Video sharing platform Vimeo will now let its paying "Pro" members, as well as those selling videos on the platform, deliver 4K/Ultra HD versions of their content via download.
Vimeo, which has long served as a boutique video platform alternative to YouTube, preferred by professional film and TV creators, is shying away, for now, from offering 4K streams.
Speaking to GigaOm, Vimeo CTO Andrew Pile said there simply aren't enough streaming devices--and displays--deployed in the market right now to justify a 4K streaming product.
So why is Vimeo offering 4K downloads? And why does this matter to pay-TV denizens?
Pile says that a growing number of Vimeo's content pros are using high-end Red cameras and shooting their work in the super-high-resolution format. Rather than transcode this video down to lower-resolution HD, as it had been doing, Vimeo has decided to keep it as is and begin stockpiling 4K content.
In other words, the dearth of 4K content, which has helped slow the development of the Ultra HD marketplace, may be ebbing.
For more:
- read this Vimeo blog post
- read this GigaOm story
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