4k Roundup of CES Showcase

It’s all about 4k this year. TV, projector, monitor, smartphone, tablet, camera, cable, chip and video websites are all jumping into this utopian resolution feast in this year’s CES. Hardware manufacturers, especially TV makers have made a radical progress, trying to pull people back from their smartphones and tablets.

For those who may not be familiar with this concept, let’s get started with the definition of 4k.

4k is short for “4K resolution”, which is a generic term for display devices or content having horizontal resolution on the order of 4,000 pixels. Several 4K resolutions exist in the fields of digital television and digital cinematography. Below is a comparisons picture that could give you an intuitive impression of 4k and other resolutions.

Source: University of Groningen

As you can see from the picture, 4k screen is basically four times as big as a normal HDTV, so it’s no surprise that TV manufactures are busy kicking asses by introducing astoundingly large televisions that could not fit in our living rooms or budgets: LG brought a giant 105-inch curved, ultra-widescreen UHD television, along with some other flat LCD televisions in 65-, 79-, 84- and 98-inch sizes (all fairly big ones).

Of course Samsung couldn't possibly let its rival LG jump ahead in the race to produce big-ass large super high res televisions, and as such unveiled its own 105-inch, ultrawide, IMAX-style TV.

Both of these mammoth sets support 5,120 x 2,160 resolution (it's already been marketed as 5K), which is truly stunning. If you had the means and space, you’d absolutely want to own one.

  

But for a truly ultra-HD experience, we still need a wealth of native content available -- not just displays. That is why YouTube has demoed its new 4K streaming-tech at CES, while Netflix has already been a step ahead -- the company has confirmed at LG’s press conference that it will offer the second season of House of Cards in 4K.

All these shining devices and technologies are quite appealing for sure, but unfortunately, the vast majority of us can meet neither of the requirements of living room size or wallet size, which is why I am particularly interested in this upconversion HDMI cable Seki. It claims to squeeze 4K upconversion out of 1080p video, and sells for only 40 US dollars. This may give us a good opportunity to experience 4k by ourselves, no matter it is genuine or not.