Hisense went high on screen size, low on price Thursday, demoing new H8, H9 and H10 series TVs in a condo suite on a media tour in New York. The company highlighted 65-inch and-above TVs and a 100-inch laser-based projection TV. Expected retail prices for new models in the leader H8 4K Ultra TV line are $999 for the 65H8C and $5,999 for an 86-inch version in the series, both slated for early 2017 shipping. The 70- ($2,499) and 75-inch ($2,999) versions are due in December, said Hisense Market Manager Richard Zena. The new H8 sizes have been upgraded to include 4K HDR10 streaming and playback, including Netflix and YouTube HDR, said Zena, while the 50- and 55-inch models remain in the line. Hisense unveiled the first 65-inch TV ($1,699) in the H9 ULED line and the 70-inch H10 ULED smart TV ($3,499.99), both due in the market next year. Zena pitched the H9900 series 100-inch 4K laser TV, due next summer, as “portable” and for self-installations. The screen weighs 17.5 pounds, said a spec sheet that listed additional features as HDR10, a 4K upscaler and Ultra Smooth Motion to reduce motion blur in fast-motion scenes. The $12,999 two-piece laser projection TV includes a 5.1 speaker system. Hisense is sticking to its goal to be the third-largest TV brand in the U.S. by 2019, and it holds the No. 1 spot in China and Australia, executives said. U.S. retail distribution for the new models is “to be determined,” said Zena. The biggest challenge in the U.S. market remains brand awareness, Mike Wong, senior director-product management, told us. Hisense sponsored a UEFA Euro Cup 2016 event in New York in August (see 1606160048). On how the company is positioning Hisense TVs vs. the Sharp brand it’s licensing under a multiyear agreement, Wong would only say the New York media tour was focused on the Hisense brand. Zena called Hisense ULED quantum dot TVs a high-quality, lower cost alternative to OLED that’s backed by 17 patents and a four-year warranty.

The increased capacity in the satellite universe will mean challenges for satellite operators focused on traditional wide-beam coverage, Intelsat CEO Stephen Spengler said at a Goldman Sachs investor conference Wednesday. "People putting up standard wide-beam capacity, they are going to have [internal rate of return] challenges when it comes to replacing those satellites," Spengler said. "It is not a sustainable model." He said Intelsat is moving to a model of its high-throughput Epic constellation providing spot beam coverage in dense areas of high demand, and using wide-beam coverage in areas like ocean coverage. Spengler said North America is a little-changed market for media distribution and direct-to-home coverage, and Ultra HD is coming but "slow in developing." The company's North American broadcaster and programmer customers are taking their time planning for Ultra HD, given higher production costs and the expense of Ultra HD infrastructure, he said, saying Ultra HD might be more readily adopted by over-the-top providers. Spengler said he sees a long tail for media distribution via satellite despite the growing prevalence of fiber networks due to the large number of communities off the fiber grid or that lack sufficient fiber connectivity. Close to 5,000 cable headends are served by satellite and a sizable number will remain "well into the next decade," he said.

Epson’s PowerLite Home Cinema 5040UBe 3LCD projector is the first with wireless 4K support, said Lattice Semiconductor, supplier of the SiBeam wireless technology inside. Advantages of SiBeam’s 60 Hz wireless technology, said SiBeam in an announcement: no Wi-Fi interference, “near-zero” latency, "cinema-quality" video and support for high dynamic range and HDCP 2.2.

Consumer viewing of 4K content via over-the-top services will “finally see mass-market appeal” in the next five years, Juniper Research said in a Monday report. Juniper sees 4K OTT services attracting more than 189 million “unique users” globally by 2021, up from just 2.3 million this year, “driven by greater content availability and compatible devices,” the company said. In the U.S., this means one in 10 Americans will be watching 4K content online compared with just one in 500 this year, it said. Device compatibility has been a “significant barrier” for online 4K video adoption, the company said. “The popularity of online video has seen the use of set-top boxes from vendors such as Roku and Amazon soar. However, delivery mechanisms for content have seen slower adoption, as the availability of 4K capable streaming devices is limited. New device launches, such as the 4K capable Xbox One S this month, among others, are likely to spur a boost in 4K usage." With Japan seeking to broadcast the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in 8K, “the industry is likely to use this as an opportunity to drive sales of 8K smart TVs,” Juniper said. It sees TV makers selling 400,000 8K TVs in 2021, it said.

