Why ultra high-definition TVs are about to take off

by Peter Nowak newscientist.com

Firms like Netflix and YouTube have all announced support for 4K –- the next generation of high-definition TV



High-definition TV delivered the crispest picture we had ever seen, from breathtaking nature footage to the wrinkles on Brad Pitt's face. That's nothing – the next TV you buy will be four times as sharp.

After years of gimmicky innovations such as 3D, gesture recognition and on-screen apps, ultra high-definition is finally a technology that could take off.

Ultra high-definition is also known as 4K, which refers to the 3840-pixel horizontal resolution of the screens – in other words, nearly 4000. This is four times the 1080-pixel resolution of current high-definition screens, and creates much finer detail and greater texture. Even close up the picture doesn't pixelate.

Kevin Spacey's on board

Most major manufacturers, including Sony, Samsung and LG, already have 4K products on the way. More important to the technology's uptake will be the fact that a host of content producers and distributors are lining up to support it as well. Until now there has not been enough 4K content to make it a realistic proposition. Normal HD content looks terrible on 4K screens.

"This is a natural evolution," says Joris Evers at Netflix. The online streaming service announced at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last week that all its original programmes are being produced in 4K. The second season of the Kevin Spacey drama House of Cards, for example, will be available on 14 February in 4K.

YouTube demonstrated 4K streaming at the show and Sony announced that its Video Unlimited download service is now stocked with 140 movies in 4K.

Prices for 4K TVs are falling, which manufacturers say will encourage uptake. "The price gap between full HD and UHD will be less than 10 per cent by the end of this year," says Samsung co-CEO Boo-Keun Yoon.

Crippling the internet

But there are still major obstacles to overcome. One of these is internet bandwidth limitations. While higher-capacity Blu-ray discs that can hold the bigger 4K video files are on the horizon, digital distribution is the only way to access content at the moment.

Consumers will need faster connection speeds and more generous monthly usage limits. Netflix's 4K streams, for example, require a constant connection of at least 15 megabits per second – that's about seven gigabytes of usage per hour.

Google is hoping to remedy that with its announcement of VP9, a video encoding standard that aims to cut bandwidth requirements in half. The royalty-free VP9 is very attractive to anyone pushing 4K, which is why many manufacturers are building it into their upcoming hardware.

"If you want to watch 4K without crippling the internet, this is the way to do it," says Google's Matt McLernon.

Bigger is better

The big question is whether consumers will see a big enough difference to rush out and buy a 4K TV. The higher resolution is most noticeable on larger screens, but not everyone has the space for one. Samsung's smallest 4K screen is 55 inches. "It's unrealistic in a lot of living rooms and out of range for a lot of wallets," says Frank Gillett, an analyst at Gartner.

That may be why the Consumer Electronics Association has modest expectations for 4K in the short term, predicting only about 60,000 sets will be sold in the US this year. However, it expects that eventually, all TVs sold will be 4K. That will happen within five years, says Evers.