A major buzz coming from the recent International CES convention has been focused on 4K or curved displays. Every time I see a new format coming out, I’m reminded of the days when Sony’s sales numbers were slumping, so they would introduce a new tape format so people would need to upgrade and purchase more decks. Now, if we have a new format, we need new monitors, cameras and distribution equipment etc.

First, HD, then 3D, then 2K. Now, 4K with 8K and 16K on the horizon. Lets stop and think about this for a second. True HD is 1080 lines of resolution. The main problem is that in order to get this signal to your home, some sort of compression needs to occur. A lot of TV stations broadcast in 720 to save space to begin with. When you’re watching a sporting event such as football on an HD screen it looks remarkably better than standard NTSC TV used to look. But it still isn’t the full quality possible. Since America’s internet and television provides give us a limited amount of bandwidth, the signals we watch are rather compressed. Until these providers significantly improve their distribution systems, many of the upcoming formats such as 3D, 4K, 8K and eventually 16K are not likely to easily get into our houses. Netflix 4K streaming is talking about streaming their content in 4K. As it is, I can rarely get full HD signal watching Netflix at home. If we could just get true HD, or even better yet, 2K signals in our homes, we would be blown away.

Now that we realize we won’t be able to stream 4K into our homes any time soon, how will it get there? Similar to Blu-ray quality, we will need to rent or buy movies on some sort of media to bring home.  Blu-ray beat out HD-DVD with the promise it would handle so much more material and be future proof. Well it already can’t handle the next great thing: 4K movies. Sony to the rescue with yet another new format. The Sony Ultra HD Media Player will give you yes stunning 4K HD videos for a mere $700.  Naturally Sony provides the Sony 4K Displays ranging from $3,000 to $25,000.

I get that there are some people that need to have the latest coolest gadget, but for the rest of us that need to live within a budget, let’s consider who could really benefit from this technology. Do you remember the first HD TVs couldn’t display later generations of Blu-ray players via the HDMI inputs? As HDCP protocol further developed older generation monitors could not display video from most Blu-ray players.  Currently, not only is the standard not set, but the group deciding is not clear. Will the Advanced Television Systems Committee make the final decision or will the manufacturers be left to slug it out such as Blu-ray vs HD-DVD or do you remember VHS vs Betamax?

If you are shooting (filming) on the Red One Camera or another large format digital camera for something that will have intense graphics and be theatrically released, then get as high of a resolution as possible. However, be ready to have a huge server standing by to store all of the raw footage for you. For the companies involved with such large productions a 4K monitor would be awesome. Do we as consumers need 4k equipment at home? At some point, a 4K monitor may be beneficial at home when 4K media and players become available. However, will we be able to view 4K media at our home via a distribution service such as cable, dish or fiber? The truth is true HD or 1080 lines of resolution looks much better than the standard TV signals of old. But we rarely get the full benefit of the signal. Generally some sort compression is used to get the signal to our homes. However, not always are the Millennials watching videos on a TV. Many are using all kinds of devices such as phones, iPads, and computers. These devices may be able to display full HD files, but getting the signal there once again can be quite challenging at high resolutions.

The bottom line is what would you use a 4K display for? If you’re shooting movies and need an ultra-high resolution monitor, then a 4K monitor will be a God send. If you want it for home use you may want to wait until the standards are finalized before upgrading.

All of this said, Vizio promises a 4K Professional monitor for under $1,000 by the end of 2014. No matter what there will be some interesting fighting between the various manufactures. Certainly by next CES we should see some affordable 4K monitors. The real question will be if the distributors and internet providers can rise to the occasion as well.