Re: New TV.
Originally Posted by
mart
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When it's all set up and settled down, I'd be interested to know what an ordinary SD (standard definition) transmission looks like on it. Is it blurry, facial features a bit 'plastic' or lacking in definition?
I think about getting a 4K TV but the amount of upscaling that has to be done to get a standard definition picture to fill a 4K screen worries me a bit. I wonder if I'd be better off sticking to to the HD TV I have already because most of of what I watch is Freeview from a roof aerial. Much of that is only standard definition. Not so much upscaling on my HD TV as is needed on a 4K TV.
Has anyone else got a 4K TV? If so, what does an SD picture look like on it as regards definition?
Mart, I've had a 4K OLED for some years now and on ours with most viewing SD is fine; BBC in HD for example is barely distinguishable from BBC1 in SD.
But how fine generally depends upon 2 things:
1 Not all TV's are equal ( as we all know) and some 4K tv's display SD content better than others.
It doesn't seem dependent upon price either BTW.
If it's not feasible to see and judge for yourself (and it can be difficult nowadays) might I suggest a trip to AVForums TV section to have a nosey and seek advice?
https://www.avforums.com/
2 Not all broadcast SD is of an equal quality.
Just as bandwidth and resolution can cause problems with internet-based TV, so age; signal strength and interference affects even digital OTA TV.
A programme first broadcast in the 1980's is not going to look better on a modern, huge TV no matter how the picture reaches the screen unless it has been remastered.
And that's the other part of the SD quality problem; most SD content was not made for TV's the size that are nowadays common.
https://www.boxcast.com/blog/sd-vs-h...ions-explained
It isn't so long ago that 28" or even 32" TV's were regarded as huge; try finding one so small nowadays if you can.
So (as in #1) the TV has to perform some magic to make an SD picture watchable but they aren't all good at it.
I'm sorry if that's not greatly helpful, but basically there is nothing bad about the picture a 4K TV will give you when watching SD broadcasts provided you buy the right TV for you - which is pretty much as it has always been.
If you're near a Richer Sounds I can heartily recommend them as a place to have a look and get advice, provided they are open of course because no matter what anybody says we are not looking through your eyes.