I don't know if the world is ready, but the first ever four thousand pixel monitor is here. With it's 31.5 inches, Ultra HD, and features four-times the resolution of the HD TV we have in our homes, does the price of $3,500 sound shocking? This figure is the introductory pre-order rate before it comes out July 16th, and we could only hope (expect) it to lower as months go by. So why and who would purchase this bad boy? Well, from the gist I got from various web threads on the topic, the masses are saying “No thank you”.

But did I mention how jaw droppingly awesome it is? With the Ultra HD display killing it with a 3840 by 2160 pixels (that's 140 per inch) 10-bit RGB panel (meaning a billion colors), and LED backlit! Imagine the color depth you would experience, full of vibrancy, and with 176-degree wide viewing angles on both planes, the shift in color is minimal; while the perfect ratio of brightness and gray-to-gray transition ensures smooth, naturally responding hues.

Can pixels even be this small? Yep and its due to the cutting-edge use of Indium Gallium Zinc Oxide (IGZO) that the ASUS PQ32 uses. The package also contains built-in stereo speakers, a 3.5mm audio jack , HMDI inputs and more. Consumers from the U.S. can pre-order from Newegg, TigerDirect and Amazon. What is the main problem with all of this, you ask? 4K is so new, content is not going to be easily available, so is buying the monitor even realistic?

Yet, there is Sony to save the day. During CES last April Sony revealed their 4K media player and video service compatible with the 4K TV sets (hooray!). Just a few days ago Sony announced their player would cost consumers $699 dollars. So wait, that is 3.5 thousand, plus 700 more just to use the TV? Do I even need to be sarcastic here to express how unaffordable that is? This price range isn't realistic for most of society. It feels like the very beginning of the LCD and Plasma TV era all over again; meaning far too expensive, at least at the beginning.

To top it all off Sony is rumored to release a new Android Phone capable of capturing images with its 20 megapixel video camera. The aim is to catch that Ultra HD video with 4X the resolution your regular TV has. Code-named “Honami”, Sony has not confirmed this device even exists yet. While on the topic I could not help but mention this phone could basically record within the same 4K dimensions the new ASUS PQ32 can display. With all that in mind, it is certainly a fact that 4 thousand pixels is better than the standard 1080, but what is most definitely not fact is that consumers are willing to spend anything close to the money to experience it.