Ultra high definition television (also
known as Ultra HD television or UHDTV)
includes 4K UHD (2160p) and 8K UHD (4320p), which are two digital videoformats proposed
by NHK Science &
Technology Research Laboratories and
defined and approved by the International
Telecommunication Union (ITU).
The Consumer Electronics
Association announced on October
17, 2012, that "Ultra High-Definition", or "Ultra HD",
would be used for displays that have anaspect
ratio of at least 16:9 and at least one
digital input capable of carrying and presenting native video at a minimum
resolution .
A
television priced at Rs 27 lakh? Yes. Manufacturers like Sony, Samsung and LG
believe India is ready to be developed as a market for high-end ultra high
definition (UHD) sets with demand for bigger screen sizes expected to grow.Recently
these companies have introduced their range of UHD televisions which are priced
between Rs 17 lakh and Rs 27 lakh with screen sizes of 84 inches and 85 inches,
hoping that they would be able to create a niche segment and get more margins
from these high-end products."Now, customer demands for even bigger screen
sizes, upwards of 55 inch. For these kinds of large screen sizes, HD is
actually not good enough to experience the best picture quality," Sony
India General Manager, Marketing Tadato Kimura said. Therefore, it was inevitable
to create a better technology to cater to this kind of demand and to complete
the large screen experience (with UHD technology), he added.The manufacturers
are clear that they will be catering to a select set of customers with the UHD
products, which have been also launched worldwide only recently. "Ultra HD
TVs are a niche segment....In our opinion, the customer of ultra HD TVs is a
pioneer who understands the technology, and seeks the unique experience the
product delivers," LG India Marketing Head-Home Entertainment Rishi Tandon
said. Expressing similar sentiments, Samsung India Senior VP-Consumer
Electronics Atul Jain said: "It is a new technology which is being
introduced in the Indian and the global markets. So in many ways, we are
creating the market in India at this moment." The UHD TVs have better
pixel resolution quality, four times than normal HD TVs, with richer and more
saturated colors in much bigger screen size, although they are priced at a
premium. At present the biggest screen size that Sony and LG sell in normal HD
TVs is 65 inch 3D TVs in the price range of Rs 3.60 lakh to Rs 3.75 lakh.
Samsung offers up to 75 inch HD TV for Rs 7.50 lakh. While 4K television technology promises
dazzling visuals — providing four times the resolution of current 1080p HD —
for the near future it will remain a luxury item well beyond the reach of
mainstream consumers. Sony Electronics on Monday began taking preorders of its
$699 4K Ultra HD Media Player, preloaded with 10 titles from Sony Pictures Entertainment
with more titles skedded to become available in the fall. Consumers who have
purchased Sony’s X900A 4K Ultra HD TVs, priced at $5,000 or $25,000 depending
on screen size, will receive a $200 introductory discount — but no matter how
you slice it, it’s a high entry point for getting the latest and greatest tech.
The
company announced the 4K video service at CES 2013, as
part of launching its first 4K Ultra HD television models.The FMP-X1
media player is available to order at the Sony Store online and other participating online retailers.
Company says the unit will arrive in customers’ homes by July 15, when it also
will be available at retail.The 10 titles that will be bundled with the 4K
player — which Sony says has an estimated value of $300 — are: “The Amazing
Spider-Man,” “Bad Teacher,” “The Karate Kid” featuring Jackie Chan and Jaden
Smith, “The Other Guys,” “Battle: Los Angeles,” “That’s My Boy,” “Salt,” “Total
Recall 2012,” “Taxi Driver” and “The Bridge on the River Kwai.” In early fall,
Sony plans to launch Video Unlimited 4K, which will provide more feature films,
TV episodes and a variety of short-form video in native 4K format. Company did
not disclose outside studio partners for Video Unlimited 4K. Downloads of
feature film titles as 24-hour rentals or for purchase will start from $7.99
and $29.99, respectively. Sony, in an effort to make Ultra HD more affordable,
introduced 55- and 65-inch 4K models priced at $5,000. But 4K’s benefits are
negligible on smaller screens, and the top-of-the-line 84-inch unit costs a
cool 25 grand. “Due to the shape of the human eye, viewers who are unable to
purchase larger (4K Ultra HD) TVs might have to sit so close to their
screens that it may be difficult to actually seen ‘enough’ of the picture,
which seems to defeat the purpose of upgrading,” Bernstein Research
analysts wrote in a report last week. The FMP-X1 has a hard drive capacity of 2
terabytes; video is output in 2160p (3840 by 2160 pixels). The 4.8-pound
disc-shaped device measures 9.8 x 2.1 x 9.8 inches.For the content on the
service, Sony is using 4K encoders from EyeIO but isn’t divulging details of
the compression rate for its 4K video. However, according to Sony, the 10
movies will take up about 400 gigabytes total on the FMP-X1, or an average of
40 GB per pic.Sony said it will provide in-home premium service activation on
qualifying X900A TVs free of charge, which will ensure compatibility of the TV
with the 4K Ultra HD Media Player. Consumers can visit 4kactivation.com to
check if their Sony 4K Ultra HD TV qualifies for this free service.Ultra-high definition TV is on track to
become a mass-market proposition by 2017, according to Vassilis Seferidis,
Director, European Business Development, Samsung Electronics.Speaking at the
Futuresource Entertainment Summit 2013 in London, Seferidis based his
prediction on the take-up of high definition since its introduction. He noted
that major operators had launched HD services when penetration of HD sets had
reached the order of five per cent.“Our estimation is that ultra-high
definition will become mainstream by the year 2017. The question is whether
operators will wait for penetration to reach this five per cent level before
introducing channels. There are good indications that will start earlier as
well.” He noted that a number of operators such as Sky Deutschland were already
experimenting with U-HD production, describing it as “the natural next step”
for resolution.“Ultra-high definition is a market that’s going to happen,
basically driven by consumer demand, but also by operators and manufacturers,
who want to differentiate their products,” he asserted, advising that there was
an eight-year window of opportunity to grow this market to mainstream. “We
expect this will happen by 2017.”
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