have the money it isn’t yet
the terrific deal it will need to be to supplant HD in living rooms everywhere.
