Wall Street Journal:
TV is stuck in an innovation cul-de-sac. There are no new ideas in TV hardware that are worth paying for, so, thanks to competition and production efficiencies, good TVs keep getting cheaper. The cheaper they get, the more desperate TV makers become, filling their sets with more and more useless piffle.
From 3D to 4K to curved screens to Sony’s strange “wedge-shaped” sets (don’t ask), we are witnessing an industry out of ideas, a business desperately casting about in the dark for something—anything—that might persuade us to part with our money.
For most of us, the TV we already have in our living rooms is perfectly good for what we watch. There’s little compelling in the offerings at this year’s CES.
Everything but 4K is a gimmick.
I really couldn’t see the point in 3D but 4k sounds like it might be interesting given time and some delivery methods. I bought my first HD set 7 years ago (late) but it is only with a thinner bezel LCD I bought 2 years ago am I enjoying HD. Given time 4k could appeal.
I think people have got wiser to buying version 1 of anything, let someone else take the pain. The trouble is if no one does its dead in the water.
My TV hangs on a wall some 10 meters (approx. 30 feet) away from me, and it is normally off or runs NG HD or CNBC HD as a backdrop with the sound off. I can’t tell the difference between SD, 720p and 1080p over that distance, I just see that a decade-old DVD can be navigated faster (e.g. fast forward, rewind, chapter changing) on a $50 DVD player than a 2014 BD on a $3k top model. Don’t care for 5.1, 7.1 or whatever madness comes next – it makes me as dizzy as 3D. I hate the fact that almost all current movies require constant volume adjustment, as you either don’t understand any dialogue or get deafened by fucking sound effects or third rate music.
They are not running out of ideas NOW, they ran out of ideas many years ago.
I would like a TV that is instant on, swaps channels instantly and maintains a constant audio level, no matter if it is stupid BDs, pumped up ads or other nonsense. Integrated Apple TV would be a plus. I would even pay a decent price. They can’t even deliver that.
I bought a 3D television a few years ago (a Samsung 7000-series LED/LCD and have never felt even the tiniest compulsion to watch any 3D content.
The 3D feature wasn’t even the tiniest factor in my decision to purchase the set; picture quality & price were what sold me.
Funny how years ago all the rage was maximizing viewing angles, and now they’re making weird-shaped sets that reduce viewing angles
This is because those who control the content and those who control the pipeline (who are sometimes one and the same) are sitting in the middle of the road, backing up traffic for miles.
Given the paucity of content and the likelihood that you sit far away enough from your TV that higher resolution won’t be terribly noticeable, you can put 4K in the gimmick bucket too.
Having just moved to Canada from the UK it would be good if North America got the system for notifying PVRs when a program starts, ends or is delayed. I guess that’s the broadcasters.
Trying to record something is just random. Settings like ‘about this time everyday’ just don’t work…
Broadcasters don’t want to do anything to encourage recording shows, because they make money from advertisers based only on the # of people estimated to be watching live.
TiVo does a pretty good job following shows around based on program guide information, but even it can’t handle a sports game pushing back a start time, breaking news interrupting a program, etc.
This article is worth reading for no other reason other than they used the word “piffle.”
The power of TV innovation is in the hands of the content owners right now.
Agreed. The common standard for TV viewing distance is four times to seven times the height of the screen. My nose is at that four times distance from my 55″ 1080p screen and I can distinctly see pores in the skin and individual hairs on faces. No more clarity is needed. There isn’t all that much true 1080p content as there is. Video content providers need to catch up to current TVs. 4K monitors surely have their uses but not on my livingroom wall.
For now. The problem these TV makers are facing is the 4k future has not arrived yet.
There is another issue. The Flat Screen revolution made almost every household switch to a new TV. People that had not bought a TV in decades, where all, nearly simultaneously (generation-wise) buying a modern TV.
That rush is over, everyone now has a new TV, and the industry is falling back to the TV sales curve we used to see before the flat screen revolution. Unfortunately, that is not compatible with Wall Street’s “perpetual growth” expectations, so these manufacturers can’t accept a slowdown. They are doing their best to force a new revolution. Something MAY happen, but it’s unlikely.
3D has potential for video gaming, something I have realized as I play with my new 3DS is really no gimmick at all, but neither of the big 3 has made a mandate that all their games will render 3D. Without such a thing, 3D won’t be a major driver of TV sales among gamers.
