We do a lot of U.S. govt contract work, have in the last 6 months seen several mention wanting 4 k, in the question answer period ,we and others ask if 1080p is acceptable...in all cases so far the answer was yes.....so if govco is starting to ask for it...well it will be needed pretty soon... but so far just a buzz word with them, and they probably don't even know what it is.

Many people even have no idea what 4K means. Ask some random people on the street they'll tell you the same.

'HD' means 'sharper' to most, that's about it.

Many clients even don't know how to set the Youtube player to HD while playing.
So 480 res is what most are watching. This goes for Facebook videos too.

HD MP4 files doesn't always play smoothly on laptops and other common underpowered PC's, SD files, Youtube and DVD's are still preferred by most clients.

VMP

I started shooting HD over ten years ago when it became affordable but most distribution was still standard definition. Since then, I've had a number of clients come back and ask about HD and I have cheerfully charged them again for HD versions of their projects. I have also shot a sizeable collection of HD stock footage. I didn't wait for my other clients to request (or demand) HD, I sold them on the idea. Waiting around to be asked seems so passive. Now I'm doing the same thing all over again with 4K.

Of course, this doesn't make much sense if the final product is a TV commercial or a training film with a limited lifespan. I'm going to the Formula One race in Austin this weekend and I'll be shooting 4k exclusively, the client asked for it.

whilst i agree wholeheartedly with your post, i do disagree (politely of course) with HD MP4 files doesn't always play smoothly on laptops and other common underpowered PC's

i have been supplying hd mp4's to a number of govern. depts in 'rural' areas whose pc's should be in museums rather than anywhere else! some of them even have 17" crt's as monitors!!!*

i always give the client the option of file distribution format (usually mp4) and within that three bit rates - hd (@ 8mbs), a low res hd version (@2mbs), and if necessary, 576p (@.95mb). never had any problems with playback.

*many of these old pc's (mainly dual core but the odd p4) don't even have a dvd drive, or even working cd's anymore. they're apparently used for email, very 'limited' web browsing, and teaching word processing in low budget youth centres and the like.

From my own non-scientific observations of watching the TV's going out the door at Best Buy and Costco, it seems that 4K is definitely the bulk of those being sold. Of course, they're future-proofing their purchase. Why buy 1080 when they can get 4K for not much more. But at least they're being proactive about it.

Maybe they buy first then look for content later. Maybe they think SD viewed on 4K will look better. Maybe ...

For most of my project, no 4K yet..., but if you make movie for playback in theatre, you need 4K.... (movie resolution in theater are at least 2.5K)
That's what I heard on my area right now.

Set

Speaking from a very rural area ... while i shoot HD, i don't think any of my usual clients would be able to play back a BluRay, or have any idea how to watch a not-on-disc version other than on youtube or facebook at low-res low bitrate. Almost all my distribution is on SD DVDs, except for the two people who still ask for VHS!!! Yep, i recently had to buy a new VCR so that i could make copies of one project for them.

I did make the offer of giving them DVD players and even coming into their homes to connect them, but the offers were politely refused as they had no interest in learning how to use some newfangled gadget.

Zero interest for 4k here around.

The same amount of those who request 2k, which is ZERO!

They still want SD DVD's.

I hate making those awful things...

I noticed that people buy a real nice BIG HD TV, connect it to an old combo VCR/DVD player using a composite cable and then they wonder why the picture is not any better.

Customer ignorance is a huge problem!

No interest here from the ballet studios/schools. Plain old DVD is what they want. Although one of the ballet studios actually had 40% BluRay this spring.

4k will be much slower to adopt than HD in the USA - HD was sort of "bundled" with the new DIGITAL tuner requirement. Although most TVs sold will be 4k from now on, I feel the content is being rolled out at a slower pace to put in more safeguards against piracy

Zero interest. As in Nada, Null, Gooseggs, Fuggettaboutit. Just like 3-D, another marketing ploy.

Just like 3-D, another marketing ploy.

I doubt that. 3D is may be gone from the homes but 4K will stay. Shops like BestBuy will phase out HD sets in the years to come.

Zero interest here - I'm still pushing 'normal' HD! Amazing the length of life DVD is enjoying.

No interest in 4K here so far, little request for 2K and virtually no interest in Blue Ray.
We shoot in HD but deliver most of our work on DVD, although we're getting an increasing number of requests for delivery on hard drive and flash drives.

Jack

OldSmoke: Perhaps 4K will be common, or maybe it will mostly be a sourcing format.

I do know that back when HDV first appeared, technical reviews discussed that in order to get maximum resolution from a 1/3" imaging chip the lens could not be stopped down more than about f4 or the diffraction artifact would overwhelm the pixel size on the chip. So the implication to me is that a 4K camera would either need a 2/3" imager or a wide-open lens in order to demonstrate 4K resolution. But I really don't know. Are there some good 4K camera reviews where they discuss demonstrated resolution versus HD? I haven't read camera reviews for a few years.

riredale

I own a Sony AX100 and a 65" 4K TV. I did my own tests and the difference between a 4K and HD recording of the same sceene is significant. The AX100 has a 1" sensor with a Carl Zeis lense and there is as good as no diffraction visible; much better then my Z5U or the Canon HF G30 that I had before.

I'll keep an eye open for you (via my TV ....) !

geoff

"I started shooting HD over ten years ago when it became affordable but most distribution was still standard definition. Since then, I've had a number of clients come back and ask about HD and I have cheerfully charged them again for HD versions of their projects. I have also shot a sizeable collection of HD stock footage. I didn't wait for my other clients to request (or demand) HD, I sold them on the idea. Waiting around to be asked seems so passive. Now I'm doing the same thing all over again with 4K."

This is the attitude I like to see. We shouldn't be waiting around for people to ask for it. If we can improve the quality of our visuals, and do it at an equipment cost that is reasonable, then why not? The higher the resolution you shoot with, the better all the copies will look, whether they are Blu-rays, DVD's or thumb drives.

My impression is that people are happy to buy 4k TV's. In fact prices have fallen drastically in the last year. But 4k content is a completely different story. I don't know anyone selling 4k content even if they're filming in 4k.

4K is here to stay, a not insignificant number of the big screen TVs at the local Costco are 4K. You can go back through the old messages here on the forum and see many people saying that HD wasn't going to catch on and that they were going to stay with SD. That sure seems pretty silly and short-sighted now. Better distribution methods are coming, I'd much rather be ahead of the curve and not behind it.