Article
My Comments
Sony are working towards making the 4K ultra-high-definition TV technology become mainstream and breaking the “chicken-and-egg” situation that endangers this technology through some differing efforts.
One effort is to offer a 55” 4K UHDTV set for US$4999. You may think that this high resolution is good for sets with screen sizes of at least 70” but offering a set with a very high pixel density may also bring through the high-pixel-density issue that has been occurring with computers through to the main lounge room.
Similarly, they are fielding a hard-disk media player which is loaded with a selection of Sony Pictures movies mastered to 4K to be available for people who buy or own the Sony 4K UHD TV sets. They are also working on a paid content service which most likely will work with the Internet. Of course, I am not sure what business models will apply when it comes to distributing the content.
This is even though Sony are on a good wicket with use of the 4K technology in movie production, such as transfering 35mm cine-camera footage to 4K digital movie files for digital post-production or using 4K digital masters for digital film distribution. As well, 4K UHDTV could legitimise the need for next-gen broadband as the content is primarily distributed through Internet-hosted methods.
Personally, I would find that the 4K technology could be assisted through the availability of a broadcast technology for traditional “scheduled-content” viewing, the ability to deliver the content in a hard-copy form on cost-effective media like optical discs to satisfy collecting or gift-giving; as well as the IP-based streamed or download delivery mechanisms.
