G+_Michael Wettach Posted November 7, 2015 Share Posted November 7, 2015 Mobile phone screen resolution seems to be a recurring topic in All About Android. And indeed, who needs a 4k screen on a mobile phone? Jason Howell invariably will point out the use case of putting your phone into virtual reality gear with magnifying lenses. I would suggest that this use case might not be the most frequent (as of yet) and would like to point out another use case that has not been discussed in the show: screen casting. My Samsung Note 3 has a HD screen that can be cast either via Samsung's own software on any Samsung HD TV or via Google Chromecast on any TV with a HD input. Both methods do not require an app to support screen casting, as they allow the complete phone screen to be cast, regardless of the app that is currently running. So I can cast Amazon video on TVs that do not run the corresponding app, for example. In my experience it is very helpful that my phone has the exact same screen resolution as the TV, because then there is no quality degradation from upscaling or downscaling. Perhaps you can already see where I am going with this. As 4k TVs are going to be more widespread, the necessity will increase for (a) 4k content, e. g. mobile phones that shoot 4k video and (b) 4k screen casting without quality degradation from upscaling or downscaling. For the moment, I am satisfied with my TV's and my phone's HD screen. In the future, I can see myself and other people buying phones with 4k screens, just because this will correspond with their TV screen resolution. Even today there may already be screen cast devices and corresponding apps in the market that support 4k (Microsoft with Miracast for surface tablets and the Xmedex Xtreme console seem to support this, for example). If not, they will appear soon. Maybe even Chromecast might get updated to 4k sometime? Until then, I will not need a 4k screen on my mobile phone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Nick Del Grande Posted November 7, 2015 Share Posted November 7, 2015 The 6 and 6p have 2K not 4K screens. Just FYI. I have a Samsung curved 4K TV as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Michael Wettach Posted November 7, 2015 Author Share Posted November 7, 2015 The Xperia Z5 does have it and commentators do not take very favourably to it (http://www.cnet.com/news/phones-with-ultra-high-resolution-4k-screens-are-serious-overkill/). The Cnet article even mentions 4k TVs but fails to see the screen casting use case. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Nick Del Grande Posted November 7, 2015 Share Posted November 7, 2015 I have all the apps I need built into my TV. Plex, Amazon Video, Netflix (with great looking 4K streaming content). I don't see a need to cast anything with my Samsung 4K TV. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Michael Wettach Posted November 7, 2015 Author Share Posted November 7, 2015 Yes, that is the flaw in my argument. 4k TVs will be equipped with most of the things you want to watch anyway. What about casting your phone's 4k photos and videos? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Michael Wettach Posted November 7, 2015 Author Share Posted November 7, 2015 And maybe your phone's gameplay? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Nick Del Grande Posted November 7, 2015 Share Posted November 7, 2015 Michael Wettach? that is a good point. But I host all my content from my phone/home videos on my Plex server. I don't know if it supports 4K playback yet but it will. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Michael Wettach Posted November 7, 2015 Author Share Posted November 7, 2015 But in the future you might be able to take your Chromecast dongle and your mobile phone when visiting your friends and relatives and cast to their 4k TV, even though they are not connected to your Plex server. I wanted to add casting in hotels as a use case, but I suspect it will take some time until 4k TV in hotels is widespread. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Nick Del Grande Posted November 7, 2015 Share Posted November 7, 2015 All my friends have access to my Plex server. LOL. But not my personal home videos. Good point again. Does the Chromecast even support 4K? I thought it maxed out at 1080P/60 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Michael Wettach Posted November 7, 2015 Author Share Posted November 7, 2015 No, Chromecast doesn't support 4k as of today. That is what I was hoping for in my original post. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Nick Del Grande Posted November 7, 2015 Share Posted November 7, 2015 I was wondering why the new Chromecast doesn't support 4K. It was the perfect time to add it. I guess adding the dual band radio and 4K playback would have put them over their $35 price. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Michael Wettach Posted November 7, 2015 Author Share Posted November 7, 2015 There may also be issues concerning WLAN connectivity. Not everybody has the router in the same room with the TV. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Nick Del Grande Posted November 7, 2015 Share Posted November 7, 2015 I stream 4K through 3 walls using the built-in WiFi on my Samsung 4K TV. Netflix needs at least 25 Mbps but this should drop as we move to h.265 encoded video. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Nick Del Grande Posted November 7, 2015 Share Posted November 7, 2015 I do have a Netgear Nighthawk which is one of the best routers available. That helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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