The U.K.’s Digital TV Group launched a website to make it easier for retailers to match 4K TVs to Ultra HD services, the group said in a Friday announcement. Ultra HD TVs “are the must-have home entertainment upgrade for Christmas 2015, and now retailers can be confident their customers are buying TVs that work with the services they use,” the group said. The website, UHDready.co.uk, lets retailers quickly look up Ultra HD sets by manufacturer and see which services those sets will support, it said. The listings also can be searched by service, brand and screen size to view all suitable products, it said. LG, Sony and TP Vision, marketer of Philips-brand TVs in most markets outside North America, already are participating in the website, but additional manufacturers are “due to add their details over the coming weeks,” it said. “Manufacturers have provided information on their current Ultra HD TV models and have committed to providing ongoing updates as new models are launched in 2016.”

The year-old UHD Alliance plans its first-ever news conference at CES, representatives of the group confirmed Wednesday in “save-the-date” media alerts. Formation of the alliance was announced at the last CES (see 1501050023). The Mandalay Bay event is set for 7 p.m. Jan. 4, immediately after the conclusion of CES Unveiled Las Vegas, they said. Featured speakers will include UHD Alliance President Hanno Basse and senior executives from Disney, Fox, Sony Pictures and Warner, they said. The alliance plans to have “a lot of things to share” at CES, including details on its logo, licensing and compliance programs, Basse told us at the IFA show in Berlin (see 1509080050).

Nearly 8 percent of U.S. broadband households will buy a 4K UHD TV this year out of 19 percent looking for a flat-panel TV overall, said Parks Associates research released Wednesday. Some 42 percent of those surveyed said they weren’t familiar with 4K technology, said Parks. Other challenges for 4K are premium prices for the technology, concerns over available 4K content and a “cooling market” for TVs in general, said Parks. Samsung led other brands mid-year, with 28 percent of 4K TV purchases made in the past 12 months, followed by LG with 17 percent, Sony with 13 percent and Vizio at 11 percent. Best Buy led retailers, with more than four in 10 4K TVs sold, it said. Price was a major motivator for 44 percent of buyers, regardless of resolution, said analyst Barbara Kraus, but 11 percent of 4K TV buyers were motivated to buy after learning about TV features, versus 3 percent of overall buyers. Smart TV functionality and Wi-Fi led the features consumers valued in TVs, with 56 percent versus 39 percent of buyers who valued higher resolution, said Kraus. "Content availability remains a key inhibitor to 4K adoption,” she said. Parks forecasts new growth in the TV market in 2016 will come from lower-cost 4K-related technologies, including OLED, Ultra HD Blu-ray players and high dynamic range.

Panasonic is bringing a “value-priced” line of Ultra HD smart TVs to the U.S. to give “more consumers a chance to bring home a 4K TV for the holidays,” the company said in a Wednesday announcement. The CX series of 50-, 55- and 65-inch TVs will be sold at ABC Warehouse, BrandSmart USA, Curacao, Electronic Express, RC Willey and Video Only, plus Panasonic.com. Additional retailers will be announced later, Panasonic said. Prices for black bezel models are: TC-50CX400U ($799), TC-55CX400U ($999) and TC-65CX400U ($1,499), and for silver-bezel versions: TC-55CX420U ($999) and TC-65CX420U ($1,499). On-board apps include AccuWeather, Netflix, Pandora, Toon Goggles and YouTube, Panasonic said. In a Black Friday offer, the TC-50CX400U had dropped from $799 to $749, the TC-55CX400U downshifted to $899 from $999 and the 65-inch version was discounted by $100 to $1,399 on Panasonic’s ecommerce site.

SES had planned to “test broadcast” live in Ultra HD Saturday’s soccer match from Spain between Real Madrid and Barcelona, the satellite provider said in a Friday announcement. The transmission via SES’ Astra 1L satellite at 19.2 degrees East was to have been part of the Ultra HD technical tests SES is doing with Movistar+ and other industry partners, SES said. The live broadcast is "another milestone in the introduction of this new technology in Spain, as well as in Europe, and shows the readiness of the Ultra HD ecosystem,” SES said: “It is only a matter of time before the live broadcast of Ultra HD content becomes part of our daily TV viewing experience.”

