Audio Video News

4K/Ultra HDTVs Abound but What About Content?

SV Staff  |  Apr 18, 2016

Upwards of half of all U.S. households will own a 4K/Ultra HD TV over the next three years, according to research firm Strategy Analytics, which begs the question: How much 4K content will be available?

In a recent MediaPost story, Wayne Friedman writes:

In good news for consumers, those 4K TV sets are about the same price or less than regular HD TV sets of just a few years ago. So from a consumer point of view: Why not? You can now see movies in 4K on streaming services Netflix, Amazon Prime and Vudu, and consumers can now get 4K Blu-ray discs and players.

But the real question is: Are 4K TV networks and content set to explode?

Apart from a few isolated and highly touted efforts from Netflix, Amazon, DirecTV, and Dish Network, traditional TV networks— broadcast and cable—have remained on the sidelines. Maybe it’s a wait-and-see thing. If TV set manufacturers do nothing but make 4K TVs, they’ll have a base of TV consumers established. And then should TV networks/content providers amp up production and distribution, this will go somewhere.

But this will take a hefty amount of production/technological expense—at least when it comes to traditional pay TV transmission, cable, satellite, and telco. And some networks groups are still paying for 3D TV channels they started up—and abandoned a few years ago.

And if and when TV networks do move, the hungry TV set manufacturers may already moved on to something else—including what critics say are real improvements in screen technology, such as OLED.

We can see Netflix is no small player when it comes to the TV ecosystem— over 40 million U.S. subscribers. Maybe if usage of 4K TV on Netflix grows, that will send a signal to TV networks/ providers to expand their horizons.

But consider this: Older technology may have more staying power. Consumers, for example, are holding on to their iPhones longer, according to one report. Why? Maybe there aren’t any really big improvements.

This could be said of the big living-room screen. All to say if TV disruption continues, technological trends might need to take periodic pauses— as the marketplace looks to digest big change.

Tell us what you think. Are you happy with the flow of 4K content? Where do you see it going? Leave a comment.

COMMENTS
Deus02's picture
Submitted by Deus02 on April 19, 2016 - 8:44am

When it comes to movie/tv series content, Netflix is definitely taking the lead here with some of its original production, i.e. Narcos and Marco Polo whose second season apparently is starting this summer. I would expect, as usual, mainstream media would be slow off the mark and behind the curve. Sports is another matter. We saw with the attempt at 3D, the leagues were first to broadcast games in the format and now it seems to be the same with 4K. Live events automatically just look more impressive in the chosen format.

As mentioned on a previous forum, locally, Rogers Communications(Owner of the Toronto Blue Jays)is broadcasting all of the Jays home games this season in 4K and so are the Raptors basketball club going forward. It does make things easier, however, when the owners of both clubs are communication/broadcast companies, and aside from owning the teams, own the sports stations on which they broadcast the games and the facilities in which they play.

dnoonie's picture
Submitted by dnoonie on April 19, 2016 - 8:51pm

I have slow internet, so my interest is in UHD BD content.

I think the 40 to 50 UHD BD titles released so far are a great start! If there are 40 to 50 UHD BD titles released each quarter this year I'll be upgrading probably around thanksgiving this year if I can afford it. Availability of UHD BD title from Netflix is a factor too. I'd get an OPPO for my UHD player and although OLED would be great I'd likely get a high end FALD set to hold me over for a few years till OLED TVs in larger sizes (~75 inch) are affordable to me.

Even though I don't have a UHD TV or player I added The Martian in UHD to my collection.

Cheers,

Traveler's picture
Submitted by Traveler on April 20, 2016 - 2:56pm

There are still networks that don't even have HD streams.

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