Ultra HDTV is a new display technology that may be ahead of its time. There is little doubt that most LCDs eventually will move to this technology, but for now, its high price and limited applications are going to keep it out of reach of most people, and that includes government.

The standard for any large format display today is 1080p, otherwise known as full HD. That means that there are 1,080 pixels running vertically up the screen and 1,920 pixels going across in a typical 16:9 ratio LCD monitor. For monitors whose primary job is to display video or graphical information, the 1080p resolution looks really good. Pixilation is only visible a few inches from the screen and mostly seen, not surprisingly, in text display.

There are two types of UHDTV, the 4X and the 8X variety. The 4X models have started to make it to the market in very limited quantities, while the 8X is still being tweaked. In the 4X UHDTV, the number of pixels running lengthwise across the screen is increased to 3,840 pixels, and the vertical is bumped up to 2,160 pixels — meaning there are four times as many pixels on the screen as with the 1080p models, hence the 4X designation.

Now, having more pixels on a standard desktop screen won’t necessarily look four times better to most people who don’t need that clarity anyway. But higher resolutions allow for larger screens. And larger screens mean higher prices: An 84-inch UHDTV right now from LG Electronics costs a cool $20,000, putting it out of reach for agencies.

Keep reading…