Need to be within 2-3 feet to see the difference between 4K and Blu Ray - proof

Caporegime
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https://www.avforums.com/article/4k-netflix-vs-blu-ray.12398

From our usual viewing spot, which is around 7.5 feet (2.3m), we could honestly see zero difference between the two frames and, in a wider sense, the entire scene. So, we moved a little closer, to around five feet, and it was still impossible to see any resolution differences and it was only when we were between 2 and 3 feet where any extra details could be seen on the Shield – we’re talking a couple of skin pores and a very small wispy hair so not exactly a quantum leap and, of course, there aren’t many folks sitting that close to a 65-inch screen.

For this comparison I enlisted some child labour – I left the room while my 10yr old switched inputs – to try and make it as blind a test as possible. Again, there was nothing in it from a sensible viewing distance and, if anything, the Blu-ray image possibly looked a little better from really close up. That is likely the result of the frames being hundredths of a second mis-matched and the over-riding feeling from viewing the entire scene was that we couldn’t tell them apart.

Rounding off the comparisons, because we think you’re probably getting the idea that we are really struggling to tell these apart, let’s take a look at something really colourful as Saul retreats to his office behind the salon.

There’s a very tiny lighting difference between the two shots but you would be extremely hard pressed to tell the two frames apart in real life, never mind a compressed photo viewed through your smartphone or PC. Despite repeated rewinding and reviewing, again, there is just no visible difference on a 65-inch screen from 7.5 feet away and, once more, even when we got really close, we just failed to pick out any further details, in either frame, so our conclusion is another score draw with both just looking fantastic.


There you have it. 4k TV's as I have been saying for ages are a waste of money currently
 
As is the minute differences in audio quality beyond 320kbps MP3.

"The general consensus is that, while a low-quality MP3 (128kbps) might be discernible from a lossless file (~1,411kbps) file, higher quality MP3s (320kbps) rarely—if ever—are"

http://lifehacker.com/5903625/mp3-or-lossless-see-if-you-can-hear-the-difference-with-this-test

Oh dear. We won't name names, but of the seven people tested, including five members of the TrustedReviews team, only one person could accurately pinpoint which tracks were MP3 and which tracks were FLACs in every case. Of the rest, three of our subjects managed to pick the lossless track on two occasions, while the other three only managed a single correct choice.

"Interestingly, the results didn't come out as we anticipated. We knew that discerning 320kbps MP3 files from lossless FLAC files was going to be hard, but we expected that, with decent listening equipment and a couple of hearings, most of the test subjects would be able to tell a 192kbps MP3 from the FLAC original. Shockingly, this wasn't so. In the tests where we played 320kbps files against FLACs the number of people who chose correctly and incorrectly were equal. In the tests where we played 192kbps files against FLACs, more of our subjects actually went for the lower-quality file."

http://www.trustedreviews.com/opinions/sounds-good-to-me_Page-4
 
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But its for 4k Netflix streaming which will be quite inferior to true 4k blu-rays when released. Thread title misleading and completely different area of discussion than your summary which is somewhat true that apart from a few sample demos netflix 4k is the only real source of 4k content (even if streaming level) and yes probably not much difference to 1080p bluray. However good luck finding a 1080p bluray copy of Daredevil season 2 in a couple of weeks but if you happen to own a 4k TV you can enjoy the best possible version available at the time :)

I don't own a 4k TV by the way but weird post again Sonny :p
 
another poor article from avforums :(

The reviewer has taken a 4k TV and played a very high quality Blu ray and compared it against Netflix 4k.

a 4k vs 4k review

That is a high bit rate 1080 upscaled to 4k from a blu ray vs a low bit rate 4k stream.

His conclusions are that the very best of Blu ray is about the same as low end 4K for visual quality.

At no point is he looking at a 1080 sources so there is NO fair comparison.

So your conclusion is unless you are really close you can not see a difference between 4k and 4k ...... huge surprise.
 
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Not to mention that some Netflix shows don't look any different in 4k.

When I first got it, I checked Breaking Bad 4k and that looked noticeably better than 1080p, but Alias Jessica Jones in 4k wasn't even noticeable.
 
another poor article from avforums :(

The reviewer has taken a 4k TV and played a very high quality Blu ray and compared it against Netflix 4k.

a 4k vs 4k review

That is a high bit rate 1080 upscaled to 4k from a blu ray vs a low bit rate 4k stream.

His conclusions are that the very best of Blu ray is about the same as low end 4K for visual quality.

At no point is he looking at a 1080 sources so there is NO fair comparison.

So your conclusion is unless you are really close you can not see a difference between 4k and 4k ...... huge surprise.

This.

So what is basically shown is that the upscaler is pretty good at producing a 4k picture, of similar quality to a Netflix 4k realtively low bit rate stream, from a Bluray.
To judge if 4k is a waste of time you need to compare a 4k source on a 4k screen vs 1080p source on a 1080p screen otherwise you're adding in the variable of the upscaler - obvious problem is you need 2 different TVs.

What would actually be interesting is seeing a comparison between an upscaled Bluray to 4k vs Bluray on a 1080p TV - again the problem being you need 2 different TVs.
 
There's a quite clear difference between 4k source on a 4k screen and 1080p source on a 1080p screen, even from 3 metres away.

