Prism+, the consumer tech online retailer based in Singapore, joined the UHD Alliance, the association told DOJ and the FTC in simultaneous “written notifications” Aug. 14, said a notice for Tuesday’s Federal Register. UHDA membership "remains open," and the alliance “intends to file additional written notifications disclosing all changes in membership,” said Suzanne Morris, chief-premerger and division statistics in DOJ’s Antitrust Division. The notifications are required to extend UHDA members antitrust protections under the 1993 National Cooperative Research and Production Act, said Morris.
Odeon will upgrade six Imax theaters in the U.K. with 4K laser projection systems by 2025, said the companies Monday. Nine previously contracted theaters in Europe also will get Imax systems installed, also by 2025, they said. The installations include four new theaters in Spain, two in Italy and one each in Germany, Sweden and the U.K., they said.
The Ultra HD 4K TV market is set to grow at a 15% compound annual growth rate, by $56.99 billion, from 2020-2025, reported Technavio Friday. Increased demand will come from developing countries, especially China, while the U.S., U.K., China, Japan and South Korea markets will have demand for larger screen sizes. Nearly 40% of growth will originate from Asia-Pacific countries, driven by a rising number of dual-income households.
Hisense announced availability of the 4K U6GR Roku TV in 55- and 65-inch screen sizes at Costco for $549 and $749 respectively. The quantum dot ULED TV has Dolby Atmos and Vision, HDR10, a 60Hz refresh rate and 600-nit peak brightness, Hisense said Wednesday. A Roku spokesperson told us Hisense announced eight Roku TV models in May for 2021. That includes a 75-inch 8K RokuTV model that hasn't shipped. A Hisense spokesperson emailed Wednesday that the company expects to ship the 75U800GR in December.
Optoma bowed a DLP 4K laser projector for home theaters with 3,000 lumens brightness and 2,500,000:1 contrast ratio, it said Monday. An enhanced gaming mode allows users to play games with a 16.7-millisecond response time in 4K at 60 Hz and 4-ms in 1080p at 240 Hz, said the company. The $2,799 UHZ50 has three HDMI 2.0 ports, including one with enhanced ARC, and a pair of 10-watt speakers. Other features include four corner correction, 1.3x zoom, and keystone and vertical lens shift, it said.
Pay-TV operator Astro is using Harmonic’s XOS advanced media processor to stream live sports in 4K HDR for the first time to subscribers in Malaysia, said Harmonic Thursday. Ultra HD coverage is planned of the Tokyo Olympics beginning July 23, said Harmonic. The XOS processor enables “on-the-fly” upconversion to HDR from standard dynamic range and leverages AI technologies to reduce Astro’s bandwidth burden, it said.
NBCUniversal’s announcement it will beam prime-time coverage of the Tokyo Olympics in 4K HDR with Dolby Atmos in “certain markets” wasn't the first time NBC discussed deploying Ultra HD for major live sports. The network was “investigating” plans to carry the 2018 Super Bowl in 4K, then-NBC Broadcasting and Sports Chairman Mark Lazarus told the October 2017 NAB Show New York, listing the abundant logistics and cost challenges involved in pulling it off (see 1710180023). The 4K telecast never happened. NBCUniversal will beam the Tokyo Olympics in 4K HDR to its U.S. “distribution partners,” it said Thursday. They will “individually choose how to make the content available to their customers,” said the network, without disclosing which HDR format it will use. The games open July 23 for a two-week run.
Sony’s 55-inch A90J OLED TV went on preorder Monday at $2,999, said the company. The 4K Ultra HD Google TV has Dolby Vision, HDR10 and hybrid log-gamma HDR, plus screen mirroring via Apple AirPlay and Chromecast. B&H Photo, an authorized Sony dealer, said the new item is “coming soon.” Customers could be notified when it’s available. No preorder date or price was given for the 65-inch model.
TV sales in Germany for 2020 increased 15.2% from a year earlier to 4.4 billion euros ($5.35 billion), with unit sales rising 11.3% to 7.4 million sets, reported gfu Thursday. The average selling price jumped 4.5% to 598 euros ($727) after several years of price declines, it said. Demand for bigger screens and higher resolution helped drive the ASP increase, said gfu, estimating sets larger than 55 inches were two-thirds of the sets sold last year. More than seven of 10 sets (73%) sold in 2020 were Ultra HD-compatible, compared with 65% with that capability in 2019, it said. The lessons of 2020 showed the industry that “falling prices in the TV market are not a law of nature,” said gfu Managing Director Sara Warneke. “It remains to be seen whether this will be a trend reversal towards stable or even rising prices in the TV market” that persists, or if 2020 was an anomaly “entirely based on the special market situation” caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, she said.
Chinese laser projector supplier Fengmi joined the UHD Alliance, and Charter Communications, Technicolor, Cedex and Westinghouse Electronics withdrew, the association told DOJ and the FTC in simultaneous “written notifications” Dec. 10, said Wednesday’s Federal Register. The change-of-membership notifications are required to extend UHDA members antitrust protections under the 1993 National Cooperative Research and Production Act, said Suzanne Morris, chief-premerger and division statistics in DOJ’s Antitrust Division.