Toshiba Announces 4K HDTVs, Pricing Starts At $5000

3D HDTVs didn't have a very successful run, but the television industry as a whole sure hopes that 4K HDTVs have better luck. The same technology that has wowed movie-goers in select, higher-end cinemas is headed to living rooms across the world soon. Toshiba announced the L9300U Series of 4K Ultra HD TVs will be available for purchase in the U.S. this August, starting at $4,999 MSRP for the 58-inch model.

Powered by Toshiba's proprietary CEVO 4K Quad+Dual Core Processor, L9300U Series TVs deliver the highest quality 4K image processing, including Resolution Restoration to restore clean near 4K image quality from less than 4K content, Color Gamut Enhancement to create color intensity that matches the resolution impact and Surface Brilliance Enhancement that brings images to life like never before.

"While the content creators work to create more 4K content and figure out how to distribute it, consumers can still enjoy the clearer, more natural and lifelike images on a 4K Ultra HD TV," said Scott Ramirez, vice president of product marketing and development, Visual Products, Toshiba America Information Systems, Digital Products Division. "This year, consumers can enjoy Blu-ray Discs with near 4K resolution thanks to powerful upscaling technology; however when choosing a brand, they should choose one that has high-quality processing and proven engineering skill to optimize the 4K experience right, like Toshiba."

The Toshiba L9300U 4K Ultra HD TV Series are scheduled to ship in August 2013.

• 58-inch $4,999 MSRP
• 65-inch $6,999 MSRP
• 84-inch $16,999 MSRP

Not cheap, but far more reasonable than some of the earliest price tags we saw on consumer-centric 4KTVs.