Samsung took possession of the Natural Resources Defense Council report on Ultra HD TV energy consumption only Wednesday and is “closely reviewing the findings,” spokeswoman Megan Pollock emailed us Thursday. But amid one of the report's findings that Samsung's 55-inch Ultra HD set was a big guzzler of electricity in its high-dynamic-range active mode, Pollock called Samsung “a pioneer in creating exciting new TV experiences, including Ultra HD 4K and high dynamic range, that are recognized for their award winning energy efficiency capabilities.” To gauge the “On-mode power impact” of HDR, NRDC tested the Samsung UN55JS9000 55-inch Ultra HD TV using two Fox movies, and found that with the HDR-encoded versions of the films, the TV consumed on average about 47 percent more power than it consumed with the non-HDR versions, the report said (see 1511180039). Of the various TVs that NRDC bought for testing, three were HDR-capable, but only the Samsung UN55JS9000 “had completed firmware updates and released compatible HDR-encoded content soon enough to be included in our testing,” the report said. Samsung has "won the ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year Award every year since 2011, and we continue to work hard every day to ensure that our products provide the best possible Samsung experience, while reducing the environmental impact of our technology,” said Pollock. “We will continue working with the EPA and other stakeholders to advance energy efficiency standards that keep pace with the technologies our customers demand. We are continually improving these technologies in both quality and energy efficiency through our investment and innovation.”

Vudu 4K UHD titles with Dolby Atmos/Dolby Vision will be priced “around $25-$30 to own and $10 to rent,” a Vudu spokesman told us. Vudu and Dolby announced Tuesday (see 1511170036) the first round of 4K Ultra HD titles remastered for Dolby Vision and mixed in Dolby Atmos. Vudu will let customers know the release day for the titles “soon,” said the spokesman. The Warner-supplied titles include Mad Max: Fury Road, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., The Gallows, San Andreas, American Sniper, Man of Steel, Jupiter Ascending, Edge of Tomorrow and Into the Storm.

The U.K.’s Digital TV Group will team with its counterpart, the German TV Platform, on a series of joint “plugfests” to test the interoperability of Ultra HD TVs and content “as new services develop,” the groups said in a Tuesday announcement. The first plugfest, scheduled for Dec. 8-9 in Berlin, “will examine the delivery and support of high dynamic range UHD, by connecting UHD displays and receivers together with sample content,” they said. Future plugfests will alternate between London and Berlin, “examining other facets of the UHD experience,” they said. Manufacturers that take part in the plugfests can find out how their products will perform with emerging Ultra HD services in Europe’s two largest TV markets, they said.

Ultra HD accounted for half of hhgregg’s TV sales in Q2 ended Sept. 30, up from 41 percent in Q1, CEO Dennis May said on a Thursday earnings call. “As we go into the holiday period and beyond, we expect this mix to continue to increase to 60 percent.” The increasing mix of Ultra HD TVs commanding higher average selling prices helped hhgregg improve its Q2 performance in the CE category to a 6.3 percent same-store sales decline from an 8.3 percent decline in Q1, the company said. “Our focus on 4K TV, the connected home and appliances has set us up to win this holiday season,” May said. “Our stores are ready.” For hhgregg, “the premium segment of the TV business is driving 100 percent of that improvement,” May said in Q&A. It's not just 4K technology that's spurring premium TV sales, but also “significant” demand for curved screens, and OLED, which is “starting to get some traction,” May said. “As we think about that going into the holiday season, we see that mix continuing to shift up.” The chain has been “really pleased across the board with our supply-chain initiatives,” May said. “We have a plan to flow our CE inventory this holiday season. We don’t anticipate any hiccups around availability.”

Harmonic continues to see “encouraging signs” that the Ultra HD market “is slowly gaining momentum,” CEO Patrick Harshman said on a Tuesday earnings call. Ultra HD TV sales “continue to grow” and H.265-compatible set-tops “are starting to be deployed,” he said. “We expect this market momentum to continue to build, while we continue to demonstrate superior picture quality at lower bit rates than our closest competitors, which in turn is enabling us to assemble a growing pipeline of new Ultra HD opportunities.” Harmonic’s partnership with NASA to launch North America’s first linear Ultra HD channel “is generating quite a bit of interest among our customers,” he said. The channel is available as a test and is on track to go “fully live” Sunday, he said.