The future is 4K, albeit distant

Vaibhav Sharma

Ever so often the tech industry picks a new buzzword and then spends hundreds of thousands of rupees in advertising meant to convince you that you absolutely cannot live without it. We have been hearing of 4K televisions for quite some time now, but as the year chugs along, the marketing cry will only become louder.

But what exactly is 4K? In the popular flavour gaining mass acceptance, it means a resolution of 3,840 pixels (horizontal) x 2,160 pixels (vertical). This is also sometimes referred to as Ultra High Definition (UHD). The basic idea is that greater the number of pixels, the better the detail and clarity of the video. The earlier standard which is widely in use today is ‘Full HD,’ which really implies a resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels. 

  While 4K has been brought into public consciousness by televisions, there really needs to be a whole ecosystem to support it. This means there have to be devices capable of shooting video in that high resolution, displays capable of showing off the video in its full glory, and finally the bottleneck, which is ensuring that the 4K content is seamlessly sent to the display. 

Pocketable tech

While there have been professional cameras capable of capturing 4K video for a while, the technology is slowly permeating to pocketable devices like smartphones now. While some Android phones from the likes of Samsung and LG have supported 4K capture for some time, Apple has recently joined the bandwagon with the iPhone 6S and 6S Plus. Most mid to high-end dedicated pocket cameras also support capturing in 4K. But while it is easier than ever to capture in 4K, storing it is a challenge. One minute of 4K video at 30 frames a second takes almost 375 MB, which is easily more than twice the amount of storage needed for a comparable 1080p video. 

SMART DISPLAY

But now that you have all this amazing 4K footage, it’s no fun if your TV or laptop isn’t even capable of displaying it without downsizing. Most laptops sold these days support the 1080p resolution, and we have only just started seeing 4K laptops appear. Needless to say, they are at the high end of the price spectrum.

The smaller the size of the 4K screen, the more expensive it is going to be. Therefore, it is only when it comes to large-screen televisions that we are starting to see prices of an entry-level unit fall.

While established players like LG and Samsung have 4K options starting at around Rs 60,000, upstarts like Micromax have offerings closer to the Rs 40,000 mark. We can expect further disruption with Chinese players such as Xiaomi expected to enter the market soon. 

Interestingly, most of the smartphones that can capture 4K videos do not sport 4K displays. At the current screen sizes, the trade off between increased battery consumption and the need of greater processing power isn’t worth the extra crispness as the difference isn’t perceptible. Large tablets on the other hand can benefit from the extra pixels, and manufacturers have already moved past 1080p and are inching towards 4K.

CONTENT DELIVERY

While most professional content is shot in 4K, distribution remains a challenge. Current generation Blue-ray discs are 1080p, so even if you want, you cannot buy physical 4K content yet. Things are far more encouraging when it comes to streaming, with YouTube offering a wide selection of 4K content. Services like Netflix have entered India, and offer an increasing catalogue of high-resolution video. But to take advantage of streaming, you must have an extremely fast internet connection with very liberal fair usage caps. Something India doesn’t have a lot of. 

When it comes to set top boxes, players like Tata Sky and Videocon don’t have much in the way of content. None of the major channels broadcast in 4K, and it is usually just sporting events like the Cricket World Cup that can be enjoyed in 4K. However, going forward pay per view content like movies could be offered in this high resolution.

 There is a lot going for 4K in 2016 — the ability to capture in 4K is pilfering to even the mid-range devices, televisions are becoming cheaper all the time, but the content tailback still remains. While investing in a 4K is a safe bet for the future, the only time you could really enjoy 4K is with your own content, or if you like gaming on a high-end rig. 

Here is a fun fact: As we begin to wrap our heads around 4K, companies have already started selling 8K televisions at obscene prices. 4K is no longer the bleeding edge of technology.