I don't think there will be anything higher than 1920x1080p even in the distant future (like 20-25 years from now). The overwhelming majority of viewers worldwide live in way too small rooms to make use even of today's top high definition, I don't see any possible way someone to be able to sell them the 1440p or 2160p idea.

http://www.neoseeker.com/news/story/6126/
http://www.cybertheater.com/westinghouse-quad-hdtv-with-2160p/
http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=34288
http://www.audioholics.com/education/display-formats-technology/audioholics-hdmi-1-3-q-a

Now, I know the benefits are small, if any, but when has that stopped people from purchasing something?

What with 1080p and HDMI have we reached resolution nirvanah? Is there 2160p around the corner? If there is more to come will we be able to see any improvement or have we given the human eye all it can handle?

Personally, I look forward to holodecks. :cool:

What with 1080p and HDMI have we reached resolution nirvanah? Is there 2160p around the corner? If there is more to come will we be able to see any improvement or have we given the human eye all it can handle?
A couple of points to consider...

Most TV sets today can at least down-sample a 1920x1080 signal to the TV's native resolution. How many of today's TV sets can downsample a 3840x2160 signal??? Oops. That's right, it would instantly obsolete every HDTV set in the world. I doubt it would fly.
A 3840x2160i signal has 4 times the info of a 1920x1080i signal. The technology is being pushed to its limits to squeeze 1920x1080i into a 6 mhz TV channel. Try imagining what happens to TV spectrum when each channel requires 4 of today's channels. Aint gonna happen.

Very true Walter so if it was to happen it won't be for quite some time. What I am curious about is how much detail can we as people process? Is there any science to show where the plateau is? and if so are we allready there?

There are plenty of scientific studies around the visual acuity of the human eye.

It is generally accepted that 300 dots per inch at one foot (or 1 minuet of an arc) is the acuity of a person with 20/20 vision. 20/20 is considered the norm. If you get glasses they will correct your vision to 20/20.

300 dots per inch at a foot. You can linearly scale this figure for other distances. At 10 feet you can resolve 30 dots per inch. At 100 feet only 3 dots per inch. Test yourself it is easy to make a simple chart. Make a line of evenly sized black and white dots and see for yourself at what distance the dots turn into a gray line. 15 black dots separated by 15 white dots in an inch is 30 dots per inch. Or use a ruler with 16th of an inch divisions ( 16 black marks divided by 16 white spaces about 32 dots per inch, how far away can you still resolve the individual marks? I would bet that at 10 feet they become a gray smear.

Take 2 TV's 1 a 720p set 51 inch diagonal that would be a 44 inch horizontal
At 1280 horizontal pixels , about 29 dots per inch.

At 1080 set 0f the same size has 1920 pixels about 43 dots per inch.

At 10 feet most people can only resolve 30 dots per inch, assuming all other factors are equal, brightness, saturation etc. Do you think there would be much of a difference?

If you move in closer the 1080 set will begin to show more detail. At distances of 10 feet and further both sets will look about the same.

That is the reason some people claim they cannot tell the difference between HD and a standard def. DVD. They usually have a TV that is too small for the distance that they are viewing it at. Or they need to book an appointment with a qualified optometrist and have their vision corrected.

Let's not forget that the transition to HD began about 10 years ago and is not yet finished - many (most?) stations still do not broadcast in HD. I have had my HDTV since April 2004 (5.5 years) and I was not even a very early adopter. In the US the analog shutdown will not be until Feb 2009 - and that date was pushed back several times.

It is going to be a long time before the standard is changed again. Sure many TVs are capable of displaying 1080p signals but that is NOT part of the ATSC broadcast standard. I don't remember hearing anything about the FCC in the US looking into new digital broadcast formats - and it takes years to decide on a new format(s) and years more to actually adopt said standard.