Wait, isn’t the complete opposite true here? If all of those “gimmicks” and new features were missing, I think that would be a true sign of an industry that has gone stagnant. What I’m seeing from CES this year is an industry that’s open to new ideas. LG’s webOS TVs and Sony’s Playstation Now are great examples of innovation this year which should not be overlooked. These are huge additions to the industry which could change perceptions of what a modern television is. Totally unwarranted cynicism.
Same here with my Samsung 55″. I bought it for the awesome screen and sound. NEVER use the 3D, and I have the gestures and audio commands turned off because they don’t work when I want and do work when I don’t want them to. Awesome TV though, and since my wife has Amazon Prime, that works for “free” content as well. Also Samsung’s “SmartView” app works well airplaying to my iOs devices what is on the screen while I’m in other rooms. And playing most any video format from a USB stick. The perfect TV is already here a year ago plus some useless features.
Yes. I’d friend you but I don’t do social media.
Usenet is your friend. ‘Nuff said.
You should buy a 4K TV because your cable company thinks 720p is good enough to send down the pipe.
You should buy a TV loaded with software from the manufacturer because they will never provide upgrades.
All new formats have a chicken-and-egg problem. But I think 4K has another problem – who, exactly, is it for? The difference between 480i and 720p/1080i/1080p is readily apparent at normal viewing distances for people with decent eyesight. The difference between 1080p and 2160p for those same people and distances is likely to be negligible.
TV sets with 1080p, great sound, and the ability to play any video format via USB are already perfect. OK, add Apple TV functionality and Airplay from an iOS device and you have perfection.
It is the content providers that are screwing things up. The first great thing to happen in a long time is what the WWE just introduced with a complete streaming backlog of at least the WWE, WCW, and ECW content and including all PPVs going forward for $10 per month. Ignore whether you like pro wrestling and think of what they are doing within their own genre: all live and past programming available anywhere you are 24/7. I can’t wait for other networks to try and match that.
Good point. If this is what the NFL Network and MLB Network were, I wouldn’t need cable TV at all.
I wish I had a dollar for every time I’ve heard the “Everything worth inventing has already been invented” bullshit line. The chorus of “my 1080p set is all I’ll ever need” is yet another example. A few days ago, Dolby labs made an announcement at CES which will, almost certainly, completely change the landscape. Any mention here?…. (crickets)
Dolby Vision
http://www.mercurynews.com/business/ci_24853354/ces-2014-dolby-unveils-technology-improve-tv-brightness
No offence (really), but you surely don’t think leaving your TV on CNBC with the volume off places you in the common user category?
Your idea that constant audio and no surround is adequate for movie or dramatic TV viewing is pretty off the mark.
However, I do agree with your assertion that the latency in switching channels, chapter changing, etc. is slowing down and that’s annoying.
And yet the rumors won’t die that Apple “has to” enter the TV market with an actual TV screen. I can’t see it – they might get a one time sale from a bunch of people, but the replacement time for an Apple TV would probably be even longer than the current average which must already be many many years. My plasma is over 10 years old and still going well. A new set might have better contrast, but it’s not enough to push me over the edge yet.
Resolution is not even the issue for cable or satellite TV. No one talks about compression, but AMC HD is unwatchable in many areas due to a disagreement between the content provider and the local cable companies. AMC’s parent company is shoving 6 channels into on channel’s bandwidth resulting in massive MJPEG artifacts. 4K isn’t going to be worth anything until there’s an order of magnitude increase in the size of data pipe coming to the house.
Ask the average person if they care about what OS their TV runs? Who cares if there’s a webOS TV? Ask the average person if they use or are excited by the “smart” features in their TV? Heck, ask the average 3D TV owner how often they use 3D.
Gimmicks are features that nobody wants or do not solve real world problems. It is perfectly fair to say the industry is stagnant because they don’t have any good ideas for improving TV. The cynicism is perfectly warranted.
When Dolby is available in a shipping TV and provides a noticeable improvement, then we’ll praise it.
8k for every large TVs might be good. But I’m talking really major sizes that you would put in a home theatre room. 80 inch minimum level.
What I would like to see is a range of decently large (say 46-70″) TVs that are 4k, energy efficient , refresh rates suitable for blu-ray, games, computers, 3d, 4k (even if it means scaling down to 1080p for some uses) that are dumb. Or even offer a dumb or smart option. Nothing irks me more than having to pay for smart options I don’t want or need to get good graphics or go dumb but get less visually.
