I was spec'ing a 4K capable computer system , the expensive monitors were the "hitch" in putting together a "lo-budget" upgrade.. Ended up picking up a 39" Seiki 4K TV for a "monitor", picked up a couple more since then, at ebay used prices (about the same or less than what a 40-42 HDTV costs currently), they are a bargain...

Only used it for a HUGE "desktop" and to review 4K footage I've shot, but a pretty good deal for both those things. I wouldn't go for a "low resolution" monitor, TV or camera for any "new" acquisitions, and the HD gear I've got looks plenty good with HD content... SD hurts my eyes... 720 "TV's" do too...

Here is an article from Wired from just a few days ago n.b. after CES:

4K TVs Are Forked. You Should Wait Before You Buy One | WIRED (http://www.wired.com/2015/01/everybodys-going-buy-4k-tv-soon-dont-want-one-just-yet/)

As a consumer it makes a lot of sense to hold off the purchase of a 4k TV for a few months to wait out the resolution of standards for streaming services.

I can see streaming performance and compatibility being absolutely critical in the very near future. I've just switched my own broadband connection from a decent 12-14 mb/s to fibre which is achieving 40+ mb/s

All of a sudden I'm thinking what is the point of my Sky satellite subscription when I can watch just about anything I want from the terrestrial channels anytime using their players on my Playstation PS3 and watch HD movies etc from Netflix for a fraction of the cost of Sky.

But I - and I suspect many others - want to see the delivery system standardised across all TVs. No good if you can watch Netflix or Amazon on some TVs (with their own built in streaming) but not on others. Using a separate box such as a PS4 may overcome this anyway and I would probably want to do that to feed the audio through my home cinema amp. I'm not sure if you could take an audio feed OUT of a 4k TV, through an amp, then back into the TV.

Interestingly, the article also reports that no major manufacturer had new 1080p TVs at CES. So very soon the customer will be able to buy any TV they want so long as its 4k :- )

How will this affect us? In the fullness of time our customers will have a 4k tv sitting in their lounge regardless of whether we like it or not, whether we see the point of it or not, and whether the customer knows and appreciates why they've got it or not. Demand for standard def DVDs would probably collapse at that point regardless of any devices upscaling chops as the difference would be hard for anyone not to appreciate. Meanwhile my normal delivery of an MP4 file at 1080p (with the DVD) will hopefully fill that future gap for existing customers.

Pete

Today I reached a tipping point. I now have two clients wanting 4K footage (not weddings). I have the ability to film it and edit it but not to view it in full 4K. I'm trying to put off buying a 4K screen as long as possible while the prices keep falling.

Its not essential to have a 4k monitor to edit 4k. I use a 720p to preview in Premiere and you can spot even the slightly out of focus shots with that. I'll preview on a 4k screen once I've exported but more for a final check on how the whole video looks than to measure how the 4k holds up.

Its not essential to have a 4k monitor to edit 4k. I use a 720p to preview in Premiere and you can spot even the slightly out of focus shots with that.

That much I already know ;) I've been editing 4K footage on a 4K timeline in FCPX with no playback problems for quite a while, it's just I can't see it 'all' at 100%.

I'll preview on a 4k screen once I've exported but more for a final check on how the whole video looks than to measure how the 4k holds up.

That's the bit I'm missing.

t's just I can't see it 'all' at 100%.

You'll still be hard pressed to see it all unless you're talking 30" and up.

You'll still be hard pressed to see it all unless you're talking 30" and up.

Actually I can measure the 4k pretty well on my 28" screen as long as I'm close up to it. It's only from a distance the larger screen becomes important. I've only use the 55" for personal stuff, even though I'm also delivering all online content in 4k.

Actually I can measure the 4k pretty well on my 28" screen as long as I'm close up to it. It's only from a distance the larger screen becomes important. I've only use the 55" for personal stuff, even though I'm also delivering all online content in 4k.

Steve, when you deliver the online content in 4K do you mean that you send a 4K MP4 or that you upload it to Vimeo or Youtube in 4K?

Steve, when you deliver the online content in 4K do you mean that you send a 4K MP4 or that you upload it to Vimeo or Youtube in 4K?

Well I started out uploading a 4k Trailer to Youtube, more out of curiosity initially. I've been doing so since. Vimeo I tend to upload as 720, purely as I find playback crap at full HD. I did upload one video at 4k as an experiment, though it's currently set at 720 playback. However I'll be trying to see if I can get 4k playback as per recent news on the subject.
I'm still editing in HD for most projects, only the Trailer and Marryoke's I edit in 4K. I had one Wedding recently where I filmed just the Ceremony and a Marryoke, also producing a short highlights of the day as well. These videos I plan to deliver in 4k via USB plus HD versions too. I doubt very much they can play 4k now but they may as well have the best version for future playback. Being Winter, it's a good time to experiment, especially as I have a 4k Wedding next Autumn.

There are some cheap "off brand" 4K TV's out there if you look - my desktop is a Seiki 39", it's not "great" but also was so cheap I've picked up a couple more for editing and gaming purposes... about the same used as you would pay for a comparable 42" TV... and FAR less than most 4K screens I see advertised. Was a fraction of the price I paid for a pair of 1920x1080 24" Dells I used previously, and it does look lots better than those.

I find the argument that it's "hard" to see the difference to be rather strange, I can always notice when resolution isn't up to snuff... 720p "HD" TV's are horrid to my eye, and while 1080 is plenty good for most purposes, once you've seen the 4K "looking through a window" effect, it's hard to go back to lower rez... One of the reasons I picked up another 4K Seiki was the difference when photo editing and display - things that looked "good" previously show focus issues, pixels, artifacts, and so on when up on a 4K display. The increase in resolution when working with stills is night and day.

There are some cheap "off brand" 4K TV's out there if you look - my desktop is a Seiki 39", it's not "great" but also was so cheap I've picked up a couple more for editing and gaming purposes... about the same used as you would pay for a comparable 42" TV... and FAR less than most 4K screens I see advertised. Was a fraction of the price I paid for a pair of 1920x1080 24" Dells I used previously, and it does look lots better than those.

Dave, do you use the Seiki monitor as your user interface monitor when editing? Right now I edit with Premiere Pro CC 2014 and I have a 25" HP as my user interface with all of the windows, panels, etc. I've found that it's a bit small for me but I'm not sure if 39" would be too big or not. If this is how you use it, what resolution does your computer output to the monitor? 1080p? 4K?

I put together a cheap Haswell build that outputs 4K with the on board Intel chipset, so I have a 4K desktop, it's taller than the 24" screens, but not THAT much, and it's actually narrower that the 2 24's side by side. It's more or less equivalent to an array of 4 (2x2) 20" 1920x1080 monitors, but without the bezels and moving between monitors you have with a multi-monitor setup.

It can take a little re-sizing to find the spot where font's and such are not overly small, but I found the efficiency when you have multiple windows open can't be beat. There are a few other quirks, calibration was a bit tricky, but it's good enough for my needs, overall nothing that isn't worth working around, especially for the low price of admission - Tiger direct has 'em brand new for well under $400 right now on ebay...