Seiki 50-inch Breaks the Ultra HDTV Price Barrier

[gadgtfreek]

Link

Less than one week after Sony announced its 55-inch Ultra High Definition TV will retail for $5000, Chinese TV maker Seiki Digital just introduced a 50-inch UHDTV that is street priced at $1299.99. It is available now for purchase. The Seiki UHDTV has an LED LCD edge lit panel with a rated 120 Hz refresh. More details after the break.


The Seiki’s model number is SE50UY04. Screen resolution is 3840 x 2160, four times the HDTV standard. Specifications include 3 HDMI inputs as well as analog RGB. Both types inputs permit the viewing of native UHD content, however it is limited to 24 Hz, 25 Hz (for Europe) and 30 Hz sources (according to their spec sheet). The current HDMI standard does not permit the viewing of content with higher refresh rates and the next generation of HDMI chipsets that will accept higher refresh source material will not be available until later this year.

 

[Ilya]

Great to see such aggressive pricing on early Ultra HD sets!

Looks like Ultra HD may become a reality much sooner than most expected.
If other companies come out with reasonably priced sets, and if Sony (and perhaps others) launch a content distribution service, as promised, I wouldn't be surprised if Ultra HD becomes a hit by this year's holiday season. I didn't expect this to happen until next year.

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[Ilya]

By the way, this $1299 Ultra HD set is already in stock at TigerDirect

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=7674736&Sku=S874-5004

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[dangue]

By the way, this $1299 Ultra HD set is already in stock at TigerDirect

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=7674736&Sku=S874-5004

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This pricing is very unexpected this early. It makes me wonder what sort of margins the manufacturers are making on this set.

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[Ilya]

Sears and H.H.Gregg carry Seiki TV sets, so I guess we will soon see this new set on display.

I wonder if they will have any Ultra HD video source for the demo though.
But even upconverted HD should look pretty impressive.

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[Ilya]

This pricing is very unexpected this early. It makes me wonder what sort of margins the manufacturers are making on this set.

I don't think they worry about the profit margins. Seiki is not a well-known brand. This head start allows them to make the news, achieve the name recognition and become a leader in Ultra HD, if only for a short time. That's a bold move by an underdog!

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[tdti1]

Harsh, the slow pace move on releasing new product/features and pricing structure is basically in place to milk the mass market as much as possible with all new tech and how these places stay in business, even though most have been losing money on the display end for sometime now, these guys doing this is way out of line for the market and the way it works I wonder what will happen?

 

[teachsac]

Who's going to buy one? Jason?

S~

 

[gadgtfreek]

LOL, nope.

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

It only has 3 hdmi ports?

I thought 4k needed 4 HDMI ports to display 4k?

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[mike123abc]

It only has 3 hdmi ports?

I thought 4k needed 4 HDMI ports to display 4k?

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A single HDMI 1.4 can do 4k up to 30fps. Upcoming 2.0 should be able to do 4k at 60fps

 

[tigerfan33]

From reading about 4k it will be very difficult to tell how good this is at only 50 inches.
I would spend money on a good panny or sammy 1080p.
No content available for this tv.

On the good side though this set may be cheaper than a 4k bluray player...... when they arrive.

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

A single HDMI 1.4 can do 4k up to 30fps. Upcoming 2.0 should be able to do 4k at 60fps

I think I remember reading the Red 4K Player needs 4 HDMI ports to work.

 

[teachsac]

The redray uses one 1.4 HDMI output or four 1.3 HDMI outputs. Either or. One 1.3 output for a regular HD displays.

S~

 

[teachsac]

From reading about 4k it will be very difficult to tell how good this is at only 50 inches.
I would spend money on a good panny or sammy 1080p.
No content available for this tv.

On the good side though this set may be cheaper than a 4k bluray player...... when they arrive.

Soon. Sony's 4K player is available this summer for $699 preloaded with 10 titles. They are supposed to have their distribution system up before the holiday season. Hopefully, this will get Red going with their distribution system for the Redray player ($1,599) and get their projector to market (around $10K). Netflix is also planning to have 4K within 2 years.

S~

 

[gadgtfreek]

Im seeing now of course it has no Smart functions or 3D (not a biggie to me), BUT, I've heard it has no calibration adjustments. Thats a no go IMO, even at that price.