Beyond 4K: How can we create Best-UHD?

 

Promising Beginnings 

In August 2016, there were nearly 10 million 4K/UHD TV service users worldwide. According to Ovum, decreased prices and new subscription-based UHD TV services will lead to further growth so that by 2020, 50% of all TV-owning families will use 4K/UHD TVs. With the world’s first 8K live footage broadcast during the 2016 Rio Olympic Games and the booming development of virtual reality (VR) technologies, the video industry is evolving rapidly and 360-degree panoramic video is becoming a new video format for UHD TVs.

 

Alongside this, the global broadband industry is undergoing continuous optimization. Numerous countries have introduced policies to support Ultra-Broadband, significantly increasing coverage. By 2020, it is expected that 100 Mbit/s bandwidth will become the basic configuration of broadband and the possibility of upgrading to Gigabit broadband will become ubiquitous.

 

These trends go hand-in-hand and the coincidence of developments is ushering in a new era where UHD TV will become the key service that can meet users’ requirements, fully uses the network capabilities and realises carriers’ business value. 

 

Despite the promise of 4K/UHD, there is a drawback – if Ovum’s forecast is correct, that means half the TV-owners will not use the technology. Factors like insufficient perceived improvement in quality, a lack of standardisation, lack of investment in network upgrades and limited UHD content are holding back widespread adoption, with 4K programmes alone not enough to convince viewers. 

 

With the rise of trends like HDR, DASH and Video Cloud Technology, though, this could be about to change. Based on research by leading ICT solutions provider Huawei, users are willing to pay for an ultimate sensory experience, interactive experience, and real-time content. Providing a UHD service with a superior experience to existing HD services is key to UHD TV’s success. For that, the basic features and enhancements of UHD TV need to be defined, the benefit is that carriers will not have to keep replacing their UHD STBs/equipments.

 

This is exactly why Huawei has released a new whitepaper titled ‘Best-UHD Industry Development’. Created in light of the rapid deployment of FTTx networks, DOCSIS3. X Cable broadband networks and content delivery networks (CDN), which will create favourable conditions for large-scale 4K/UHD content distribution and monetisation, the whitepaper calls for cooperation between OTT service providers and network carriers, as well as improvements in device and network readiness, broadband bundles and new IP-based and cloud-based content production. 

 

Huawei goes on to split the Best-UHD concept into three key aspects – Best Experience, Best Infrastructure and Best Operation, outlining the basic features and leading standards combination which should be implemented in order to monetise UHD services and create the ultimate user experience. 

 

With this, various technologies are referred to – all of which no doubt have a part to play – but it is Huawei’s collaborative approach which stands out as truly game changing. A very useful tool named ‘U-vMOS‘ will be shared with partners, to evaluate E2E UHD video quality (sQuality), operation experience (sInteraction), and playback experience (sView), locate and solve problems which will affect "0" distortion, "0" waiting, and "0" damage of the UHD video. 

 

According to the ICT solutions provider, the sharing of content, users, traffic, and video technologies that the UHD video era will involve means that only industry cooperation and can lead to true innovation and success. To achieve this, video service providers will need to transform their traditional production methods to build an optimal video ecosystem with good system openness to connect content partners, channel partners, self-media, developers, and technology and capability providers. 

 

Of course, all of this is easy enough to write in a whitepaper but is it realistically achievable? While Huawei’s approach is undeniably ambitious, the steps outlined in the Whitepaper show a clear path to accelerating the development of UHD videos services and building a better connected world. Furthermore, the whitepaper has taken what might be the hardest step of all in a noisy industry where everyone is jostling for attentions; it has started the conversation. Now, it is up to all those payers in the indistry chain to sit up and take notice.  

 

 

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