Are you one of millions of people around the world who have bought a high definition television (HDTV) set? Are you thinking about buying a new television and are unsure if you should buy a HDTV capable set? You may be interested to know that a potential replacement for HDTV is already beginning to make the news rounds. “Ultra-high-definition” is poised to replace current HDTV standards, but not anytime soon.
For a quick review of the various types of televisions currently on the market, including HDTV, check out a blog I wrote about digital television sets.
Ultra-high-definition is still in the conceptual phase, where engineers and designers are tinkering with all sorts of options and possibilities. The time it will take to move from concept to product could be quite a while. It took about 20 years for HDTV to move from concept to actual marketable products, and projections place ultra-high-definition on about the same timeline. So, you have until at least 2025 before your brand new HDTV becomes obsolete.
A Japanese public broadcasting company and research group, called NHK, is promoting ultra-high-definition. Their engineers have developed a prototype ultra-HD television set that is touted to be up to 16 times clearer than today’s HD technology. Also, ultra-HD should be able to use a 24 speaker set-up, compared to today’s surround sound systems that typically use five to seven separate speakers.
Currently, the biggest and best HDTVs can produce 1,080 scanning lines of pixels. Ultra-HD is proposed to have 4,320 scanning lines of pixels. That means that the picture you view may be clear enough to see individual facial hairs and wrinkles on your nightly news anchors. Yikes! Time for a makeover. Also, ultra-HD televisions are proposed to have a 100-degree field of view compared to the typical 30-degree field of view on today’s HDTVs. Thus, you should be able to see the same quality picture no matter where you sit in the room.
While all of this technology is still a few decades away, it is crazy to think that a potential replacement for HDTV is already on the horizon. I’m still struggling to understand this whole HDTV thing and what all the hype is, much less HDTVs replacement. For now, I’ll stick to watching my standard definition TV set and worry about a HDTV when the time is right for me.
For further reading about ultra-high-definition check out a few of these links:
NHK website
New York Times article about ultra-HD video (you may need to register to view)
EETimes article about ultra-HD broadcasts