Comcast's NBCUniversal reached a long-term carriage pact with AT&T and the telco-TV provider's DirecTV, extending and expanding an existing deal, the companies said Tuesday. "DIRECTV and U-Verse customers will continue to have access to NBCUniversal broadcast and cable networks live and on-demand through linear TV, online, and TV Everywhere apps." The DBS provider also can pick major sporting events in 4K Ultra HD, under the deal, which includes streaming service DirecTV Now, which AT&T plans to launch in Q4.

A National Advertising Review Board (NARB) panel wants AT&T's DirecTV to “better disclose” to consumers that only limited programming on its service is available in 4K, the Council of Better Business Bureaus-affiliated group said in a Tuesday announcement. NARB also wants DirecTV to modify its claim the service is wireless, and to discontinue claims that a “free upgrade” to Genie HD DVRs is available, the announcement said. The council’s National Advertising Division (NAD) ruled in December that DirecTV should change or end advertising claims challenged by Charter Communications about prices and wireless offerings and what Charter termed the misleading suggestion that all DirecTV programming is available in 4K resolution. DirecTV appealed the decision to NARB (see 1512100053), whose panel sided with NAD that DirecTV’s claims on the amount of 4K content on the service “reasonably communicated messages that were not supported by the evidence in the record.” But the panel disagreed with NAD that DirecTV must modify its claims by addressing “the developing nature of 4K technology and indicate that currently only a small amount of programming is available in 4K.” The panel said “reasonable consumers” will understand “the nature of developing technologies and the fact that 4K is a relatively new technology,” and “it would be sufficient for DirecTV to clearly and conspicuously disclose the limited programming available in 4K.” DirecTV representatives didn’t comment Tuesday. The council quoted the satellite operator as saying it will “comply with NARB's recommendations in future advertising,” though it disagrees with NARB’s findings that it modify its claims that the service is wireless, and will discontinue claims that a “free upgrade” to Genie HD DVRs was available.

Sky joined HEVC Advance as a licensee, the H.265 patent pool said in a Thursday announcement. Sky promised the U.K.’s “most comprehensive” Ultra HD service on Sky Q Silver when it launched the service in mid-August (see 1607140028), and Sky Deutschland recently announced plans to debut two exclusive Ultra HD sports channels this fall (see 1608220001). Sky becomes HEVC Advance’s third known licensee, after Strong TV and Warner Bros. Entertainment, which also joined in June as a licensor (see 1606280012).

DirecTV customers with Genie HD DVR (Model HR54 or higher) set-tops will be able to watch six NBC Notre Dame football telecasts this season in 4K, DirecTV owner AT&T said in a Thursday announcement. The 4K coverage will accompany NBC's regular HD broadcasts, with the same on-air commentators, camera angles and graphics, DirecTV said.

With all the 4K and high-dynamic-range fanfare Sony built around the Wednesday debut of its new PlayStation 4 Pro, a Sony spec sheet confirms the new console will support standard Blu-ray and DVD playback, but not Ultra HD Blu-ray, as is built into Microsoft’s latest line of Xbox One S machines (see 1606130047). The PS4 Pro launches Nov. 10 in the U.S. at $399. Sony representatives didn’t comment Thursday on the company’s rationale for not making the PS4 Pro Ultra HD Blu-ray-capable. In place of 4K HDR movie-watching via physical media on the PS4 Pro, Sony will encourage content streaming, said Andrew House, Sony Interactive Entertainment global CEO, in a Wednesday blog post. Sony knows “a lot of our fans watch movies, TV shows, and videos on their PS4, so we’re working with our partners who offer best-in-class streaming services to build new apps for PS4 Pro,” said House. “Netflix will launch a new app at the launch of PS4 Pro that supports 4K. YouTube is also developing a new 4K-compatible app for PS4 Pro.” HDR is “without a doubt the most exciting advance in TV technology in the last decade,” PS4 System Architect Mark Cerny told Sony’s launch event Wednesday in New York. “The really exciting part of this” is that “supporting HDR” in the PS4 Pro “does not require radical increases in processing power like 4K does,” he said. “HDR is very new technology,” he said. “The standards are still in flux, and the game creators are definitely still figuring out how to best take advantage of the displays. We will not expect all developers to initially support HDR on PS4 Pro.”

Encompass Digital Media will use capacity on Intelsat's Galaxy 13 satellite to host four NASA TV HD channels and its 4K Ultra HD distribution channel in North America, under a multiyear deal between the two companies, Intelsat said in a news release Tuesday.