There's plenty of reasons not to buy into 4k now but claiming it looks no better than 1080p unless you're 2-3 feet away is just nonsense.
 
the guy who writes the review is a pro calibrator. i'm pretty sure he knows what he's talking about.

basically 4k netflix is on par with 1080p blu ray and sometimes inferior.

netflix is mostly old content. very little new content. blu rays are more up to date just behind cinema (obviously).

i think the test is fair. basically says that 4k streams are better than 1080p streams but worse than or equal to 1080p blu ray.

basically what I'm going to do is. watch 4k streams through my AVR and get the AVR to supersample them to my 1080P tv.

this essentially gives me the better quality media with no loss in quality.


as for 4k blu ray. it's still not available and nobody apart from the rich or extreme enthusiasts will be buying them anytime soon. when it's £500 for a player and £30+ per movie.
 
In an ideal world they would increase the bit rate of 1080p streams rather than provide 4k streams (so you move closer to the equivalent of streamed Blurays), but fat chance of that happening.

Will be interesting to see how much an increase in quality you get downscaling from 4k to 1080p.
 
he's comparing a 1080p source to a 4k source

if you really want to be pedantic.

anyway - what it proves is resolution isn't the full story. quality of media is far more important and all the people jumping onto 4k should really think about the quality of media they shall be using.
 
he's comparing a 1080p source to a 4k source

if you really want to be pedantic.

anyway - what it proves is resolution isn't the full story. quality of media is far more important and all the people jumping onto 4k should really think about the quality of media they shall be using.

I must admit, although i have a 4k tv, 1080p blu ray will be my media of choice for a long time yet.

Well, atleast unil 4k blu ray comes out.
 
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he's comparing a 1080p source to a 4k source

if you really want to be pedantic.

anyway - what it proves is resolution isn't the full story. quality of media is far more important and all the people jumping onto 4k should really think about the quality of media they shall be using.

No he was comparing the output from 2 sources.

The problem is one of those sources has been heavily modified by a very good upscaling TV.

And again I disagree with your conclusion

2 sources:
1 Blu ray at 1080 and a bit rate somewhere between 25 and 30.
Netflix 4k and at 50-70% of the bit rate.

we know that Netflix stream is not full 4k as that would be creeping anything up to 100 so it is a much poorer source.

However at 4k it still looks as good.

That indicates to me that simply upping the resolution does indeed increase the visual effect.

Frankly as a pc gamer I have known this for 30 years and nothing changed with the event of 4K in TVs.

I agree with your point on media but the simple fact is Netflix 4k is currently some of the best media, not buying in to 4K means you miss out on this.
 
he's comparing a 1080p source to a 4k source

if you really want to be pedantic.

anyway - what it proves is resolution isn't the full story. quality of media is far more important and all the people jumping onto 4k should really think about the quality of media they shall be using.

Nothing to do with people being pedantic lol its more with how you phrase matter of fact statements with evidence of different arguments. Its like saying Dave is the same as Edward but its just spelt and sounds different :p

Re resolution not being everything. Most people with any reasonable AV knowledge know this and its not a new fact but the other side of your 'argument' about 4k being pointless is incorrect. Regardless of the amount of new content, 4k streams via netflix etc are still the best way to view newest things. And they will look better on an equal level 4k set than 1080p.

For me, I use a 1080p PJ. And a 4k PJ is too expensive at the moment when coupled with needing a 4k Receiver. But it doesnt mean if I had the money I wouldnt do it. The top level 4k sets/PJ look better with 1080p content upscaled than the equivalent 1080p set/PJ does.
 
he's comparing a 1080p source to a 4k source

If he actually wanted to compare a proper 4K source against a 1080P source, he should have used something like "Tears Of Steel" from the Blender Foundation. They have a variety of resolutions available for download including 1080P and 4K. Both could then have been compared directly on the same TV, i know because it was one of the first things i did when i bought my LG 65EF950V Oled tv in January. I can assure anyone, including
the guy who writes the review is a pro calibrator. i'm pretty sure he knows what he's talking about.
that there is a very very large difference between the 2, even when the 1080P source has been upscaled. You don't need to be a couple of feet away either, it's very obvious from 10ft away (my normal viewing distance). All i can say is, if his choice of source and testing is as bad as this, i'm very glad he didn't calibrate my tv.
 
In slow to no motion scenes the Netflix compression losses will diminish and it'll approximate the blu Ray result. I suspect there are a number of people who can tell a difference on 65" at 8ft, some others at 10ft, probably very few at distances greater than that. But the fact remains there are a lot of people buying 46 inch 4K screens and slitting 10ft away. At that point the analogy isn't can you tell a difference between 320k mp3 and FLAC on your hifi, it's can you tell the difference on your iPhone speaker.

And the answer is no, btw.

:)
 
But the fact remains there are a lot of people buying 46 inch 4K screens and slitting 10ft away. At that point the analogy isn't can you tell a difference between 320k mp3 and FLAC on your hifi, it's can you tell the difference on your iPhone speaker.

And the answer is no, btw.

:)

I am sorry but once again we have someone spouting there own opinion on this subject as fact.

Finding any hard evidence on this is extremely difficult due to such poor reviewing as evidenced in the source of this thread.

http://www.hdtvtest.co.uk/news/4k-resolution-201312153517.htm

this test is one of the very few to be found showed of 50+ people only 1 could not tell on a 55" at 9 foot.

I am not actually saying you can see a difference on a 46" at 10 foot, you probably cannot but I am simply stating that I would like to know.

Not opinions actual testing.
 
It's been known for ages that Netflix 4K is not real 4K, the bandwidth just isnt there for it, and as for 4K bluray costing £30+ per film, LOL where go you get your info Psycho !!!

most are less than £30 some even less than £20, which make each of them cheaper than going to the cinema and better quality than most cinemas show.

https://www.wowhd.co.uk/search?q=4k&mod=AP#!?pagenum=2

Real 4K footage is clearly better than 1080p, add HDR to it and it looks stunning, the new DX902 for instance looks amazing.
 
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