In its latest release, VLC 2.1 gets 4K support. Under highlights, it mentions:
With a new audio core, hardware decoding and encoding, port to mobile platforms, preparation for Ultra-HD video and a special care to support more formats, 2.1 is a major upgrade for VLC.
Sony's 4K Video Store went live today! However, to access it, you'll need to purchase a a $700 media player (Sony FMP-X1 4K Ultra HD Media Player). It launched with over 70 movies and TV shows and expects that to exceed 100 titles before the end of the year.
Pricing wise, we're seeing TV episodes run for $4, while a movie rental goes for $8. Movie purchases have a rather steep $30 price tag.
The kicker, the media player only works with Sony Ultra HDTVs. Got one of those cheap Seikis? You're SOL. Bummer.
HDMI 2.0 spec is complete and can carry signals up to resolutions of 3840 x 2160 at 60fps, which apparently equates to a bandwidth of 18Gbps.
Compared that to HDMI 1.4, which supports up to 3840 x 2160 at 30fps.
HDMI 2.0 will also support up to 32 audio channels.
What this means is that it can handle UHD4K, but not really UHD8K. We'll probably have to wait for HDMI 3.0 for that, but given that content for 8K won't be commonly available in the short run, we have time.
Acer's Liquid S2 is the first smartphone to hit the market that can record 4K videos. It's equiped with a 6" screen, but only has a resolution of 1080p. So in other words, it can record 4K, but it can't really play back 4K content at its full resolution.
According to The Verge and Twice, both Samsung and Sony have cut $1000 off a couple models of their 4K TVs. The Samsung UN55F9000 55" UHDTV will now cost $4500 and the UN65F900 65" UHDTV will cost $6000. Sony on the other hand has lowered the XBR-55X900A 55" UHDTV to $4000 and XBR-65X900A 65" UHDTV to $5500.
Consumer interest hasn't really been picking up yet for UHDTVs, but that's mainly because there's very little content out there that utilizes the screen. Sony has promised to bring about streamable 4K content, but so far we haven't seen much.
Reviews on these 4 models has ranged from decent to good.
Price wise, they're still a lot more expensive than the incoming Seiki brand (which offers 4K HDTVs for under $2000).
4K content has already been popping up on YouTube. Although YouTube doesn't officially list 4K as one of its officially supported resolutions, you can easily do a search for 4K content:
After you start playing a video, make sure click on the little gear icon (quality selector) and select Original:
Although YouTube quality isn't the best and can be highly compressed, it's still one of the best sources for 4K content out there today.
With ESPN and BBC all giving up on 3D, it seems like 3DTVs are just a passing fad. I've personally never enjoyed 3D movies all that much and more often than not, give me headaches. I've not saying 3D has no place in art or movies. I'm very interested to see how the Oculus Rift will turn out as that seems a much better application for 3D. These days people are sticking 3D into every movie just so they can charge $5 more per movie ticket.
Now that 3D has officially lost its touch, TV manufactures are looking for the new "feature" to sell high end TVs. Many feel that UHD is the new "gimmick" and that 1080p is good enough for video. However, I would ask if those if they've ever seen a retina screen on an iPhone or iPad. The quality and detail those displays provide always blow me away and it gets painful when I stare at a non-retina screen.
Difficult to say if UHD will become a passing fad like 3D or become a requirement of any new TV purchased, but I personally think the biggest factor will probably be content. If content providers and create UHD-worthy content, just like what HD video has done for HDTVs, UHD will most likely stay.
HEVC (High Efficiency Video Coding) also known as H.265 is a video compression standard that is being pushed as the successor of H.264. The creators are claiming half the file size at the same level of video quality and can support 8K UHD (upto 8192x4320).
Many are claiming that in order for UHD to survive, it'll need to adopt and push for HEVC. While it's true H.264 can only support upto 4K currently and only at the highest profile with limited support, that's far from saying that UHD needs HEVC to survive. It'd be interesting to see if there's any other codecs that will pop out in the mean time.
According to Sankaku Complex, Japan will be broadcasting anime in 4K by the summer of 2014 and in 8K by 2020. The goal is so they can broadcast the 2014 World Cup in 4K.
A couple days ago, RED Digital Cinema's Jim Jannard posted the following article: My Final Post....
It's a very interesting read how the founder of Oakley went to finding RED Digital Cinema, makers of 4K digital recorders that competed against the behemoths of Sony, Arri, and Panavision. What RED did was make affordable quality digital recorders that is updatable and upgradable.
Some recent blockbusters that utilize the RED camera include The Amazing Spiderman, The Hobbit, Prometheus, The Great Gatsby, and many more.
The first 4K trailer ever to be released to the public (thanks to HD-Trailers.net) is for Elysium, a Neill Blomkamp (District 9) film that just began airing a week or 2 ago.
Ultra HD TVs are already on sale. Sony, Samsung, and LG all have models available for sale starting at $5000.
Seiki, a new manufacturer, is trying to enter the TV market by selling extremely cheap 4K Ultra HD TVs (starting at $700). However as always with cheap electronics, you have to do research to make sure you aren't buying a lemon. So far reviews have been average, but for the price, you can't really complain.
