Ultra HD - The reason your new HD TV is already on the way out!

Recently changed to HD? Just bought a nice big flat screen TV and have had all your friends/family and neighbours over to have a look. Well I’m here to tell you it’s old tech and on its way out. Now before you start crying and rue the day you signed that agreement on easy monthly payments for 5 years with high levels of interest! It is ok, its successor has only really just started to emerge on the commercial market and isn’t actually expected to be commercially viable and prevalent in homes before 2015-2020 apart from in China and Korea who are hoping for 2013-14 time frame.

How can HD be Beaten?

What could possibly be better than the “Michelangelo in motion” HD TV sitting in your lounge you must be asking yourself, well it is Ultra HD! Ultra HD I hear you shout how can that be, well I aim to introduce those new to Ultra HD to the world post HD in all its many pixelled glory. Ultra HD has actually been being developed since the early 2000’s and comes in two internationally recognised sizes 4K and 8K, or 3840 × 2160 (2160p) pixels and 7680 × 4320 (4320p) pixels respectively. This means in the case of 8K Ultra HD there 16 times the number of pixels in your current 1080p HD TV! What is the point in extra pixels, well it means greater depth of colour in each part of the picture bringing it ever closer to trying to show the scene exactly as if you were there yourself.

Is it expensive? Where can I buy it?

Why haven’t I heard about this, will they be available to buy? The answer is yes, commercial Ultra HD TV’s have begun to appear from the major companies such as LG, Sony, Toshiba and Sharp. However as this technology is still really only just beginning to enter the market there are the usual problems for early adopters to consider, few models so small amount of choice and highly expensive. How expensive can it really be you ask? Well models starting to become available in the later half of this year in the US market have been around the $20,000 mark! So it is really only for those with far too much money burning a hole in their pocket at the moment.

Can I see Ultra HD anywhere?

Well if you had been in London, Glasgow or Bradford during this summer’s London 2012 Olympic Game’s you would have had the chance to watch some of the world’s finest sports stars compete in Ultra HD, as the BBC put up 15m wide screens showing it. Korea’s major TV networks have said that they will be beginning to trial filming in Ultra HD, so with the BBC the world’s largest broadcaster having already invested and publicly demonstrated it during the Olympics, the rest of the world especially the US and Asian tech giants can’t be far behind the inevitable transition.

Does that mean my DVD’s/Blu Rays etc have had it?

Unfortunately your DVDs won’t be upscaleable currently to Ultra HD but HD video in 1080p or 720 would be able to be brought up to Ultra HD quality. This is much in the same way Videos and VCR player are still useable currently but the quality isn’t as good as on a DVD or really even comparable to HD on a Blu Ray. However don’t despair the first wave of Ultra HD TV’s look to be equipped with HDMI connections so your DVD player and other devices should still be able to connect and be useable.

I hope you enjoyed this brief look at the future of TV tech in the form of Ultra HD. I will probably revisit this topic and write another article once they actually start to be sensible money and available to the masses.

Thanks for reading.

Nosh, Signing Out.  

Links

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultra-high-definition_television

http://www.t3.com/hot100/4k-ultra-hd-kit

http://www.itproportal.com/2012/11/30/lg-releases-23000-84in-ultra-hd-4k-tv-in-the-uk/