news isthatmotion-enhancing features
canbeshutoff(andswitchedbackon for
motion-richcontent likesportsorgaming)
simplybychangingyoursettings.
THECONTENT ISCOMING
Buyinga4KTVnowcanprepareyou
when thefloodgatesopenandallowyou
toenjoy the4Kcontent that’salready
available.ManynewfilmsandsomeTV
showsarenowfilming in the format, and
an increasingamountof4KUHDcontent
— includingvideo,filmandgamingoptions
— isbecomingavailableviastreaming from
companies likeAmazonPrime,Netflix,
UltraFlixandYouTube. (Keep inmind that
tosuccessfullystream4Kvideo, yourTV
willalsoneedanInternetconnectionwith
aspeedofat least20Mbps—UHDmovies
arebigdigitalfiles.)
Netflixbegan4Kstreaming in2014,
and itcurrentlyoffersshows like
House
ofCards
,
BreakingBad
and
TheBlacklist
in the format.AmazonofferspopularTV
shows like
OrphanBlack
,
Transparent
and
thenew
SneakyPete
in4K.Anewcontend-
er,UltraFlix,whichaims toposition itself
as theNetflixof4K,hasanextensive4K
library.And inmid-2015, theBlu-rayDisc
Associationannounced thecompletionof
theUltraHDBlu-rayspecification.New
playersanddiscsshouldbeavailable in
2016 thatwill showfilmsand television
shows inUHDresolution,whilealsopro-
vidinganexpandedcolorrangeandhigh
framerate tokeepupwith today’sfilms.
Sowhetheryoumake themovenow
orwaituntilmorecontent isavailable
andpricesdrop further,4K iscertain to
becomeasubiquitousasHD— the latest
“movingwall” foryourparlor.
MICHAELGOLDSTEIN
, aLosAngeles
journalist, electronicsexpertandplaywright,
attendedhis28thconsecutiveConsumer
ElectronicsShow in2016.
side, theywent foranywhere fromabout
$1,300 to$2,300 forhigh-end,multi-
featuredmodels.)
Does thatmean that largerscreensand
innovativedisplay featureshavemore
consumersupgrading?Notyet.Despite the
growingpopularityof the format, salesof
TVsanddisplayswereprojected tobe$18.3
billion in2015,down2percent from2014.
WHATGIVES?
Partof thereason is thatconsumershave
come toexpectdroppingpricesonelec-
tronicgoods.But theother truth is that the
wall-sizeTVhasencounteredsome tiny
challengers: the tabletand thecellphone.
The“mine’sbigger thanyours”TVarms
raceelicitsacollectiveyawn fromviewers
who increasinglyconsume theirvideoon
theseso-called“secondscreens.”Andwith
consumersso focused
on themobile, there’s
correspondingly less
urgency tobuy the latest
andgreatest4KTV.
WhileBlackFriday,
CyberMondayandpre-
andpost-Christmassales
brought furtherUHD
bargains, they failed
toaddress thebiggest
purchasehurdle: the
lackof4Kcontent.U.S.
TVchannelscurrently
broadcast inhighdefini-
tionat1080i;4KorUHD
broadcasting, especially
of liveevents like the
Olympics,maybeseveral
yearsaway.
Butearlyadopters
haveoptions.Yournew
4KTVwilldisplayall the
HDcontentofferedby
thebroadcast, cableand
satellitenetworks, automaticallyconvert-
ing the imageandfilling thescreen.The
picturecan looksharper,withmoredetail,
particularly ifyousitcloseenough to the
screen tosee thedifference.Our testmodel,
a65-inchSamsung,boastedagreatpicture
withbroadcastandcablecontentandwas
surprisinglysimple tosetupand tooperate
with itsradicallysimplifiedremotecontrol.
Justbeawareof theso-called“soap
operaeffect.”High-definitionTVs include
motion-enhancing featuresthatcanmake
videoseemunnaturallysmooth,as ifshoton
acamcorderwiththegauzyeffectofadream
sequenceonasoapopera.Whenyou look
ata familiarfilmdisplayedonaUHDTVat
retail, thesmoothnessof the imagescanbe
jarring.Someoneevencirculatedapetition
forHDTVmanufacturerstostopmaking
smoothmotionthedefaultsetting.Thegood
TECHNOLOGY
4KORUHD
BROADCASTING,
ESPECIALLYOF
LIVEEVENTS
LIKETHE
OLYMPICS,MAY
BESEVERAL
YEARSAWAY.
AMERICANWAY
FEBRUARY2016
67
PHOTO
THEASAHI SHIMBUN/CONTRIBUTOR
