I have an LG tv, its supposedly 4k and about 3 years old.
Hadn't seen Top Gun but Amazon had it reasonably priced to hire in UHD so gave it a shot tonight. Was expecting mind to be blown in terms of picture quality but honestly couldn't see anything out of the ordinary!
Got me to thinking whether UHD is activated somehow manually or whether the tv knows that the feed is higher definition and should play it in the best available quality automatically?
Anybody know?
It depends on the source mate .
If you have a 4K fire stick or Apple TV it should send it in that format .
I dont think the tv will need any fettling - most probably the input device .
In 4K you should be able to see individual hairs on the head clearly ( that’s my reference point )
You also need a good enough download speed for streaming in UHD.
I've sometimes had to restart a stream to get it in 4k/UHD but that was pre-fibre 150 plus. But it should be automatic. But as above you need to check your speed as it will just be HD.
Is it a big telly? Bigger screens benefit more from higher definition. I think they say 50-55" is the point you'd get the most from 4k. If you google it there are sites that recommend TV size and viewing distance for a given definition.
As above, also there should be an option to overlay settings and current received signal. A lot of screens flash it up when detecting a resolution change, so worth watching for that too as it goes from menu to actual movie.
Was it HDR as well? The LG will have a pop-up in the top right when it's receiving an HDR source. Also Amazon Prime TV is notorious for often having the HD version as the primary/easy to find one and the UHD you need to search for, that might not apply to rented stuff though (I've never rented via Prime).
I have watched some UHD non-HDR stuff that was hard to tell apart from a good HD source, possibly it was just upscaled HD footage anyway. Generally though UHD is pretty noticeable for me at least (although screen size and viewing distance comes into it as well).
Watched something in U/HD and was very put off by skin pores and weird make up. Given it was rufty tufty mens men give me less definition because I can't now un-notice it.
LG will pop up in top right as said above
I would imagine your broadband speed isn’t fast enough ?
Football looked amazing on bbc UHD
Try YouTube you can manually change between settings and it will soon stop streaming if it can’t do 4K because of speed
TV is 65 inch screen. We use the Amazon app built into the tv i.e. the remote has an 'Amazon' button that just needs pressing. Don't recall the message in the top right of the screen.
I had no idea that we could watch the footy in UHD! Is that another channel number or just the usual BBC HD channel?
I would have loved to see Ronaldo cry in UHD...
Fibre is 500+ as well so shouldn't be speed of streaming
Yes. First a button asking if you want to restart, then wait and another button asks for UHD but it's about a minute behind.
Or go straight to iPlayer to find it.
My eyes aren't good enough to tell the difference. Most things at 720p look good enough to me. 🙂
(Except Top Gun Maverick - that was a bag of shit in any resolution)
I had no idea that we could watch the footy in UHD! Is that another channel number or just the usual BBC HD channel?
Its on BBC iplayer. I access through the TV's iplayer. You go in to the match info and select other options or something and its there. BBC are investing in UHD tech, apparently ITV are not so will never be able to broadcast it
Ours is probably the same model LG 65" . We only had trouble when it was trying to connect to our mesh network in the bedroom upstairs rather than the node in the lounge, but that was the mesh settings, not the TV.
You did buy the UHD version of Top Gun? Sounds daft but can be easily done. Try loading something that is free UHD in Amazon. I have found the footy on BBC to be the most notably better quality, or YouTube switching from something like 720 to 2160 4k. Amazon can look a bit grainy depending on the film. Netflix looks more crisp but not light and day different
My brother works for the BBC and was heavily involved in the project when they started setting up UHD so he did alter a few settings on our TV, maybe that helps make it 'pop' more.
LG will pop up in top right as said above
Only if it is an HDR format as well.
My brother works for the BBC and was heavily involved in the project when they started setting up UHD
Good man, give him a pat on the back from me. If he's still involved please ask if they are even going to be able to provide anything better than 2.0 stereo alongside the mind blowing picture.
Except Top Gun Maverick – that was a bag of shit in any resolution
The pitch meeting sketch for TG Maverick is a good watch
Hmmmm. My 65 inch Sky Glass should be Ultra HD….. 300mb broadband and the TV is wired directly into the router…..does not look HD never mind Ultra frigging HD. Proper unimpressed.
Its on BBC iplayer. I access through the TV’s iplayer. You go in to the match info and select other options or something and its there. BBC are investing in UHD tech, apparently ITV are not so will never be able to broadcast it
Neither will "broadcast" UHD as it's not a broadcast spec in the UK (Which is either 540i50 or 1080i50). There wouldn't be space in the spectrum either, short of another massive leap in MPEG encoding I can't see it ever happening.
Streaming is different as you can pick whatever format and bitrate you like. The downside is there's a cost both in hardware and bandwidth to stream each individual user as opposed to broadcast media where there's only a very small fee based on viewing figures for using the MPEG codec. I'd be surprised if higher bitrate formats don't become available on ITV's paid for services at some point as a result. There'll be people that will pay for it, but advertisers probably* won't.
*although now I'm wondering if in a post-cookie world they might develop some way to link your account to how good a consumer you are. 'Be a good little capitalist subject and spend some money on the add break and you can have the next half in 4k'.
UHD over standard HD is a nice improvement, HDR with that is a great big cherry on top, then watching that on an OLED TV is just the whole thing smothered in loveliness.
I can't watch SD now though. 🤣
Apple TV has some stunning UHD HDR stuff.
Oh and iPlayer, UHD any of the Attenborough world/planet stuff.
World Cup on iPlayer in UHD is excellent as is Frozen Planet, The English, Tokyo Vice.
iPlayer will ask you which format you want to watch in if it’s available in UHD.
Hmmmm. My 65 inch Sky Glass should be Ultra HD….. 300mb broadband and the TV is wired directly into the router…..does not look HD never mind Ultra frigging HD. Proper unimpressed.
That's because you bought a crappy Sky Glass telly unfortunately.
I have no basis for this other than that I've heard they aren't great
My brother works for the BBC and was heavily involved in the project when they started setting up UHD
AndyA who once frequented this very forum was also heavily involved. He hasn’t adjusted my TV settings though.
W00dster
You are paying for the uhd pack I assume?
Not the best TV for your $$$
Coincidentally, this just popped up in a newsletter.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/rd/blog/2022-11-low-latency-live-streaming
Was expecting thread to be much more milky milky.
