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FEATURE: 4K [KEY POINTS]


Bandwidth is the single biggest challenge for scaler/switcher manufacturers


HDMI 2.0 has a crucial role to play – but the compliance test has only just become available


The industry is looking to silicon vendors for the chipsets that will enable ‘full 4K’ to be managed


4K is deployable today – but not the all-singing, all-dancing 4K that will be deployable in the future


Crestron has a dedicated lab that tests third-party equipment for 4K compatibility and compliant devices become Crestron 4K Certified


Are we nearly there yet?


Creating the necessary infrastructure is crucial to build on the already strong demand for 4K technology, writes Ian McMurray


LAST MONTH, the first deliveries of the Tesla Model S arrived in the UK. What is the Tesla Model S? It’s an electric car with a claimed 300 mile/450+ kilometre range – around three times the range of the typical electric car available today. It’s currently California’s


third best-selling luxury car. Commentators attribute much of its success to the fact that the manufacturer, Tesla, has installed a continent-wide network of charging stations. The company has already started work on something similar in the UK.


In other words: as exciting


as a new technology may be, it really needs the supporting infrastructure to make it successful. 4K resolution is as exciting


as any recent new AV technology – but is it, as the


24 July 2014


Americans say, “ready for prime time”? For sure, there is demand for 4K technology – although exactly why is not always easy to determine.


LACK OF UNDERSTANDING “In many cases,” notes Brian Davies, European technology director at AMX, “there is a lack of clear understanding of what 4K really is. In most cases where 4K is requested, it is because the end users believe they will need 4K at some point and want to invest in a solution that will leave their options open in the future.” His experience is mirrored


by that of Keith Watts, technical director at Cabletime. “We are receiving enquiries about this, but most real business is definitely still 1080p-based,” he says. “Most users want to know that our solutions have a


roadmap that will provide 4K capabilities for them in the future.”


‘Demand for 4K is being driven by its potential rather than a current application’ Andy Fliss, TV One


“Customers have seen what 4K can be,” adds Andy Fliss, director of marketing at TV One, “and it’s hard for them to imagine not using it. Demand for 4K is being driven by its potential rather than a current application.” That’s not to say, of course, that there are no real live applications that can’t benefit from 4K today. “As with all new technologies you have sceptics and early adopters,” says Matthew Buck, commercial account manager at Crestron. “The demand is currently coming from companies that work with and require the best quality images – medical imaging, visualisation, oil and gas, security, high-end digital signage. What we are seeing


at the moment is a demand for 4K training and a desire from integrators to know that 4K works now. With our Certification Programme and 4K training course, we can provide that knowledge base and reassurance.” Franck Facon, marketing and communications director at Analog Way, sees similar demand. “4K makes sense in applications in which resolution improvement increases visual comfort and efficiency such as cartography, medicine, CAO and photography,” he believes. For those applications where image detail could be said to be mission critical, Analog Way showed an addition to its LiveCore series of AV switchers in the shape of the new Ascender 48-4K at InfoComm 2014.


And as Jed Deame, VP of marketing at RGB Spectrum


www.installation-international.com


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