Seiki has announced their 65” SE65UY04 4k TV will ship in December. As it should, the Ultra HD TV holds a resolution of 3,840 x 2,160, and refresh rate of 120Hz at 1080p resolution. But where the set falls short is lack of HDMI 2.0 support. As a result, the HDMI 1.4 will only provide 30Hz on 4k signals. That frame-rate might be fine for television broadcasts, but for high frame rate video games and Blu-ray you’d probably want to switch the set to 1080p.
The 65” set doesn’t come with any bells and whistles, other than a digital/analog channel tuner, and USB port for displaying photos. It doesn’t appear the 4k TV will support 3D, Smart TV, or come with built-in Wi-Fi. Of course, the price of the 65” set is the biggest bell Seiki can ring. At $2,999 the SE65UY04 falls far below Panasonic’s just-released 65-inch WT600 at $5,999, Sony’s new 65-inch XBR-65X850A at $4,999, and LG’s new 65-inch LA9650 also priced at $4,999.
“It’s no secret that the Seiki brand is the price leader in the 4K Ultra HD category,” said Frank Kendzora, executive VP, Tongfang Global, Inc., for Seiki Digital.
Seiki turned heads this past summer when they released two price-busting 4k TV models at MSRPs considerably lower than what were market standards. The 39” SE39UY04 4k TV carries list price of $699, and the SE50UY04 4k TV a list of $1,999 (reduced from $1,499). However, the models lack many of the features expected of higher-end sets these days such as aforementioned Smart TV capabilities, 3D compatibility, and built-in Wi-Fi.
To Seiki’s credit, the company offers a one-year “no nonsense” replacement warranty through U.S.-based technical support.
Seiki also has a 55” model 4k Ultra HD TV planned for release soon.
[Editor’s note. Apologies for referring to “Seiki” as “Seiko”]
Please correct the brand name … it’s SEIKI.