Consumers are often getting very few additional visual benefits from buying ultra-HD TVs for their living rooms, scientists at the University of Cambridge and Meta have said.
The human eye naturally has a resolution limit beyond which a higher resolution screen offers no discernible benefits. Typically, the distance from the screen determines whether having a higher pixel density is worthwhile or not.
While consumers are often bombarded with technical information from manufacturers when buying a new TV – such as whether full HD, 4K or 8K offers them the best viewing experience – the latest study finds that the improved specs often do not yield the claimed benefits.
To calculate the resolution limit, the researchers measured participants’ ability to detect specific features in colour and greyscale images on a screen, whether looking at the images straight on or through their peripheral vision, and when the screen was close to them or further away.
While the precise resolution limit differed...