Article
NBN clears the way for 4K video
My Comments
The CES 2013 in Las Vegas that occurred in early January was used as a showground for 4K ultra-high-definition TVs. These sets could upscale content from the regular-definition and high-definition content that comes from TV broadcasts, DVDss / Blu-Rays and other sources. Similarly there were a significant number of 4K-capable camcorders pitched at personal and “prosumer” users being pitched at this same show.
But the big question that was raised was how to deliver the video content that is natively ultra-high-definition to the people who bought these sets? Recently a satellite-delivered 4K channel as delivered as a proof-of-concept in Europe. As well, Sony demonstrated a BD-ROM / hard-disk content distribution system for this video resolution.
The standards bearers in the broadcasting and consumer-electronics space have called standards for optical-disc “packaged content” or broadcast-television distribution for this 4K content yet. But they are working on a universal AV compression standard for 4K to transfer via cable broadband systems.
What I see of with 4K UHDTV is that it could work hand in glove with next-gen broadband infrastructures like NBN, Gigaclear and other fibre-to-the-premises setups as this article proposed. Here, it could work with a multicast infrastructure for traditional scheduled-broadcast content or with regular QoS-assisted unicast setups for video-on-demand content.
I also see that the the higher bandwidths that fibre-to-the-premises broadband services would need to be present to customers who sign up to the 4K IPTV services so as to achieve an ideal viewing experience.
Of course, this year will show what can be offered for this ultra-high-definition video technology especially when it comes to content delivery rather than just the many screens out there.
