While the consumer electronics industry works to warm tepid demand for 4K/Ultra HD, it's interesting to remember that the last resolution standard they sold to video consumers, HDTV, is still in its growth phase.
On Friday, Leichtman Research Group published a report showing that HD sets are now in 81 percent of U.S. homes, up from 46 percent five years ago.
This is key for the pay-TV industry--the research company also shows that 89 percent of homes that have an HDTV display also have pay-TV service. Only 69 percent of homes that don't have an HD display subscribe to cable, satellite or IPTV video services.
Leichtman also reports that 52 percent of U.S. homes have more than one HDTV display, compared with 17 percent five years ago. For those homes, the rate of pay-TV adoption is 91 percent.
"While HDTV now seems commonplace in the US, much of the growth of HD has come in recent years," said Bruce Leichtman, president and principal analyst for Leichtman Research Group, Inc. "Over the past five years, more than one-third of all US households got their first HDTV, and HDTV's share of TV sets used in US households grew from about 24 percent to 65 percent."
About 24 percent of U.S. homes have bought a TV in the past 12 months, Leichtman said, adding that 4K/Ultra HD consumer awareness has increased to 41 percent in the U.S., from 30 percent a year ago.
For more:
- read this Leichtman Research report
Related links:
4K/Ultra HD displays will be in nearly half of U.S. living rooms by 2020, research firm says
UHD Alliance coalition already has internal friction, post-CES report reveals
TiVo's Denney on the challenges of interfaces and 4K, and the future of cableCARD
U.S. broadband homes fast enough for 4K up to 19%, Akamai says