That there is little one can really do to wow the world with a TV is exactly why Apple likely isn’t making one. Get the world with the iTunes system and the little black box and avoid the R&D costs, the patent licensing etc. And I would be fine with that if they created a better dumb display
Not for the larger sized TVs. I’m talking 60-70 inch stuff. You can notice the difference.
The catch is that at the moment there is so little content. Once we have 4k ultra discs flooding the market, 4k titles on Amazon and iTunes, then it will be viable. But until then it’s spec wanking to look cool
I feel ya on the sound issue. That is one of my big peeves along with the jerky cam stuff, too fast stuff etc.
Here are the improvements I want in a TV:
– improve picture quality
– have a universial wireless control/distribution where I don’t have to have a cable box directly connected to every TV in my house. They already have 8-tuner PVRs, why can’t it be in my basement and controlled wirelessly from any TV or AV Receiver in my house (simultaneously)
– it should auto-switch source inputs so I don’t have to.
I like it when it is used for depth in cgi etc. So like the Pixar films and in Avengers when they did it to really make you see the huge drop Hawkeye was jumping into (which was filmed green screen)
I don’t really care for the gimmicky ‘in your face’ stuff.
And no matter what, film for it. I haven’t seen a post conversion yet that didn’t look Iike dog crap, particularly since it wasn’t colored for the effect of the glasses.
And beware of other issues. I saw The hobbit in the 48frs 3d and while I would have liked to have seen some grit to make it feel seamless with the other films, I got over that. But the super sped up bits were a huge no. They looked like a total mistake. Not to mention making me feel ill and I’m not likely the only one. I might have bought the movie in 3d if not for that junk.
In theory, the optimal viewing distance for a 70″ TV is 8.75ft. (1.5x diagonal)
In theory, you’d need to be sitting closer than 9.08 feet to a 70″ TV to notice the difference between 1080p and 2160p. (“Retina” calculator)
Ok, so yes, at expected viewing distances, 4K is a worthwhile investment at 70″. Now, raise your hand if you have a 70″ TV set up at optimal viewing distance. 🙂
(Note – turns out that by the “Retina” result is always fractionally further away than 1.5x diagonal for 16:9 screens at 1080p. The better investment for everybody, rather than buying 4K televisions, would be to move their sofas back a few inches. 🙂 )
I want to see Apple make a TV. Sort of. I want a better Cinema Display with larger size options, graphics ability to be a computer monitor, TV, blu-ray screen etc.
I don’t need it to have a tuner, smart apps etc. That’s what my Apple TV and cable box are for. And if a system could be developed where I could a la carte direct subscribe to channels or packs of channels directly off the Apple TV/iOS apps I’d do that and drop the cable box. Especially if HBO, Showtime, BBC and Starz were in the mix
Ah, the a la carte ideal… It’s what a lot of people (me included) think they want but the content providers are not going to give us. Especially when the content generators / studios also own the means of distribution i.e. cable companies.
My plasma screen is already just a screen; no speakers, no tuner just a variety of inputs. That’s definitely what I’d do when I need to replace it if anyone still makes a TV sized ‘dumb’ panel by then…
Doesn’t explain why Europe has it. Big state broadcasters maybe?
I’m not familiar with the EU model, but if decisions aren’t being made based on Neilson ratings of live viewers, that would explain it.
Vizio is on-board with Dolby Vision. http://www.theverge.com/2014/1/6/5279150/vizio-announces-first-consumer-4k-tvs-kills-3d-support
You’ve heard of Dolby Digital, Dolby noise reduction? Those guys actually make useful advances.
I didn’t jump on the 3D bandwagon, but the HDR stuff looks pretty interesting.
I think 4K might be nice, but since I already see compression artifacts in today’s HD broadcasts, I fear that 4K content will be compressed to an extent that will prevent it from being noticeably better than regular HD.
we’re much further than ideal on our 42″ set, which we consider large. our house was designed for use cases in another era (1850s) and upgrading to 42″ was a big deal as far as the space is designed to be utilized…sets 60″ or 70″ are simply not practical.
agreed on nearly all points — i dont have 5.1, i hate BD lag, and i hate the volume deltas which require me to be a remote-wielding volume-jockey (at all times due to immense bass on my 3.1). dont have cable but those delays at friends at annoying, too.
shocking that this stuff has been fixed yet.
remember when you could buy matte panels for your TV? now its all gloss. wtf.
throwing enough shit to see what sticks isnt the same as innovation, my friend.
ok i read the press release. yawn…