Samsung, Sony and Panasonic are rivals with divergent strengths and philosophies. But they’re united in their resolve to get the 4K bandwagon rolling toward Main Street in 2014. The three CE industry leaders are confident that early adopters will soon cozy up to the huge screens and immerse themselves in a brave new world of hyperrealistic imagery. Since commercial content for 4K TV is in short supply, imaging industry leaders are reaching out to photographers and videographers with a new generation of 4K-compatible cameras and camcorders that allow consumers to generate their own personal content and display it on ultra high-def screens.
Cost, Content and Connectivity
To move into the mass market, 4K TV must overcome three obstacles: cost, content and connectivity. With price tags ranging from thousands to tens of thousands of dollars, cost is a high hurdle. Ben Arnold, director of Industry Analysis for The NPD Group, does not see 4K becoming the primary TV technology any time soon, and he thinks that manufacturers “must refocus buyers from value (most screen size for least amount of dollars) to features and technology as a purchase motivator.” Arnold says, “The industry will be watching very closely [to see] how adoption grows, how the technology becomes more affordable, and [how it] filters down to smaller screen sizes.”
Arnold also stresses the need for more 4K content, without which UHD TVs are like Formula One race cars stuck in the slow lane. “Content availability and the ease with which consumers can find it will play an important part in determining 4K’s future,” he explains. “I expect it will take some time before content is broadcast in 4K. But YouTube has been supporting 4K for a while, and Netflix is planning to stream content in 4K. Sony, as well, has used their large content assets to promote 4K.”
Arnold also believes that consumers may step into the 4K content gap and start creating their own. “We expect there to be a lot of new 4K TV owners this holiday season,” he says, “and the ability to showcase all the personal content (photos, videos) we are amassing in the highest quality on the biggest screen possible is a feature that is beginning to resonate. The key is [to make] that feature uncomplicated and wireless.”
Sony: My Life in 4K
Sony, which views itself as an entertainment company, not just a consumer electronics manufacturer, has enormous assets on the content side of 4K. In addition to its rich history with 4K cameras and projectors in the film industry, Sony also owns an ever-expanding archive of movies recorded in 4K, and the company plans to make them available to 4K TV owners (for a fee) via its Internet-connected 4K media player and 4K/3D Blu-ray players.
Even Sony believes that empowering consumers to create their own 4K content is the key to mass-market success. Kelly Davis, vice president of Product Marketing at Sony Electronics, says “4K has been prominent in our TV business this year, and we expect it to become more prevalent in many facets of consumer electronics, including cameras, tablets and mobile devices. But the whole reason that people want to put video on TVs or other devices is to share it. In the past, content has been mostly commercial. Once it becomes personal, things get interesting. There’s an emotional connection. It’s my life in 4K. That’s the story we’ll try to tell in 2014.”
To create the product ecosystem that allows consumers to generate their own 4K content, Sony introduced the first 4K camcorder for consumers. The AX1 ($4,499.99) uses the same processor employed in Sony’s professional models, and it can record movies at 60 frames per second at the camcorder’s full resolution for smooth and sharp playback on UHD TVs.
“As 4K comes more into the consumer price band for imaging,” says Kelly Davis, “I think it will start becoming the de facto standard for good quality in video.”
Sony also had Christmas presents for still photographers. “In the last 30 days,” adds Davis, “we’ve announced three cameras that have native 4K output. They’re the only cameras that you can actually connect to your TV via HDMI and play 4K images without having to convert them. We think this will be a feature that customers look for as they start to create their 4K ecosystem in the home.”
As for the appearance of fine photography on 4K TVs, Davis says, “Seeing is believing. You can see the blades of grass or the dust in the air and the color reproduction is amazing. The natural gradation of color improves dramatically as viewing resolution rises. You can really tell the difference.”
Commentators agree. Media watcher John Archer writes, “Having so many pixels of detail greatly boosts the potential draw distance of pictures, giving them a much more profound sense of depth than you get with 2K. So much so that many viewers feel like 4K Ultra HD images are 3D, even when they’re not.”
The next step for Sony and the rest of the industry is to connect 4K devices without wires. “Throwing images from camera to TV wirelessly will be important because consumers are so used to doing that,” adds Davis. “When they can easily share without wires, the world of 4K imaging will really start to meld together and become a true consumer behavior.” sony.com
Samsung: Gearing Up for Growth
Samsung may not have Sony’s wealth of 4K content, but the kingpin of global television is well positioned to tackle the cost and connectivity barriers that limit the appeal of UHD TV.
“As in recent years, the technology will be a center piece of the company’s presence at the 2014 CES,” says Ron Gazzola, Samsung America’s vice president of Marketing for Digital Imaging. ‘‘Projections indicate that sales volume is expected to grow nearly 14 times that of 2013 as UHD television enters its second year in the market.”
Samsung’s advantages in UHD TV start, but by no means end, with the sheer size and skill of its mass production facilities, which may give the company an edge in expanding the market by driving prices down.
Mobile connectivity is another strength of Samsung, the world leader in mobile phones. Ron Gazzola points to “Samsung’s integrated product ecosystem, including its line of connected televisions, mobile products, cameras and PCs [that] already offer a number of ways to enjoy photo and video content across a variety of platforms, including direct sharing from the camera via Wi-Fi to UHD televisions in the living room.”
Samsung’s imaging division sees big opportunities in the current scarcity of commercial 4K content. When owners of 3D TVs were confronted with a similar content gap, Samsung empowered them to create their own content with innovative cameras equipped with 2D/3D lenses.
“The hyperrealistic images made possible by UHD technology serve as a perfect springboard for Samsung’s growing digital imaging business,” adds Ron Gazzola. samsung.com
Panasonic: 4K and Hybrid Photography
Panasonic has to be nimble to compete in 4K against powerful rivals like Samsung and Sony. Defying the conventional wisdom that 4K looks best on big screens measuring 55 inches or more, Panasonic is also thinking small.
The company has scooped the industry by starting to ship the world’s first 20-inch, touch-screen tablet with 2K/4K resolution. The Toughpad 4K UT-MB5 tablet is designed for professionals in fields where visual clarity and collaboration are essential to productivity, such as photography, video production, architecture and design.
“The tablet should be very useful for people who want to edit 4K content in a computer environment,” says Jake Hirose, Panasonic’s vice president of Imaging/Home Entertainment. “It’s portable enough for professional photographers to bring out on location wherever they shoot photos or video. It’s also great for portfolio review, something photographers can use to show clients stills or video, instead of a printed portfolio.”
Panasonic has a unique take on Ultra High-Def, which it views as part of a larger transition in digital imaging. “We think the future direction of pro and consumer photography is that anytime you take stills, you can also record high-quality video and audio,” says Hirose. “We call that hybrid photography. With conventional DSLRs, that’s daunting, there’s a fear factor, even for pros. But mirrorless cameras, which we introduced, make it easy. A growing number of people are shooting stills and video, mixing them together in very short vignettes, and posting them all over social media.”
Panasonic’s Lumix DMC-GH3 is designed for hybrid photography, with the ability to shoot 16 meg stills and a touch-focus system for video. It’s not a 4K device, but according to DPReview, “it puts the highest quality footage currently available at this price within reach of anyone with even a passing interest in video.”
“It’s become a super easy tool for photographers to enter the world of video and build their business,” adds Hirose. “If you’re in front of a church recording the groom and suddenly see the bride entering the church door in the background, with the touch of a finger you can move the focal point to her. You can capture stills just by pressing a button. You can do both jobs at once. That’s hybrid photography, the wave of the future.” panasonic.com
