The Ultra HD Alliance — an industry consortium made up of many Hollywood studios, consumer electronics companies and other stakeholders — has completed its Ultra HD Premium specification for content delivery devices such as streaming media players, set-top boxes and desktop PCs. The alliance anticipates product testing and licensing to begin in early fall, enabling consumer electronics manufacturers to display the certification logo on their products.
The spec and log program was initially started to establish consistency among Ultra HD TVs, computer monitors and Ultra HD Blu-ray players.
“With 4K UHD TV shipments increasing by 42 percent, to 81 million in 2017, the one constant in a continually and rapidly changing content delivery environment is the consumer demand for a premium content experience regardless of the delivery platform,” UHD Alliance chairman and Warner Bros. vp technology Michael Zink said in a statement. “To that end, whether they are viewing content delivered by a disc player, cable or satellite box, or a streaming media player, they can look for the Ultra HD Premium logo to identify products that deliver a premium experience in 4K UHD with HDR.”
The alliance also reported that it is broadening its mission to include monitoring and improving interoperability among product categories.The organization has already conducted an initial review of interoperability issues raised by consumers. Further, the group is stepping up its consumer education efforts.
