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New UHD Alliance Promises to Alleviate 4K Headaches

Hollywood, TV makers, content producers agree on 4K standards.

Credit: Lee Neikirk
David Kender
Written by David Kender, editor in chief with 15+ years testing every kind of consumer product.

Updated January 5, 2015

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With a bevy of new ultra high definition (UHD) TVs rolling out at CES 2015, it's widely understood that 4K's viability is no longer a question; it's inevitability. A lack of content and means for delivering it into homes has slowed the adoption process, but it seems a solution has finally been brokered.

The major players—Hollywood, consumer electronics brands, and content providers—have formed the new UHD Alliance to solve these issues and finally get 4K rolling. The list of partners includes DIRECTV, Dolby, LG Electronics, Netflix, Panasonic, Samsung, Sharp, Sony, Technicolor, The Walt Disney Studios, Twentieth Century Fox, and Warner Bros. Entertainment.

The major players—Hollywood, consumer electronics brands, and content providers—have formed the new UHD Alliance.

There are very real problems that need to be solved in order to make 4K a mainstay in consumers' homes. Content coding and decoding, bandwidth issues, and cost are all at the top of the list, and today's announcement does not go into great detail about how the new Alliance plans to tackle them.

What the announcement does illustrate is that all major players recognize the problems at hand, and are now willing to work together to find solutions.