In a high-driven technological world, we are introduced with exciting innovations almost every quarter of the fiscal year. In the realm of displays, both on television and smart devices, are continuing to push the envelope. 4K resolution has been around for quite some time now, but it hasn’t hit enough homes to consider it a norm. In fact, one of the more popular YouTube celebrities, Marques Brownlee (aka MKBHD), recently revealed how many of his subscribers or unique viewers actually view his content in 4K resolution. He showed that .11% of his viewers actually viewed his content on 4K displays.
The number remains very low. While most viewers still come in at 1080p as the most viewed, that is not to disregard the amount of devices that are capable of recording and streaming 4K content. There are point-and-shoot cameras, DSLRs, mirrorless cameras, camcorders and many flagship smartphones that have the ability to shoot in 4K video. And there are no signs of stopping such a technology that produces the finest moving images on screen. The problem remains though, it’s not cheap.
There is no mystery to why most people don’t possess 4K displays or TVs at home. They can be very expensive, regardless of its sharp and crisp images. We’re not knocking on the prices either, they are somewhat justified. The entire goal behind these giant brands, apart from making revenue, is to provide consumers with the best entertaining experience as possible. They want to bring the experience of the theatres right into your living rooms. With the price tags in mind, that is not to say we won’t see any price drops anytime soon. You will, eventually, be able to afford a 4K TV or laptop in the near future.
The introduction of 8K recently, which sounds absolutely ridiculous, is a sign of affordability of 4K devices. Dell, Toshiba, Asus and others have already placed a foot into the 4K laptop market. But don’t hold your breath in thinking these devices will soon follow suit of televisions. The fact is the smaller the 4K device, the rarer it gets, which means it’ll be quite expensive. On the other hand, we have plenty of desktop 4K displays to hook up to your personal computers at home. You can even project onto a 4K display through your laptops with specific and detected cables.
How we see things now is that recording in 4K is very easy. Viewing the same content on a 4K display may be a bit more difficult. The next challenge is streaming 4K. So far, it seems that YouTube is probably the best outlet for 4K streaming. They do a darn good job on a stage they were meant to shine on. Netflix, with their Ultra HD service, is the other standout provider that will provide the best content in the highest definition. Even if 4K isn’t in every home just yet, it is still the future of entertainment. Accessibility will come within time, and we might all be lucky if the prices of 4K content and devices fall closer to our own budgets by the end of the year.