TV Purchase Advice - 1080p or 4K?

jazzy

I am looking for advice for the purchase of a new TV. After looking around I really like a Sony KDL-43W807C although it's just a 1080p model and not one of the new 4K models. The price is similar to the cheap 4K models. So should I be considering a 4K TV only? I cannot see the point because there are no 4K TV stations around and when they available I suspect that there will be a very high charge for the 4K service.

JJ_Egan

Personally i would not buy a cheap 4k .
If you think 4k services are going to be very high then again why buy .

paddyrg

How close do you intend to sit to your TV? Serious question, the eye has limited angular resolution and for most people 4k may as well be 1080p

RumRat

Hopefully you are doing more research than just asking on this forum.
Personally I would go for a better 1080P at the moment, rather than a cheap 4K.
If the comparison was with a top end 4K then I'd go for the 4K.
You are going to get the distance argument at some stage and as that will be exhausting (again), I'll leave that to others.
4K linear TV will be coming, probably on Sky and Virgin initially. Most content will be through the likes of YouTube and Netflix etc at first.

jazzy

JJ_Egan wrote: »

If you think 4k services are going to be very high then again why buy .

My current TV is on the blink, just need reassurance that I am not making a mistake by not going for a 4K model.

emptybox

I don't think there's any right answer, as they've only just agreed the specifications for UltraHD Premium, which is 4K with increased colour gamut and dynamic range. So it's not just about pixel resolution.

But cheap 4K sets won't likely live up to that standard for a while. And presumably you'd want your new TV to last you at least 5 years, so probably a good quality 1080p set now would see you through to a time when 4K will be affordable and ubiquitous, and you were ready to jump in?

Richie-from-the-Boro

See here ................

A_Medium_Size_Jock

Some good advice above & "emptybox" is just about spot-on.

Even specialist-type forums like AVForums can't agree on the best plan of action, so what chance does an "average Joe" have?

The Sony you mention is supposedly reasonably good, but also consider the Samsung H6400 which gets amazing reviews and is highly recommended by many; either the 40UE6400 or (if you would like larger) the 48ueh6400.
The Sony uses Android - and this is NOT the same as a phone; it's supposedly slow and "buggy".

(Sorry, can't post links yet.)

Inner_Zone

emptybox wrote: »

I don't think there's any right answer, as they've only just agreed the specifications for UltraHD Premium, which is 4K with increased colour gamut and dynamic range. So it's not just about pixel resolution.

But cheap 4K sets won't likely live up to that standard for a while. And presumably you'd want your new TV to last you at least 5 years, so probably a good quality 1080p set now would see you through to a time when 4K will be affordable and ubiquitous, and you were ready to jump in?

I hope by that time 8K will be available, that is what I am waiting for.

stator

I have a 4k monitor for PC and it's fantastic.
However when buying a TV you have to consider whether it will be compatible with services like Sky or VM etc, who haven't launched yet.
If you have something to watch on 4k right now, eg you watch Premiership on BT Sport, then go for it.
If you have nothing to watch yet then delay purchase of 4k and buy a reasonable value HD TV that you can replace in 5 years with a 4k.

Flooky

I have a 4K TV and an OLED TV, personally I prefer the OLED.