I'll have to admit, it's becoming hard to turn around without seeing another article discussing the next resolution format UHDTV. While some seem to merely cover the current upscaling capabilities, FlatpanelsHD has a rather comprehensive article covering some aspects of the new format that I have not seen before this point in time.
"A format war: The internet vs. physical media (Blu-ray)
Soon we can buy impressive Ultra HD TVs for our living rooms. Prices are already starting to plummet, but price is not our biggest concern. Even if Hollywood starts working on 4K versions of catalogue titles the important question is how to get the beautiful pictures into our TVs? We are not talking about where or how to buy the 4K movies but simply how to input the signal into the TV. Right now we have the following issues.
The distribution issue: Blu-ray supports none of the elements of the Ultra HD standard; neither 4K, nor higher fps, nor deeper colors.
The connection issue: HDMI cannot move enough data. The current version of HDMI used in almost every TV can move 4K at 24 fps but not at 48 fps and not with deeper colors. And when you add 3D into the mix it gets even worse.
The data issue: The current compression formats such as MPEG4 H.264 are not effective enough to support Ultra HD.
All three issues have to be solved – simultaneously. There is a new HDMI cable standard in the works that will support at least 4K in up to 60 fps but that looks like a rather shortsighted solution. We must demand more. What about 120 fps, better colors, and 3D? The Blu-ray association has also started work on a 4K version of Blu-ray but it will most likely only support the low-level requirements of Ultra HD – again, a very shortsighted solution. We just replaced our 2D Blu-ray players with 3D Blu-ray players so who wants to buy a 4K Blu-ray player this year and a ”higher 4K” Blu-ray player again in 2-3 years?"
I urge you to read the complete article, which seems to cover about every aspect of UHDTV.
Source: FlatpanelsHD
"A format war: The internet vs. physical media (Blu-ray)
Soon we can buy impressive Ultra HD TVs for our living rooms. Prices are already starting to plummet, but price is not our biggest concern. Even if Hollywood starts working on 4K versions of catalogue titles the important question is how to get the beautiful pictures into our TVs? We are not talking about where or how to buy the 4K movies but simply how to input the signal into the TV. Right now we have the following issues.
The distribution issue: Blu-ray supports none of the elements of the Ultra HD standard; neither 4K, nor higher fps, nor deeper colors.
The connection issue: HDMI cannot move enough data. The current version of HDMI used in almost every TV can move 4K at 24 fps but not at 48 fps and not with deeper colors. And when you add 3D into the mix it gets even worse.
The data issue: The current compression formats such as MPEG4 H.264 are not effective enough to support Ultra HD.
All three issues have to be solved – simultaneously. There is a new HDMI cable standard in the works that will support at least 4K in up to 60 fps but that looks like a rather shortsighted solution. We must demand more. What about 120 fps, better colors, and 3D? The Blu-ray association has also started work on a 4K version of Blu-ray but it will most likely only support the low-level requirements of Ultra HD – again, a very shortsighted solution. We just replaced our 2D Blu-ray players with 3D Blu-ray players so who wants to buy a 4K Blu-ray player this year and a ”higher 4K” Blu-ray player again in 2-3 years?"
I urge you to read the complete article, which seems to cover about every aspect of UHDTV.
Source: FlatpanelsHD
