A very nice 91-year-old reader called in to ask if she should buy a 4K television set for her bedroom. The problem, she said, is that she suffers from macular degeneration and wants a TV with the sharpest, brightest picture possible. But nothing too large.
The problem was familiar. Back when 1080p television sets were first becoming popular, I struggled to find a 32-inch model and was told at the time that 1080p on a small set was overkill. You might hear similar advice when it comes to 4K in terms of jamming all those pixels into a smaller set.
The smallest 4K model I could find on Amazon is a discontinued 39-inch model from Seika. 40 inches seems to be the typical smallest size for 4K, going up past 100 inches for the big spenders. It may be a matter of serving the people who are actually buying 4K TVs: the sets will typically end up in a living room where larger-sized TVs are the norm.
I told the very kind caller that if it has to be a small set, to get the best 1080p model she can find with the brightest picture available, at least until more modest 4K sizes become available. But if you're willing to leave the label "TV" behind, you can find plenty of computer monitors (which have HDMI inputs and could easily double as a TV) that can display 4K resolutions in those smaller sizes
In this space every week, we'll define a tech term, offer a timely tip or answer questions about technology from readers. Email ogallaga@statesman.com.
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