3 Important Considerations for Implementing 4K Ultra HD

1. Don’t mistake bigger for better
Every major electronics manufacturer launched their newest and best 4K devices at the recent CES 2013.

Ultra HD is upon us and the images were indeed amazing but have we thought about the transport methods to get such high data rates to so many different devices?

Have we considered visual acuity or what the eye can actually resolve? On a 50-inch panel you need to be about 3 meters away to fully see a 1080P image.

I think as integrators we really need to deliver great performing systems and the key to this is to consider interoperability issues that may arise from the design and utilisation stage.

2. Respect the bandwidth
Convergence is no longer a word we associate with our future. In fact it is more in the past than in the present.

How many of us are integrating control systems and programming computer devices? How many of us really understand how much data 4K Ultra HD consumes and takes to maintain? How much bandwidth is coming to our home?

Most people are getting about 20 Mbps regularly to their houses with many countries now being able to deliver more. What if we take this to the video realm? Ultra HD requires a bandwidth of 8.91 Gb/s. This is well over 400 times the bandwidth of the regular Internet speeds we experience and yet we expect this is possible coming from budget devices.

How much did you pay for your last PC or laptop? How much more are you willing to pay for your Ultra HD Blu-ray player? After all it will be operating at many times the speed of your laptop to output Ultra HD.

As professionals it is our job to notice what is possible (and not possible) with our implementation of cabling and electronics and their limitations with respect to bandwidth.

3. Understand HDMI versions
HDMI 1.4 has now been with us for over a year and offers many features over version 1.3 that it replaced, but how many 1.4 devices launched in 2011 offered Ultra HD?

I think we would be lucky to have seen even a few and yet most devices made since the new specification launched were clearly labeled as HDMI version 1.4.

We need to consider the HDMI spec and the many features it offers merely as options—Ultra HD, Audio return, HDMI Ethernet channel, SACD, 7.1 audio formats and a host of others are optional features.

We are now entering a point, just like cables, where the version numbers don’t matter significantly anymore and all supported features in devices need to be listed. Make sure you fully understand the feature set you are integrating as not all options are included in the version you may be installing.

COURSE DETAILS
Ultra High Definition, 4K Video, Compatibility and HDMI System Design
30 Jan 2013, 1100-1230 (Room: D201)
Speaker:James Chen

Presented by: CEDIA
With High Definition video now firmly entrenched in the home of consumers, and on the spec sheet of almost every TV, how is Ultra High Definition devices going to affect us? The success of Apples Retina displays have shown that consumers want even greater image resolution and a few products are now available boasting 4K video resolution.

This course will discuss the 4K video format itself and how it is different to UHD. We then go on to explore the current state of the market, how 4K might be delivered going forward and the challenges it presents for designers, installers and specifiers of video displays. A review of HDMi as well as how it applies to UHD is included as this is the most common delivery method for domestic products.

Non Member Price: 125 € | Member Price: 95 € | Language: English