4K Television Buyers Guide

 

In recent years, 4K Televisions, and 4K content, has become more accessible. Much of our popular content, especially feature-films, is available in this highly advanced format. With the higher resolution and greater color gamut, our favorite movies have never looked better. While I have advocated the use of lower quality formats for image capture in most situations, and continue to do so, I find that 4K television are a worthy consideration for image viewing. Especially for non-4K content. 

If you are considering upgrading to a 4K television, here are some guidelines and recommendations to consider. 

It’s all about the color

While the increased resolution is part of the attraction for 4K televisions, it is, in actuality, not the most perceptible difference. The real fascinating feature is the extra amount of color information 4K Televisions can produce. 

Every electronic device that works with images, be it cameras or screens, can only see a limited amount of colors within the visible spectrum. Some devices are capable of seeing a wider variety of color possibilities than others. Regardless of your preferred format of physical media (be it DVD, BluRay, or the new 4K UHD format), the increased amount of color information within the 4K screen will make your content come to life in a way rarely seen in other viewing formats. 

Before the pandemic, I had the opportunity to test this theory. While at a friends house, we watched one of our favorite films, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, on his recently purchased 4K Television. While we were enjoying the movie with popcorn and good root beer, I was entranced by how the film seemed to pop off the screen. The colors looked more textured and seemed to have no issues often associated with compression found on some forms of disc media. 

Naturally, I assumed that since we were watching the movie on a 4K Television, we must have been watching a 4K UHD disc. So, imagine my surprise when I saw the disc jacket for the film, and discovered it to be a standard DVD. 

With the extra amount of color information, the 4K Television added a bit of panache to the DVD. Granted, it wasn’t an extreme difference, but it was enough. 

HDR

Another top-selling feature of 4K Televisions is something called HDR. For those of you who don’t know, HDR stands for “High Dynamic Range”. It refers to how well an image can retain detail in the brightest and darkest parts of an image. Pretty much all 4K televisions are capable of displaying HDR. However, much like Baskin Robins Ice Cream, there are more than one flavors of HDR. Some can deliver more striking images than others, but are not absolutely required for the best image possible. 

Here is a short list of the most common flavors of HDR and what they offer for image quality, 

HDR10

All 4K Televisions support this flavor of HDR. It is standard issue and looks pretty damn good. 

HDR10 + 

A slightly more advanced version of the standard. However, it is only offered by Samsung and Panasonic devices and, as of this writing, only a handful of 4K UHD discs. 

Dolby Vision

The most advanced flavor of HDR and arguably the most popular. However, due to its licensing agreements, it tends to make devices that support it needlessly extra expensive. Also, to my knowledge, none of the 4K Televisions on the market can take full advantage of its capabilities. 

The most important thing to remember is, regardless of how many additional flavors of HDR your devices can display, HDR10 will always look astonishing. 

You’ll need some new HDMI cables 

While standard HD televisions do not require special kind of HDMI cables for connecting to your media device, 4K Television do. Because of the extra amount of information and detail being communicated between the devices, stronger HDMI cables are required for the best possible viewing experience. When you take the plunge for a new 4K Television and 4K UHD disc player, be sure to also pick up a few of the recommended HDMI cables to go with them. They will be well worth it. 

Personal recommendations 

If you decide to invest in a 4K Television, be sure to upgrade your sound system first. Most 4K Televisions tend to have built-in speakers that, while technically usable, are not on par with the visual quality of the screen. A decent sound bar or a good surround sound system will suffice.   

Furthermore, I recommend models built by Samsung, LG, and Panasonic. Avoid models by Vizio and Sony. 

There you have it. I hope you find this guide helpful on your quest for a brand new 4K Television. Happy Hunting! 

Ladies & gentlemen, I am TheNorm, thank you all for reading.