SMAA sucks in motion (as do FXAA, MLAA...). It is galaxies away from the quality of SSAA.
As for 4K:
I've said it already and I'll say it again - 4K is useless for gaming right now. Give us way better graphics first with all those fine details, and then eventually 4K. The visual difference between 4K and 1080p is negligible, and the performance could be spent for so much better graphics via better illumination, massive tessellation, particle physics. Those visual effects would stand out 100x times more than 4K.
I've posted the data a ton of times as well so I agree with you. quadrupling the resolution will not add the same effects as other things we could do in games. All it does is provide a massive toll on the GPU.
CNET was also upset about the 4K display rise. Instead of getting displays with better contrast, brightness, black levels, motion, etc. we're getting 4 times the resolution, which is negligible at best to 1080p. I agree, we needed the other resolution jumps, but this one is hitting a point where it will be extremely hard to notice and will bring GPUs to their knees.
However, 4K displays will help NVidia and AMD push enthusiasts to spend more on GPUs to power them so I am guessing the industry will power ahead to ensure this is in games.
"Purchase 3 "Titan 2" in SLI configuration and run Crysis 4 at 4K resolution! Starting as a bundle deal for only $4,000" - Nvidia
So true, and I'd be willing to wager this is exactly what'll happen over the next couple of years. 3D looks to me like it's flopped so something else is needed to spur a new wave of TV replacements. 4K is probably the next step in that cycle. Do have to admit, a 4K set really does look damned fine with an appropriate source. Watched part of a movie at one of the ATL Fry's while eating lunch and the picture was stunning.
Clearly not too much a HDTV whore but uh, there are TONS of things they could add to "spur" people to purchase TVs. There is always a new "tech term". They just chose 4K. They could have chosen OLED, or OLED + Curved screens. 4K or UltraHD though probably sounded the best though.
A lot of it has to do with how things can be marketed/sold to the public. LED doesn't produce a superior picture quality to Plasma, but LED is brighter, stands out better in a showroom, and is thus easier to sell. This is straight from employees at Best Buy since I was having a chat with them while picking up my TV.
Out of all available innovations, 4K has been proven to show that it isn't discernible to the naked eye in the average users use of a TV. You'd have to be sitting extremely close, to an extremely large TV, to notice the benefits (6 feet to a 70-80 inch HDTV). Since very few people do this (I sit about 7-8 feet), it's just a marketing ploy. But it'll work so that's what we will see.