Cello Electronics, which bills itself as Britain’s only TV manufacturer, released five new models of Android-based 4K smart sets in a lineup that’s being dubbed the “Platinum range.” The sets all come with integrated soundbars and will be available in October at prices ranging from 299 pounds ($402) for the 32-inch set to 979 pounds ($1,315) for the 65-inch model. Cello will produce the models at its plant in County Durham in northeast England, CEO Brian Palmer told us at the Platinum launch event Thursday in London. “We now have 50,000 square feet with two assembly lines, warehouse and office space” at the County Durham facility, said Palmer. Cello tried selling TVs through U.K. supermarket chains, “but found it a dangerous business to be in, and pulled out,” he said. “They were sending returns in bin bags. So now we sell by mail order and through independent distributors.” Cello gets its displays from “all the usual sources -- Samsung, LG and China -- to keep control on the prices,” he said: “There’s not much difference in how they perform.” Cello also has been doing a good business in Tanzania, Kenya and Rwanda, with a range of digital TVs that have built-in lithium-ion batteries and come with a 30-watt solar panel for 10 hours of playing time on a full charge, he said. The sets also can power an LED light and charge a mobile phone, he said. “There is digital TV to receive there,” but 80 percent of the population has “no grid power,” Palmer told us. “These solar battery sets are also popular with British lorry drivers. They can watch TV at night and not find their vehicle battery is flat in the morning so they cannot start the engine. They then recharge during the day.” Palmer also said all the U.K.’s prison population is watching TV on sets made by Cello, albeit not labeled as such. The sets, and even the remote controls, are transparent so nothing can be hidden inside, he said. The control software is modified, too, so the prison authorities can control what channels the prisoners watch, he said.

Dish Network subscribers who own Hopper 3 set-tops can view “select” college football games this season from Fox Sports’ FS1 channel 540 live in 4K beginning with Saturday’s Oklahoma-Baylor matchup, Dish said in a Thursday announcement. Dish has offered 4K-ready set-tops for three years, “and 4K TV market share is anticipated to exceed one-in-four U.S. households by the end of 2017,” said Chief Technology Officer Vivek Khemka. The “missing element” has been native 4K programming, he said. The move is part of a “broader agreement” with Fox that will include future 4K coverage of college basketball, Major League Baseball and NASCAR racing, said Dish.

Sony used the IBC 2017 show Friday to lift the wraps off its first 8K broadcast camera to include three 8K sensors. “Sony always has its eye on the future,” Richard Scott, head of media solutions at Sony Professional Europe, told a news conference webcast live from Sony’s IBC booth in Amsterdam. The UHC-8300 “has been designed to cover all of the features necessary for premium productions, including live broadcasts and high-end documentaries,” Scott said. Sony developed the UHC-8300 with “customer input provided by NHK,” which is planning the launch of 8K commercial broadcast services in 2018 as a prelude to 8K Super Hi-Vision coverage of the Tokyo Olympics in July 2020, he said. “We expect this camera to be used not only for 8K production, but also for 4K production,” he said. “It’s able to generate 8K, 4K and HD signal outputs simultaneously, applying different color spaces and OETF to each signal,” he said of the opto-electronic transfer function for high dynamic range. With its three 8K sensors, the camera “gives media companies the flexibility to capture content in 8K with the possibility to cut out a 4K image in real time for use in 4K HDR live production,” Scott said. The Sony DADC New Media Solutions business, which offers digital supply chain services and physical disc replication, is being put under the wing of the Sony Professional Solutions Group, said Adam Fry, vice president-Sony Professional Europe. The move is in keeping with Sony Professional’s strategy to convert itself from a company known exclusively as a broadcast hardware products supplier to “one offering an equal balance of hardware and services within just a few years,” Fry said. “We are now able to offer services to our customers right from the digitization of archives through to media production and distribution on fully managed” over-the-top platforms, he said. “This, I believe, will accelerate Sony to being a true services company.”

