With all the fuss and bother over 4K televisions as the *new* new standard at last week’s CE Week,I was actually quite bored by this latest in the resolution revolution. Sure, all those massive TV’s LOOK phenomenal, but the current problem here is they all fall under the “bigger is best!” and “early adopters will indeed pay MORE for this new technology!” categories more than doing anything actually revolutionary.
That’s right folks, you’ll need a room the size of a small classroom and above and an entire wall or equivalent floor space for these door and door plus sized higher-def sets that come in at thousands to tens of thousands of dollars. If that’s not enough to keep the folks with small apartments and smaller wallets away in droves, there’s not a single 4K ready program out there to watch, meaning you’re buying into a TV that’s TOO good for what you’ll probably be watching. Yes, I’m sure that high-high def TV programming is on the way, but you all KNOW it’s going to be a reality show cavalcade and more sports (and if you’re spending that much on a TV and not season tickets… um… oh, nevermind)…
Don’t get me wrong – the image quality on every set I saw was phenomenal and I had to admit that had I the space and funds, I’d probably dive right in feet first just for gaming purposes and to check out my current blu-rays to see if I could notice whatever benefits upscaling had. Then again, I’m not that discriminating video guy other than demanding that black are blacks and not shades of greyish or blob-like darkness found in off-brand and some major HD sets. Other than assorted internet functions that basically turn your TV into a wall-sized facebook page or super-crowded screen full of apps, none of these new and expensive sets seemed to offer anything game changing other than bigger screens and nothing to do with them but engage in the usual passive viewer behavior. However, as soon as I walked around to the Westinghouse booth and saw their new 84″ LED 4K Interactive Whiteboard being displayed, my head nearly spun itself off in amazement.
(thank you,MyTVcollection!)
You can DRAW directly on the screen. If you’re thinking or saying out loud “And?”, guess what – you’ll catch on eventually (I think). As my brain was whirling around from all the artistic applications of such a device, one of the reps started in with his pitch about how the TV is “a high quality alternative to projectors in many government, educations and corporate settings” and I was really wishing he was thinking as far outside of the box as I was…
Depending on the mood you’re in, The Man With Two Brains will either be the dumbest movie you ever saw or you’ll be laughing so much that you’ll need to rewind some scenes a few times just to take them in and make sure your eyes were functioning properly. Of course, the truth is the film actually slides between both ends of that particular scale and pretty much doesn’t care whether you get every joke it throws at you.
"DESTROY ALL FANBOYS!" 