4K UHDTV IS COMING!
What is it? How does it work? And what do you need to make sure
Your home is ready to enjoy next-generation video for years to come?
There have been a few major milestones in the developmental history of television. In 1934, Philo Farnsworth gave the world’s first public demonstration of an all-electronic TV, and at the 1939 New York World’s Fair a black and white TV was on display. Fifteen years later, on January 1, 1954, the Tournament of Roses was the first color TV broadcast. In 1993 the Grand Alliance was formed at the FCC’s directive, tasked with developing the next-generation American digital TV specification, and in 1996 the first HDTV broadcast aired. High-definition, 1080p Blu-ray discs debuted in 2006 and 2008 was the year that 3DTV tried to break into the home.
If you have been TV shopping recently, then you are likely aware that we are currently in the dawn of the next great evolution of television technology, Ultra High Definition Television (UHDTV). And if you are shopping for a TV today, buying a non-UHDTV set could be analogous to picking up an old Philco black-and-white model when all the neighbors were getting ready to start enjoying TV “in living color.”
Among other things, UHDTVs feature four-times the resolution of current 1080p sets, providing both twice the vertical and horizontal resolution of current sets. Together these 3840 horizontal and 2160 vertical pixels deliver more than eight million pixels on screen! (These new sets are frequently referred to as 4K, as they have horizontal resolutions of nearly 4,000 pixels. However, according to the Digital Cinema Initiatives, 4K resolution is defined as 4096 x 2160. For simplicity sake, this piece will treat UHDTV resolution as 4K.)
All of this extra resolution adds up to a stunning, lifelike image that is sharper and clearer than looking out any window. You’ll notice little, micro details like never before such as the stitching and scuffs on a baseball, the dimples on a golf ball, and the scratches and pebbled texture on a football.
