Leading consumer electronics brands Samsung, Panasonic, LG, Sony and Sharp have teamed up with content creators including Netflix, Warner Bros, Twentieth Century Fox, Walt Disney Studios to create the UHD Alliance, which is intended to standardise the creation of 4K content for the benefit of end users.
Also joining the alliance are Dolby, DIRECTV and Technicolor.
“The UHD Alliance was created with the consumer in mind; it provides information on premium Ultra HD content and devices to deliver best-in-class home entertainment,” the UHD Alliance said in a statement.
“The Alliance is also focused on helping consumers benefit from a seamless, integrated and high-quality Ultra HD ecosystem from end-to-end. Premium Ultra HD content and devices will be clearly identified so consumers can easily recognise them in-store.”
By forming this alliance, the major TV manufacturers can work closely with leading studios and technical services companies to move swiftly in providing Ultra HD content to help sell 4K TVs to consumers. Although the new release Ultra HD TVs are stunning to look at, even if the content is merely being upscaled, the lack of significant native content has been an obstacle to growth in the inchoate period since its mainstream release. Having the forward-thinking and populist streaming service Netflix, which is already producing original content in 4K, on board is a major boon for the alliance.
“The UHD Alliance aims to ensure that all of the links in the chain – from the production, distribution and consumption of content to the playback capability of devices – meet the identified premium quality standards, whilst embracing standards that are open and allow flexibility in the market yet give consumers confidence that they can watch the content they want on their devices,” the Alliance said. “In the coming months, the group will convene to outline a technology roadmap for the rapid evolution of UHD technology, worldwide.”