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News tagged: HDTV


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Japan this week became the first nation to begin broadcasting in 8K. Japan's NHK is calling its 8K broadcasts "Super Hi-Vision," delivering a resolution of 7,680 x 4,320 pixels -- about sixteen times the resolution of today's full high-definition (FHD) broadcasts and four times that of 4K. According to NHK, the broadcasts, which went live about a week ahead of the Rio Summer Olympics, also feature 22.2-channel surround sound. NHK has launched a satellite channel delivering a mix of 4K and 8K content, and will broadcast a significant portion of the games in 8K. The launch comes as many US cable providers still struggle to offer full quality 1080p HD broadcasts, with only a few even beginning to seriously embrace 4K.

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While 4KTV gets all the hype, many have argued that high dynamic range (HDR) might actually be more important. While 4K ramps up overall resolution, HDR effectively makes your programming darks darker and the brights brighter, increasing the overall realism and texture of the displayed content.

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So far, most cable operators are nowhere close to being able to deliver 4K live streams, and in many areas still haven't been able to offer 1080p streams. But in an interview this week Comcast Cable’s executive vice president of consumer services, Marcien Jenckes, said the cable giant is "ready today" to offer 4K content, and will be releasing a 4K set top box later this year.

Granted there's not a huge rush toward 4K, since most users don't have the 4K/UDH sets (or HDMI 2.0 and HDCP 2.2 capable audio receivers) in place to truly take advantage of it.

"I think like many things, consumer demand will determine how fast 4K and HDR content become pervasive," Jenckes tells TechHive.

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Sure, most broadcasters and cable operators aren't even able to fully deliver content in 1080p, and most consumers have yet to buy even a 4K set, but that's apparently not stopping the industry from hyping 8K broadcasts. Fox Sports and NHK, Japan’s national public broadcasting organization, have been conducting a number of demonstrations of 8K content over the last few weeks.

They've been showing off the higher-resolution fare during the FIFA Women’s World Cup tournament:

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Fox Sports and NHK, Japan’s national public broadcasting organization, are holding invitation-only demos this week and next of live 8K coverage of two tournament match-ups –Japan vs.

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Cablevision clearly hopes that appealing to cord cutters will help set the company apart from its biggest regional competitor, Verizon FiOS. Cablevision was the first cable company to strike a semi-exclusive deal to sell HBO's new HBO Now service, and last week the company announced a suite of new cordcutter broadband promos that include a free HD OTA antenna.

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Fox and Comcast-owned NBC Universal have joined ESPN in claiming that Verizon's new marginally-more-flexible cable bundles violate the broadcasters' existing contracts. ESPN was the first to complain earlier this week that Verizon's new channel options -- which provide a core selection of channels then offers an assortment of $10 channel packs -- isn't allowed under current broadcasting agreements.

Verizon CTO Fran Chammo addressed all the commotion in a roundabout way during the company's earnings call today, implying that its well within its contract rights to offer the service.

"This is a product the consumer wants, it's all about consumer choice," Shammo said. "If you look at TV bundles today, most people on average only watch 17 channels, so this is a way to give consumers what they want on a choice basis, and we believe that we are allowed to offer these packages under our existing contracts, so we'll leave it at that."

Verizon FiOS TV users in our forums don't seem particularly impressed by the new offering, but it's an important sea change all the same. By busting sports channels out of the core cable offering, Verizon's opening the door to letting people who don't care about sports -- not have to pay for sports content -- one of the biggest culprits in terms of soaring cable TV bills.

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Verizon has announced they're shaking up their FiOS TV channel options by offering a "skinny bundle" of TV channels, onto which customers can add a variety of channel packs. The idea is not entirely unlike what SlingTV has started offering, or what Canadian regulators are forcing Canadian TV operators to offer next year.

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As we recently explored in detail ultra HD and 4K is very far from mainstream adoption thanks not only to shifting device standards (from HDR to HDCP 2.2) but because there's really just not that much content available. While Netflix and Amazon are offering some original content in UHD, and a few cable companies like Comcast offer a selection of VOD content in UHD, there's just not enough content to justify the cost of a new set (and the HDCP 2.2 compliant receiver or soundbar you'll need to pass that signal through).

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Airbus Defense and Space has announced that DirecTV's new DirecTV 15 satellite has left the company's cleanrooms in France, and is headed to Kourou for a scheduled launch by Ariane 5 sometime in May. The additional capacity will be used to improve DirecTV's content lineup, including the company's slow-but-steady push toward 4K TV broadcasts. Commercial 4K broadcasts aren't expected until sixty to ninety days after launch, meaning users likely won't see DirecTV's first 4K broadcast offerings until late summer or early fall. DirecTV's CEO has made it clear the failures of 3DTV has the company moving gingerly toward 4K implementation.

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Last week we noted how Canadian regulators were tired of waiting for cable operators to offer more flexible TV pricing options, so they effectively forced a la carte television on the Canadian market. The CRTC's ruling requires that operators offer a core TV package of channels for no more than $25 a month, above which consumers should have the option of adding either standalone channels or "small, reasonably priced" channel packages.

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Most of us either haven't seen the need or lack the cash to jump into 4K TV, but that apparently isn't stopping Netflix from pushing toward 6K content. With a smattering of 4K content already under its belt, The Hollywood Reporter notes that Netflix actually shot the most recent season of "House of Cards" in 6K, which offers roughly 9 times as many pixels as traditional HD. While the company only released the series in 4K, it created 6K archive masters that are roughly 5.5TB for each one-hour episode. Not that my aging 720p television set much cares.

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