Samsung predicts UHD will be mainstream by 2017 (1 Viewer)

[Kevin Collins]

Will you have a UHDTV by 2017? Samsung thinks so.... They might be one of the few TV manufacturers left standing though...

At Futuresource Entertainment Summit yesterday, Vassilis Seferidis, Director of European Business Development, Samsung, cited consumer demand for ever-larger screens as the main driver behind the future uptake of the format, given that bigger screens will need better pictures.

Seferidis provided graphs showing the penetration of HD television sets in various European markets when Pay TV operators first launched HDTV into those territories. The trigger point was when around 5% of homes had an HD-capable set. He thinks the ability to upscale HD efficiently on new, larger screens, will encourage the uptake of the new generation of displays in anticipation of the UHD content arriving in volume. “We expect UHD to become mainstream by 2017,” he confirmed.

I guess I'm still not quite sure if there will be wide spread 4K content by 2017 and if there isn't how an upconverted picture = better picture. Going from SD/PAL to HDTV was pretty impressive because there was 1902x1080 content on optical disc, cable, satellite and OTA.

Maybe someone can help me out here, but has anyone heard of anyone that is going to broadcast or produce 4K content in any meaningful quantity? The way we got to 1920x1080 in the US was because the government got involved. That was about a 10+ yr process of defining the standard for HDTV broadcasting. I don't see the US government getting involved in defining standards for 4K transmissions or new spectrum for it.

Who's getting a 4K TV by 2017? If prices are where HDTV prices are today, I might be game for one assuming that picture quality (i.e. black levels, color accuracy and refresh rates) are all at a better level than today's run of the mill HDTV.

 

[PaulGo]

By 2017 the price differential between 1080p sets and 4K sets will be probably be negligible. Larger sets will only be offered in 4K resolution so buyers won't have a choice. From my observation of the Sony 4K TVs at Best Buy, while the picture quality is excellent at normal viewing distances you really can't see much (if any) improvement. With newer compression codecs $4K will be possible on cable and Blu-ray.

 

[schan1269]

Of course this was three years ago...The current digital transmission is said to be locked in for the next 75 years.OTA, in its present form, can't even support 1080P. And 4k would require every newscast to buy new cameras...again.I don't think so. This is going to be disc based. Maybe VOD. I seriously doubt this country is going to roll out enough infrastructure to support streamed 4k.

 

[FoxyMulder]

I think Japan is going to be broadcasting some 4K content as of next year and have also tested 8K with an eye to the future.

 

[PaulGo]

Comcast recently demoed 4K. I agree VOD would be the best method inititially and maybe one or two cable channels. The key for expansion would be backward compatibility where 4K broadcasts could also be viewed on 1080p sets. I don't see broadcasters adopting the 4K standard until they have they backward compatibility plus advanced codecs so it can fit in the same broadcast space.

 

[Kevin Collins]

Comcast recently demoed 4K. I agree VOD would be the best method inititially and maybe one or two cable channels. The key for expansion would be backward compatibility where 4K broadcasts could also be viewed on 1080p sets. I don't see broadcasters adopting the 4K standard until they have they backward compatibility plus advanced codecs so it can fit in the same broadcast space.

It would still require new chipsets in devices to receive 4K. Having Comcast roll out entirely new STB's doesn't seem like something that they would necessarily be interested in doing. Look at how 3D rolled out for anything but Blu-ray disc? It didn't and DirectTV stopped broadcasting in it.

 

[Kevin Collins]

By 2017 the price differential between 1080p sets and 4K sets will be probably be negligible. Larger sets will only be offered in 4K resolution so buyers won't have a choice. From my observation of the Sony 4K TVs at Best Buy, while the picture quality is excellent at normal viewing distances you really can't see much (if any) improvement. With newer compression codecs $4K will be possible on cable and Blu-ray.

That doesn't mean that there will be native 4K content to consume.... For the same reasons that you list, and what is true from the human eyes ability to detect resolution, viewers would need to be with ~1x the width of monitor to see the resolution difference. So, assume you have a 80" 4K flat screen. Are you normally going to be ~7' from it?

 

[FoxyMulder]

That doesn't mean that there will be native 4K content to consume.... For the same reasons that you list, and what is true from the human eyes ability to detect resolution, viewers would need to be with ~1x the width of monitor to see the resolution difference. So, assume you have a 80" 4K flat screen. Are you normally going to be ~7' from it?

Yeah about 7 feet sounds right for me but i disagree that we won't see the difference at longer distances, i suspect if you were to put a 4K television in a room, lets say a 60 inch since i think those are the initial sizes which will sell well, let's put it in a room and sit ten feet away, let's add another 1080p television and have the same seating distance, let's put The Hobbit at native 4K content on that 4K TV and The Hobbit native 1080p content on the other TV, i suspect a lot of home theater enthusiasts will certainly see a difference, the question is will the general public.

 

[PaulGo]

That doesn't mean that there will be native 4K content to consume.... For the same reasons that you list, and what is true from the human eyes ability to detect resolution, viewers would need to be with ~1x the width of monitor to see the resolution difference. So, assume you have a 80" 4K flat screen. Are you normally going to be ~7' from it?

You will only have native 4K if a majority of sets that consumers own is 4K and the cable outlet needs it to stay competitive with the competition. Comcast now has one 3D channel (plus ESPN 3D which is going away at the end of the year) plus 3D VOD. I see this as a model for 4K.

 

[schan1269]

Maybe we'll see...

VOD mastered in 4K....before we'll see real 4k

And yes, that is mocking Sony