CES 2015

SeeQVault technology will make it possible to download Ultra High Definition (4K) and High Definition movies from your UltraViolet library and other sources. Currently you can only download standard definition copies of movies in an Ultraviolet library. Having your own digital copy of movies you have purchased guarantees that a title will be available regardless of online licensing for that title. (Ultraviolet’s terms state that it is possible a title you own may not be available in the future.)

SeeQVault is a copyright technology developed by NSM Initiatives LLC, a consortium formed by Panasonic, Samsung, Sony, and Toshiba. Movies and TV shows online, or those recorded to a DVR, can be encrypted in the SeeQVault digital rights management format, which can be saved to flash drive-based media—hard drives, USB flash drives, and micro or standard SD cards. The drive can be connected to a SeeQVault-enabled TV or micro SD card inserted into Android smartphones, and tablets with the SeeQVault app, which can read and play the movie.

SeeQVault is not only for downloading digital movies. Already in use in Japan, TV shows recorded on a DVR can be transferred to a drive or SD card to view on mobile devices or played on other TVs. TV shows saved to extended DVR storage hard drives have previously been limited to viewing on the connected DVR. The SeeQVault format can be read by enabled TVs making it possible to connect the DVR hard drive directly to a TV and play your recorded shows.

It remains to be seen whether SeeQVault will be adopted as the new DRM (digital rights management) format for high definition and UHD. A number of products have been licensed with the technology, so keep an eye out for news about when they are released.