HD in the Home and Beyond
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The in-flight entertainment community may be touting high definition (HD) resolution screens, but the cutting-edge living room has already advanced to Ultra HD. These screens, also known as 4K, have a resolution of 3840 by 2160 pixels, giving them a fourfold increase in definition over basic HD, which was already a fourfold improvement on standard definition.
Ultra HD televisions first appeared in 2013 at premium prices, such as Sony’s $25,000 84-inch screen, but prices have since dropped considerably, especially with screens now available at sizes as small as 48 inches. As Ultra HD screens become more affordable, new standards are being set for content delivery:
Aside from upscaling HD content, viewers want to see native 4K programs on their new TV sets and there are several ways this will happen.
The Blu-Ray Disc Association has confirmed that work is underway on a 4K extension to create an Ultra HD physical disc delivery format, though there are no players available yet. At present, 4K content is currently accessed by streaming from the Internet, which can be problematic for viewers with bandwidth limits. Sony’s Ultra HD Media Player can be downloaded to a local hard disk system, providing an alternative for those concerned with streaming. When connected to a compatible TV, consumers can access Sony’s Video Unlimited 4K service and their plethora of 4K programs for the home.
Netflix is also serving the 4K demand, leading with the second season of the original series House of Cards on their Ultra HD streaming service. Ultra HD programs are encoded at around 15 megabits per second, more than double what HD uses now. In turn, new 4K TVs from Sony, LG, Vizio, Samsung and others were showcased at the 2014 Consumer Electronics Show featuring improved decoders, capable of displaying Ultra HD programs more efficiently.
It took the latest in video encoding technology, High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC), also known as H.265, to enable 4K streaming to the home. This codec doubles the efficiency of encoding video, economizing Internet bandwidth and storage requirements. New Ultra HD TVs include both HEVC and Google’s open-source video compression VP9 codec, which is used for YouTube 4K. Last year’s TV system offerings did not include the decoders necessary for either of these formats, so owners of 2013 sets are not able to stream these sources without a decoder box, which is not yet available in the consumer market.
Amazon, M-GO and YouTube have announced Ultra HD streaming plans, while Samsung will partner with 20th Century Fox on their Ultra HD content ecosystem. Samsung currently offers an Ultra HD Video Pack hard drive preloaded with multiple 4K movies that can be plugged it into compatible Samsung TVs and watched directly with no need to stream.
With expansive screen sizes and Ultra HD resolution, home viewing now rivals the movie theater experience.
Many cinemas are still operating with 2K projectors, while 4K has been available for more than a year, and tech-savvy moviegoers are recognizing the difference.
If the move from HD to 4K isn’t eye-opening enough, Japan’s official broadcasting corporation, NHK, recently revealed their 8K Super Hi-Vision system (that’s 4K quadrupled!) with broadcast launch anticipated for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.