The growing numbers of 4K TVs will inevitably bring growing numbers of complaints about image quality as they upconvert content that isn't natively 4K, Digital Tech Consulting (DTC) consultant Stewart Wolpin blogged Sunday. Eighty-three percent of U.S. homes have DVD players, compared with 35 percent having "more 4K-friendly Blu-ray," and consumers aren't being warned or advised about upconverting, DTC said. TV makers need to devote more time and resources to improving and including more-efficient 1K- and 2K- to 4K-upscaling, and retailers need to better prepare customers, DTC said.

Cambridge Audio plans to distribute its CXUHD Ultra HD Blu-ray player in the U.S. starting Sept. 1 at $699, Director-Americas Gregg Chopper emailed us Thursday. The player will be sold through CambridgeAudio.com and “through other partner retailers,” Chopper said. The “reference quality” CXUHD is “truly universal” because it accepts 13 types of disc formats, the company said (see 1708090063).

Cambridge Audio’s first Ultra HD Blu-ray player, the “reference quality” CXUHD, “delivers professional level calibration” in a playback deck that’s “truly universal” because it accepts 13 types of disc formats, the U.K. high-end hi-fi supplier said in a Wednesday announcement. The CXUHD, which supports Dolby Vision, does away with all internal digital-to-analog converters “and their associated digital circuitry,” said Cambridge. “This decreases interference to the signal, significantly reducing noise and improving both audio and picture quality.” The CXUHD, priced at 700 pounds ($910), will be available in September through Cambridge Audio’s online store and through Richer Sounds, the U.K. AV specialty retailer, the supplier said. Cambridge Audio representatives didn’t comment Wednesday on possible U.S. pricing and distribution.

SES estimates 30 U.S. pay-TV operators with a combined audience of more than 10 million subscribers are testing its 4K content delivery platform, it said in a Monday announcement. Three “initiated commercial linear Ultra HD services in subscriber homes,” said SES, identifying them as Marquette-Adams Communications in Wisconsin, Highlands Cable Group in North Carolina and EPB Fiber Optics in Tennessee. “Momentum continues to build as SES accelerates the delivery and commercial availability of Ultra HD services throughout North America,” said SES. It expects more pay-TV operators will “join the trio of operators who have already launched their commercial Ultra HD services using our platform,” it said.

Paramount Pictures and Dolby Labs will master content in Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos for streaming services and Ultra HD Blu-ray, said the companies Thursday. Dolby Atmos content is planned for Blu-ray discs as well, they said. In response to our questions about how Paramount determines which titles will be released in Dolby Atmos and Dolby Vision, along with Ultra HD Blu-ray plans for DTS:X releases, a spokeswoman emailed us: “Paramount has been delivering content in Dolby Atmos for Blu-ray and Dolby Atmos/Vision for OTT for a while now, and we’re looking forward to continuing to deliver this experience to consumers this year.” Paramount began offering DTS:X immersive audio on "select" standard Blu-ray titles last summer (see 1607190020). Globally, more than 100 studio titles are available in Dolby Vision, 200-plus titles are available in Dolby Atmos and over 125 hours of original streaming content is available in Dolby Vision, they said.

Chinese TV maker TCL said its Q2 LCD TV sales grew 13 percent year-on-year to 4.9 million sets. Smart TV sales jumped 51 percent in the quarter to 3 million and 4K Ultra HD TV sales grew 44 percent to 1.1 million units, said the company. In overseas markets, TCL’s overseas LCD TV sales grew by 31 percent to 3.2 million units in Q2, due primarily to “strong performance” in North America and other key markets, it said. The company credited gains in North America to presence in multiple sales channels and branding campaigns that included sponsorships of the NBA's Minnesota Timberwolves and Lynx, the San Jose Earthquakes Major League Soccer team, the Hollywood TCL Chinese Theatres and The Ellen DeGeneres Show.

AT&T will add 4K high dynamic range support to DirecTV Now starting in 2018 as part of a “next-generation video platform” that will begin rolling out this fall, it announced. Beta-testing will begin this summer among “invited” DirecTV Now customers, among the first to try out the platform’s cloud DVR functionality and other features, the company said Thursday.