Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/147928
Ultra HD "The more you can see, the more you can do" – Jon Peddie, 1989 Well, we're about to see more, a whole lot more – in fact, four times (4X) more –than what we can see now on the best HD screens. Today's screens tickle our retinas with two million pixels. Tomorrow's 4k screens will blast 8.3 million pixels. Pixels so sharp and so clear, you'll think you could walk into the display. The name "4k" has already taken hold in our supersophisticated vocabulary; and we like things short and easy to say. However, last October, the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) unanimously agreed on the term "ultra high definition" because they like bigger names. They'll let you shorten it to "ultra HD." Sony, however, said thanks but no thanks: We'll call ours "4k UHD." You and I will call them "4k." The term "4k" is a slight exaggeration. The resolution is actually 3840 × 2160 (8.3 megapixels). But the "4" in 4K is the key because a 4k display shows four times as many pixels as an HD display, so you go from 2 to 8.3 megapixels (Mpix). remaining yield issues." He adds, "Fundamentally, an 84-inch [screen] costs them little more than four 42-inch full HD. A 55-inch costs little more than four 27-inch HD monitor panels. There's a bit more processing and some more driver chips, but only a little more." However, Raymond Soneira of DisplayMate Technologies, thinks it is visually pointless to get a 4k display that is only 50 inches, because with 20/20 vision, you would need to watch from 39 inches (or less) to resolve the 4k pixels (www.displaymate.com/news. html#7). Since almost no one (in the US) has a living room TV with a viewing distance of less than seven feet, an 80-inch diagonal is about the smallest 4k TV that makes visual sense. At SID, both LG and Samsung showed 84- to 85-inch 4k TVs. But Soneira agrees that it is a bit different when there is digitally generated fine text and graphics rather than TV, video, and photographic images because the eye can visually detect more subtle differences with precise pixel layouts and Bigger, Better 4K becomes the new high-fidelity visualization enabler By Jon Peddie Transitioning to 4k moves everything up. The new displays, whether for computer monitors, TVs, or signage, are not going to be small. A "small" 4k display will be 31 inches (there is a Japanesemade, nine-inch 4k display, and LGD will launch 23.8-inch 4k LCD monitor panels shortly). The data rates to feed these monsters at 120 hz is enormous: at 120 hz, you have a gigahertz pixel rate. That's not a problem for today's GPUs – even a smartphone can drive a 4k screen. But, the input to 4k screens is HDMI, and the current version, HDMI 1.4b, can only support 4k at 30 hz. We should start seeing the first 4k displays running at 60/120 hz next year with HDMI 2.0. Think of putting three 4k screens of up to 50 inches on three adjacent walls, with their bezels touching, to create a CAVE. I'm really excited about the prospects of 4k for a CAVE and other advanced visualization systems. Imagine, if you will, playing Stalker or Metro 2033 in an immersive 130-inch wraparound (88 inches per side), 24.8 Mpix (3 x 3,840 x 2,160) environment. Now, imagine doing it in stereo 3D. Far-fetched? In 2013, maybe. In 2015, for companies and universities – totally believable. 4k displays will be available from 31 inches to 85 inches or larger. Display Expert Bob Raikes of research firm Meko contends that for LCD makers, 4k at larger sizes is basically free "once they have solved 56 ■ CGW Ju l y / Au g u s t 2 0 1 3 structures. And with computer monitors and multimedia displays, people are more likely to move or walk up to the displays to more closely examine and even study the image content. Content is Key The other issue usually brought up when discussing 4k is, where is the content? The answer seems to rest with the Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA). The BDA, as part of its ongoing responsibility to maintain Blu-ray Disc as the premium platform for watching movies and other content at home, established a task force last year to study a range of possible format extensions, including those that potentially enable 4k content playback on Blu-ray. Through the first quarter of this year, the task force solicited and received numerous proposals, and is now evaluating the various technologies. To that end, Mark Fihn, publisher of Veritas et Visus, contends Bluray 4k will come faster than the original Blu-ray, for several reasons: n The BDA will do everything possible to avoid another format war, as they did with HD-DVD. If the BDA doesn't implement a 4k standard soon, it runs the risk of an expensive format war. That could still happen if the China market adopts 4k quickly, as many expect.