Special Report by Patrick Avenell
Django Unchained, Argo, Skyfall and Lincoln — four blockbusters from 2012 filmed in Ultra High Definition (also known as Ultra HD, UHD and 4K).
Although the first Ultra HD TVs were only released by LG and Sony in late 2012, the film industry was already using commercial 4K cameras to record movies at 3,840 x 2,160 — four times the resolution of Full HD — and had been for a number of years.
And when you watch native 4K content on an Ultra HD TV, the vision is unmatched. The clarity of James Bond falling from a Turkish bridge, gliding across the water to a Macau casino and defending his Scottish home are vivid, immersive and addictive. The improvement from Full HD to Ultra HD is significantly better than the jump from HD to Full HD that was experienced in the 2000s.
At the turn of 2013, there were only two Ultra HD TV models on the Australian market, and both were more expensive than a late model Mazda.
Now at the turn of winter, there are more brands releasing Ultra HD TVs, in more screen sizes, at much more affordable prices.
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Samsung has joined LG and Sony at the premium end, while Hisense, TCL and Changhong represent the emerging Chinese powerhouses at a level, perhaps surprisingly, only slightly below the high end. Although it showcased a revolutionary 4K OLED TV at the CES, Panasonic is not expected to launch an Ultra HD model in Australia this year.
Be it Full HD, 3D or Smart features, the content at launch for TV technology is sparse, a point acknowledged by the company most invested in 4K technology, Sony.
“As is the case with new technology, with past examples including CD, DVD and Blu-ray, there is very little content available when these platforms launch,” home entertainment marketing manager Hass Mahdi. “It simply isn’t possible to launch a new content ecosystem and have all the content available on day one.”
Phillip Anderson, head of PR at rival brand LG Electronics, used similar examples when addressing this issue.
“Whilst at this stage Ultra HD is in its infancy, the amount of content available for viewing is starting to grow, as are the products to play back Ultra HD content,” he said. “As with any new technology that enters the market, new content will follow and technology will continue to advance with it. As when Blu-ray was introduced, it will only be a matter of time before content is readily available for all.”
Critical mass in content and the delivery of content is vital for Ultra HD to avoid becoming as ho-hum as 3D TV. In addition to films, images captured on most modern digital cameras are 4K, and soon personal 4K video cameras will be released (Sony demonstrated a prototype model at CES).
Rather than focus on dedicated 4K Players, more weight is being given to content streaming over the internet.
“HEVC and XAVC codecs have recently been ratified, which makes 4K bit rate requirements much more manageable than one would think,” Mahdi said. “You could stream 4K through a home cable internet connection today and the NBN will only accelerate this ability across the nation, so distribution can be wide reaching quickly.”
High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) is the more robust successor to H.264/MPEG-4, one of the most popular codecs for high definition video, having been used for YouTube, iTunes and many cable TV broadcasts. XAVC is Sony’s own codec, available to other suppliers under licence, and it can support 4K resolution at up to 60 frames per second.
These codecs will form the basis of the native 4K content, which will grow in volume as the technology filters in to what Sony likes to call an ecosystem.
“Sony offers an end-to-end 4K ecosystem,” Mahdi said. “We have been at the forefront of the 4K technology development, leveraging our extensive history in professional imaging to develop professional cameras, such as the F65, to produce 4K content; commercial 4K projectors for movie cinemas; as well as 4K home cinema projectors, 4K capable receivers, and now 4K TVs.”
Despite these achievements, Mahdi knows retailers have to be at the forefront of communication.
“In-store displays should be designed to showcase the superior picture quality 4K technology offers,” he said.
“It’s important to educate customers on 4K technology and the immersive large screen home entertainment experience it provides.”
This is a rare point that brings unity between Sony and Samsung, as Brad Wright, director of AV at the Korean supplier explained.
“Retailers must be passionate about the UHD technology and its uses,” Wright said. “They must also be more educated than the consumer; they need to know everything about the UHD technology and everything that it brings.
“Retailers must evangelise the technology, they must explain why UHD is great technology for those who want great display and design.”
While a retailer should be more knowledgeable than the consumer, in order to answer the technical questions, LG’s Phillip Anderson believes a fine display area that lets the TV speak for itself and a simple message about its capabilities can be effective.
“Staff should be aware that Ultra HD TV presents a whole new level of picture quality, boasting definition four times higher than Full HD, providing an incredibly vivid and crisp picture, even when viewed from close distances.
“Essentially, there are four times as many pixels as Full HD TV. It will thoroughly satisfy the viewer with flawless detail, lifting the standard of visual display.”
Through its various guises, Sony has invested a lot more money in 4K content than any other suppliers — understandable considering none of them own movie studios. Rather than promote Ultra HD content, Wright is enthusiastic about Samsung’s upscaling technology.
“With UHD TVs, it is imperative that the product has sophisticated upscaling technology to be able to show content on the huge screens at high quality,” he said. “Samsung Australia has been working with various content providers in Australia to ensure when content is upscaled to UHD it is stunning.
“This is thanks to Samsung’s proprietary upscaling engine and its algorithms.”
These content partners include Foxtel, Quickflix, BigPond Movies and Yahoo!7, though upscale availability will vary.
Normally when a new TV technology is released, the Chinese brands are a few months behind. With Ultra HD, that gap has closed considerably. Andre Iannuzzi, marketing manager at Hisense Australia, said it was “fantastic” to be launching new technology concurrent with the Japanese and Korean brands, especially at this juncture.
“Ultra HD is expected to usher in a new era of profitability in the television category as users continue to take up larger size televisions,” he said. “From an industry perspective, It’s not a mystery that it is well needed and highly anticipated.
“As an industry, it’s an opportunity to present a much higher specced new technology in that larger size segment, which is the fastest growing size segment in Australia.”
When asked how he would like retailers to describe Ultra HD to inquisitive consumers, Iannuzzi flipped the question on its head.
“Hopefully the customer won’t actually have to ask,” he said. “It really comes down to how the product is presented in stores. If it does have to be explained, it comes back to the basics in TVs, which is picture quality — all the research tells us that is what customers care about most.”
Samsung and LG’s new Ultra HD TVs were launched locally last month. Sony is launching its range this month. We asked Iannuzzi how far behind the Chinese brands would be.
“The reality is that we’ve noticed that the gap is closing,” he said. “A lot of industry players have noticed this and it presents a massive opportunity for emerging brands — the technology gap is closing but there is space for a lot of different competitors in the market.”
Read about the various 2013 TV ranges through these links:
Launch of LG Ultra HD and Curved OLED proves brand is 'category captain'
'Catering for everybody': Pricing and availability on Samsung's new TV range
Hisense launching two Ultra HD models, rolling out JB Hi-Fi displays
A version of this article first appeared in Appliance Retailer magazine.