4K is here to stay. We’re involved in its development every step of the way, from filming in 4K with our cameras to watching it on our 4K BRAVIA televisions. This is at the heart of our ‘lens to living room’ story. But there are still those who are unconvinced and could do with some reassurance.
Below are some of the questions that we’ve been asked on Facebook and Twitter about 4K, and Mark Whiteman and Gavin McCarron, Sony Europe’s 4K product experts, have joined us to answer them.
I already have a great Full HD TV. Why is 4K better?
4K isn’t just better, it’s four times better. In technical terms, a Full HD display contains 1920 pixels in width and 1080 pixels in height - hence the term 1080p. Compare this to the 3840 x 2160 pixels of a 4K display, and you get an idea of just how much extra detail, sharpness and clarity the picture can deliver.
“It’s just a much more immersive picture that you get,” Gavin tells us. “It draws you into that experience, so whatever you’re watching - whether it’s movies or particularly with sports - you feel more of a part of it because you can just see so much more.”
Is there much 4K content out there for me to watch?
The drive to deliver 4K content is well underway, with Netflix and Amazon Instant Video leading the field in the world of on-demand. There’s already an impressive range of TV shows and movies that you can watch, and both companies have plenty more in the pipeline.
“Both Netflix and Amazon are very committed to 4K,” Gavin says. “Any content that they create themselves they want to create in 4K, which is really exciting. There’s lots of other content as well - there’s enough information in older films that can be repurposed into 4K, and now we’re looking at BT Sport Ultra HD, which is the first broadcast service that’s been launched in 4K so far and has been very well-received.”
In fact, every second on the BT Sport Ultra HD channel is filmed exclusively on our professional Sony 4K cameras. Not many people are aware that we’re also leaders in this 4K broadcasting field, but we’re involved right the way from the lens to the living room.
I recently heard people talking about 8K. Surely this will just take over from 4K in the near future?
Not unless you’ve got enough room in your house for a truly gigantic television. 8K is indeed a technology that is being trialled by cinemas and niche broadcasters, but because of the sheer resolution (8K is comprised of a gargantuan 33 million pixels, 16 times the detail of Full HD), the human eye wouldn’t be able to notice any difference unless they’re watching on a screen that’s at least 84-inches.
What makes Sony 4K TVs stand out from the rest of the competition?
We’ve developed technologies to get every last drop of detail out of what you can see on-screen. The secret weapon inside each of our BRAVIA 4K televisions is the 4K processor X1, which works by enhancing three areas - colour, contrast and clarity - for a picture like no other.
There’s also Triluminos which provides lifelike colour and brings scenes to life, and 4K X-Reality Pro that automatically improves the picture quality so that it’s as close to true 4K quality as possible - this is what we refer to as ‘upscaling’.
"4K X-Reality Pro works in conjunction with the X1 [processor]. The X1 is the gatekeeper for all of those other technologies that we have in the TV. It analyses all of the content coming in, then it will tailor the picture specifically for that piece of content. Then it will give all the information to 4K X-Reality Pro, and that's what will do the upscaling.”
For us, 4K is so much more than just providing better-than-Full HD quality. It’s about enjoying your favourite TV shows and movies exactly as they were intended to be enjoyed by those who worked on it, and each and every one of our Sony BRAVIA 4K TVs is designed to do exactly that.
