TV 2016 : 4K, OLED, Best TVThe year 2016 may be one of the best times to buy a new TV. HDTV (1080P or 720P video resolution) has become the norm on digital TV sets. LCD, LED, and Plasma display TV models are commonplace. The new TV models offer Ultra High Definition UHD also known as 4K. Not quite true 4K resolution, the new 4K TV models do have the potential for four times the detail of the 1080P TVs of today. What do they cost? Not as much as you may think. Samsung for example has a 4K TV for under $1,000 and it is remarkable. What does 4k mean on a tv? The current standard for HD is 1080p, measured by the number of vertical pixels. 4k measures the horizontal pixels instead, and any TV described as 4K will have a resolution of at least 3840 x 2160. The result is a picture with about 8.3 million pixels, or about four times as many as a standard HDTV.
Of course, a 4K TV has to have source content to display and in 2015 this is the negative about 4K TV as broadcast and cable TV does not have this level of video detail. Upgrades will be required for TV broadcasters before UHD content is available. Bluray will eventually offer new discs as the 50GB discs today may not have enough capacity for 4K content. Online providers are starting to offer 4K content (Netflix). Netflix plans to start streaming 4K this year using a new compression format to squeeze 4K video through existing broadband connections. Called HEVC or High Efficiency Video Coding, the new compression method works only with compatible new TVs. New Ultra HD sets coming out this year from several manufacturers, including LG, Samsung and Sony, will support HEVC. No set-top boxes as yet, such as Apple TV or Roku, support 4K content. The good news is that 4K TVs will upscale their source content to give you fantastic video detail. • Samsung 4K TV Review OLED TVOrganic light emitting diode technology is based on an organic film emitting light under electric stimulus. LG is the main company offering OLED TV displays and currently offer bendable TV screens. LG will offer a plastic based TV screen which will be unbreakable and bend even more than the glass based OLED screens. OLED TV is expensive today ($3,000) but the potential is limitless. TV displays 1/2mm thin are possible. Because OLED displays do not require a backlight, pixels that are switched off are truly black, so OLED achieves deeper black levels and a higher contrast ratio when compared to LCD (liquid crystal display) TVs. Conventional cold cathode fluorescent lamp (CCFL) backlighting and other layers are no longer necessary. This makes possible a much thinner, lighter TV. OLED TV also uses much less power. OLED is a new TV display panel technology, which displays video in new ways. ULTRA High Definition (UHD), also known as "4K," is a new resolution standard for video that will essentially quadruple current HD quality. |