The thing that confuses me most about 4K is, besides BluRay there's nothing out there to max out the potential of our 1080p sets yet. Even BluRays are hit and miss, with major studios putting out half assed transfers that are barely above DVD quality. Our 1080p TV's potential is limited by the current state of HD media services, not the other way around.
Well, 4K is diminishing returns. At the recommended viewing distance your eyes simply can't take all that detail in; see, the actual 1080p screens at the recommended viewing distance are already "retina". (retina being the technical term used by Apple a other competitors for high resolution screens who at the meant distance achieve 300 ppi's. TV's are not to be seen at arms length so truth to be told,
HD is HD or rather it's 300 ppi's when filling the recommended 30/36 degrees of vision.
Hence the proposed 4K video standards actually reduce the quality per macroblock in comparison to regular 2K Bluray, because you sure as hell won't notice (and because bit rate is an expensive thing). And still, it's selling snake oil at this point.
If 4K misses it's target (and I don't think it will, because people are suckers for "extra detail" I mean look at photographic cameras, they value that numeric value over quality; they get closer and they're seeing detail they couldn't see before, and therefore think they could see it from the sofa) I think the next step is trying to change the ratio again, LG and Toshiba are showing a 5K tv's on CES and by 5K we mean 2.37:1. Why? because those cinema movies with bars are 2.39:1 - They might try to sell that next.
8K would be suicidal and aimless.
Don't forget line bleed and buzzing! Buzzing is what caused me to return 3 Panny plasmas. I wish my ears weren't so sensitive to it because otherwise that's what I'd have right now.
I'm trying not to sound like a douche whilst saying this but...
Have you considered looking into insonorisation? There are materials to "kill" sound that is not aimed at you. Buzzing goes from the back (as does fan noise) so it could be reduced by the surface that receives it absorving it rather than reflecting it. If you mount it on the wall you won't even have to cover a big surface, and if you want to go further you could build a depression on the wall (fake wall) and therefore crate a barrier and embed the TV on it, sound from the back would be sealed that way.
I've seen some pretty solid attempts at that, with rotating supporting arms (
like this, but not as flimsy and actually built on a depression), meaning the TV's can still be distanced a little and rotated.
I never had the need to consider it, but controlling the way sound bounces of the walls is a normal thing for enthusiasts to invest on personal cinema rooms. Cinemas, theathers and auditoriums also have that of course.
