The so-called “Ultra High Definition” or 4K TV sets have barely hit store shelves in the U.S. How about the mobile phones?
“One of the key things that mobile does is that it creates a lot of users with the ability to generate 4K content,” said Raj Talluri, senior vice president of product management for Qualcomm Technologies, whose Snapdragon chips power the Samsung and Sony phones. “As the 4K TVs happen at home, while studio content in 4k is coming, there’s a lot more user-generated content that will be available in 4K.”
Although just 2 percent of the TVs shipped into North America this year will boast 4K screens, according to NPD DisplaySearch, some 160 million phones likely to be sold this year — including such high-end models as the Samsung Galaxy S5, the Sony Xperia Z2 and LG’s G Pro 2 — will sport cameras capable of capturing 4K video, Strategy Analytics estimated.
For electronics makers, Ultra HD is a long-term bet. Takeshi Ito, chief technology officer for Sony Mobile, said the Xperia phone is only one component of the Japanese conglomerate’s efforts to advance 4K that also includes the movies produced by its Sony Pictures Entertainment division, its professional cameras and projection equipment, and its TVs for the home.
“Through the HD era, you could only capture HD-resolution video with a high-end recorder,” Ito said. “Nowadays, the device you capture the image on is actually the smartphone … which can expand the availability of content.”
Source: Recode.net