Looking for ways to spark consumer interest in 4K/Ultra HD, the consumer electronics and pay-TV industries seem to have an ally in YouTube, which has debuted its latest experimental videos: Not only are they in 4K, but they run at 60 frames per second.
Google-owned (NASDAQ: GOOG) YouTube has sampled 4K video and 60 fps footage on its platform before, but this is the first time that's combined those technologies.
You can see YouTube's 4K, 60 fps playlist here.
It's difficult gauge how much, if any, impact the test will have on consumer interest in Ultra HD. Not only do you need a 4K monitor to experience the resolution, but a reviewer for TheVerge couldn't get the video to stream efficiently with a 300 Mbps Internet connection.
The deployment of 4K/Ultra HD was dealt a potential setback last week with the emergence of a new patent pool, HEVC Advance, which threatens to dig into the pockets of anyone attempting to use the most widely adopted compression standard for 4K video.
HEVC Advance says it represents 500 patents that are "essential" to HEVC.
Speaking to FierceCable, however, Julien Signes, CEO of Envivio, downplayed the impact of the group.
"Patent pools, when they get established, can slow down initial deployments," he said. "But if you review the history of the developments of MPEG-4, and before that MPEG-2, we went through the same phases of posturing and competition among patent holders and different patent pools. History shows that rights ownership issues will always be resolved. No one thinks AVC is not usable today, so there is no reason HEVC can't move forward."
For more:
- read this Engadget story
- read this story from TheVerge
Related links:
Emergence of new HEVC patent pool clouds 4K's future
Forget 4K, HD is in only 44% of the global pay-TV market, study says
4K/Ultra HD displays will be in nearly half of U.S. living rooms by 2020, research firm says
Report: DirecTV plan to go all-HD ahead of schedule