With the dramatic drop in prices, consumers are left in a confusing dilemma whether to pay for a standard 1080p TV or find some extra funds to invest in a 4K TV. The prices of 4K TVs have fallen recently which make them look quite attractive and worth the money, but it is necessary to find out whether 4K TVs are worth the extra amount of cash over other alternatives in the market. If you have the money and are willing to invest in a premium TV then you might as well invest in a 4K TV. If you rely on the retailers for such answers, the chances are that you will walk out of the store without a bank balance in your account since the shop keepers are equipped with some of the nastiest convincing skills. They will show you why exactly a 4K TV is worth the extra money and will demonstrate this argument with unrealistic high quality resolution of the TV. In reality, there are some instances and reasons where 4K TV does not find its worth over other alternatives in the market.
Why it’s not worth the extra bucks?
Let us compare 4K TV with a TV with 1080p resolution first, holding an assumption that both TVs come with a similar screen size. Since 4K TV promises a better resolution, it will end up costing around a $100 more than the TV with a 1080p resolution. To be honest, it is hard to distinguish the picture quality between both the products. The main reason why this difference cannot be seen is because of the seating distance of the consumers. Normally a person would sit around less than 10 feet away from the TV and from this distance one cannot exactly tell the difference between the picture qualities, unless an observation is made from a very close angle.
So the bottom line is that even if you invest extra money in a 4K TV, you would not really find massive upgrade in the picture quality, assuming that you will place the TV in your living room and view it from a normal viewing distance. The sharper images in 4K resolution do look amazing but they are not exactly worth the extra bucks over a 1080p TV.
Why you might find it worth the extra bucks?
There are many popular brands right now making 4K TVs and they definitely feel proud in providing these products to the consumers. This is mainly because of the upgraded LCDs that are installed in these TVs that promise a superior picture quality. While you might not be able to experience an enhanced resolution in a 4K TV unless you view it closely, there is a general consensus that picture quality does actually look better. Moreover, the LCDs that these 4K TVs are made with do not compliment the picture quality just because of the resolution. The quality of LCD itself is what makes a 4K TV an attractive alternative at the price it is being offered.
To experience this picture quality enhancement you might have to look into brands that are providing great deals on the 4K TVs in terms of manufacturing. For instance 4K TVs that are provided by Samsung are actually costly, but they use a local dimming process in the manufacturing process and install it in the TV which gives out great picture quality. This is what makes the picture quality better and also makes the difference noticeable which makes 4K TV an attractive alternative over standard 1080p TVs. But on the other hand it is also true that with such manufacturing efficiencies there are some Samsung plasma TVs that might stand on equal footings with 4K TVs despite the huge difference in prices but with almost similar picture quality.
How will you use it?
In theory, it all comes down to simple formula and this formula is based on how exactly you will use the 4K TV. If you are one of those people who will be using a 4K TV in the living room, watch it with family or even place it at an average distance from your bed in the bedroom, then you should probably not invest a lot of money in it and look for alternatives that offer better value for money such as 1080p TVs, or even plasmas.
On the other hand, if you have this habit of looking at the television from a very close distance while you appreciate the picture quality of the TV, or use it as a PC monitor, then 4K TV could work wonders for you, especially if you are planning to use it for gaming since it would turn your gaming experience into heaven.
Are 4K TVs supported by the market?
When dealing with technology, one must always have this fear of obsolescence. Technology products tend to go obsolete very quickly. Take an example of your smartphone and remind yourself how many times you had to change it in the past 4 years because of lack of support. The thing with 1080p TVs is that it supports a variety of media. The only way a 1080p TV would go obsolete is when 4K content is available on a very wide scale. This obsolescence would especially occur if the 1080p TVs fail to play 4K content, which seems less likely. There are only few media sources that are currently supporting 4K TVs and some of them are Netflix and Sony. But you should know that Xbox and PS4 still do not support 4K content and there are not even 4K Blu-rays that you might want to play in your 4K TV. Luckily, a 1080p TV can handle all such content.
In order for 4K TVs to overtake 1080p TVs it is essential for the broadcasters and movie producers to bring in new camera equipment that has 4K support. This might result in widespread use of 4K TVs, but it is unlikely that the producers will go out of the pockets and do this when the market is sitting content with 1080p resolution. Even if the producers adapt to 4K resolution and incorporate it in their new movies and shows, still we do not know whether the picture quality would drastically change. In all honesty, the picture quality would still be more or less the same and would not be that great that forces you to throw out your 1080p TVs in rage. Tests were done on Netflix 4K videos and it was found out that the picture quality improved on a very tiny scale which again reinforces the argument of not buying 4K TV just for the sake of picture quality since the difference is very small. A realistic intuition is that a 1080p TV can last as long as you want it to last since it can support a variety of media content.
What is best for you?
It all comes down to the use of a 4K TV and if you are a standard user of a 4K TV then chances are that you do not require the extra pixels it comes with. But still, there are many people who still think that spending a little more on 4K TVs just for the extra pixel is worth it. This can be linked to the consumers’ need of remaining up to date with the latest technology. If you are one of those people who put a lot of stress on the specifications of the product and want to always remain ahead of the world by owning all the latest equipment then sure, go with a 4K TV since it would give you the satisfaction of experiencing extra picture quality which having the surety that all the latest media with high resolution would be welcomed by your TV.
It is also important to note here that the trend of dropping prices of 4K TVs does not seems like it is going to stop any time soon. If you are one of those people who loves to get a bargain on the products and prefer to play the waiting game just to get a discount, then there is a huge possibility that the prices of 4K TVs will drive down even lower in the coming year.
In conclusion it can be said that the market is full of a lot of products including the 1080p TVs that function really good, come with great picture quality and still cost quite less. It is also possible to find some 1080p TVs that perform even better than the 4K TVs. 4K TVs do have a nice title attached to them that make them sound like something from the future but it must be remembered that new does not always mean that it is better. If you lie in that segment of the market where you can easily afford a 4K TV then it is best to go ahead with a 4K TV. Moreover, if you are a gamer and want to use it as a gaming monitor then you might be able to enjoy gaming a lot more than you used to. But if you are one of those people who value money and are focused towards saving it then it might be best to either invest in a 1080p that would give similar resolution and picture quality at a lower cost, or you could play the waiting game, if you are desperate for 4K resolution, by waiting for the prices of 4K TVs to go down even further. Get more information on the best prices on 4K TV’s here.
Editor’s Note: We have already adopted 4K TV’s in our offices and for those that truly love great theater quality, these are very worth it, especially as prices are dropping rather quickly this year. Be warned, that if you’re looking to move up to 4K or UHD, do your research as most of the electronics companies are cranking them out, but they are not all the same. Sony and Samsung are miles ahead with keeping the tv’s updated (including the all important firmware), and these are worth paying a little extra for as they will last much longer than most of the them.  For some reason Sony has discontinued their A lines from the 4K which had passive 3D technology so if you hate those bigger glasses with the opening and closing lenses, that’s something to keep in mind. Our Sony 4K has passive 3D which is the exact same quality as you get at the IMAX or better theater.