It has been an eventful half-decade since 4K/UHD (ultra-high definition) started to hit the professional market in a significant way. Initially achieving the greatest traction in broadcast – where its superb image quality lent itself especially well to premium content such as sports – 4K has subsequently established a position in pro AV applications such as conferencing, event streaming and remote/hybrid working.
In pro AV and beyond, the latest figures suggest that there is no sign of a slowdown in the growth of the 4K market. In 2023, the global 4K tech market was worth US $179.1bn and is currently set to grow by 20 percent per year up until 2032 (source: Global Market Insights). Although plenty of factors contribute to this outlook, the advent of more efficient chips and accessible price-points are clearly prominent among them.
For this latest catch-up on 4K in pro AV, Installation spoke to leading vendors about the specific verticals in which demand is growing, some of the main influences upon 4K-related R&D, and whether there is much prospect for widespread adoption of the other main UHD format, 8K.
THREE PARAMETERS
“We only make products because we see there is a demand,” says Domien De Witte, VP product, marketing & services at Barco, which has been developing 4K solutions for the best part of two decades. “Every year we measure demand across the markets and we are very confident about the future of 4K. In fact, you actually see many markets now where the majority of the content and related requirements are in 4K.”
The company is well-placed to observe this as it manufactures products across three primary areas of relevance: image processing, displays and projection. “We look after many markets – such as cinema, themed entertainment, corporate, education and events – and at varying speeds we see 4K demand expanding for all of them. We also note that there are at least three different parameters that underpin how fast the demand for 4K is growing, including: the technologies available to make 4K products, the availability of a 4K content pipeline, and the return for buyers from investments into 4K products.”
In multiple fixed install markets, Barco research suggests about 50 percent of users have 4K content available today, and that has been increasing steadily. De Witte adds: “If people are investing in their future needs, they will be looking for 4K-capable devices.”
Indeed, one of Barco’s most successful 4K products in pro AV is the Encore3 video processor, which offers native 4K and ultra-low processing latency down to 15ms, and has proven popular with a number of key verticals. De Witte also highlights the rental market as being especially dynamic as people are looking for the best thing to rent out, especially for main stage events such as those commonly found in live music and theatres.
FUTURE-PROOFING
The inclination of people wishing to invest in 4K for future requirements – even if they aren’t making extensive use of it right now – was a recurring theme of interviews for this feature. Craig Heffernan, technical sales EMEA, Blackmagic Design, says: “There’s still a tendency to build around 1080p and HD as a backbone, but there has been a lot of interest in 4K for what it offers in terms of future scope and the future-proofing of installations.”
Heffernan implies that as end-user knowledge about 4K improves – especially around the practicalities of signal transportation – any lingering trepidation among end-users starts to fade. “When you understand that with a 12G signal over SDI, you can take 4K up to 60b, it’s still just a single cable and it’s the BNC connector, and you’ve got that future-proofing… then I think a lot of the concern of moving 4K starts to dissipate.”
While Heffernan believes that 4K implementation is not happening at the same pace as on the broadcast side, he pinpoints corporate and conferencing as a more enthusiastic adopter than some other areas of pro AV. An underlying market trend could be a factor here “I’m seeing more broadcast engineers taking up roles with larger AV and rental system companies, and I think their awareness and understanding of that transition [from HD to 4K] has helped as well,” he adds.
From the Blackmagic Design range, Heffernan indicates that the ATEM 1 M/E Constellation 4K, ATEM 2 M/E Constellation 4K and ATEM 4 M/E Constellation 4K live production switchers have resonated strongly with pro AV customers. The ATEM Mini switchers – designed to enable low-cost, multi-camera live production for applications including business presentations using Zoom, Teams or Skype, and live streaming to YouTube – are also proving popular. He says: “They have been hugely successful for us in terms of small, portable [applications] and wanting to start creating a content level or small deployment into AV.”
HDR FACTOR
Kevin Salvidge – sales engineering and technical marketing manager at test & measurement (T&M) specialist Leader Electronics of Europe – pinpoints burgeoning demand in high dynamic range (HDR) as another important factor here. “The growth in the adoption of 1080p HDR is [helping to] drive UHDTV HDR acquisition,” he confirms.
The proliferation of standards and formats associated with 4K – including delivery using quad-link 3G, dual-link 6G or single-link 12G signals – means that effective T&M is essential. Salvidge adds: “These higher bandwidth signals are more challenging to manage, so it’s important our customers – especially in the demanding pro AV environment – have powerful [T&M] instruments they can rely on.”
Products that he says have resonated strongly with pro AV customers include the Sx range of handheld T&M devices and the QxP Portable Waveform monitor from sister brand PHABRIX, as well as Leader’s compact LV5300A and LV5350 waveform monitors. Notes Salvidge: “The PHABRIX QxP and Leader’s LV5300A and LV5350 combine the user-configurability and advanced tools required for full operational flexibility when transitioning to these next-generation workflows.”
GROWTH PROJECTIONS
Holger Graeff, who is general manager of visual display and presentation manufacturer Vivitek EMEA, says he has observed a steady increase in demand for 4K across environments such as museums, hospitality venues and universities. Speaking of the latter, he observes: “It has got a lot to do with the increased use of video conferencing, higher-resolution cameras, and wanting to have a 1:1 resolution setting.”
In terms of 4K projectors for pro AV in general, Graeff says that between 5-10,000 ANSI lumens seems to be an interesting sweet spot for 4K applications. “It has actually proven to be the silver bullet for most of the applications that we go after, although we are also entering into lower-brightness 4K products because there is a demand for them,” he adds.
Specific 4K products to be popular across pro AV verticals include the DK10000Z advanced laser projector, which is especially suitable for large venue and museum applications. Providing 4K-UHD resolution and 10,000 ANSI lumens brightness, the projector has a lighter weight than 3-chip 4K projectors thanks to its reliance on 4K-UHD XPR single chip technology from Texas Instruments.
Meanwhile, July 2024 saw the launch of the new BK Series of 4K-UHD collaborative touch panels engineered to enhance interaction in meeting and teaching environments. Comprising the BK652i, BK752i and BK862i 4K-UHD, the touch panels are available in 65in, 75in and 86in screen sizes.
Looking ahead, Graeff indicates that lower-brightness 4K projectors geared towards meeting spaces and other smaller environments will be the focus in the next 12 months. He adds: “The other area that is clearly one of development for us is 4K LED, because we see that, for example, 0.9mm pixel pitch with LED gives you a screen size of about 162in – and that is a sweet spot for meeting spaces as well.”
Speaking of LED, Lee Baxter – international sales manager at Leyard Europe – strikes a distinctly upbeat tone when reflecting upon the trajectory of demand in recent years. He comments: “It has massively increased. Customer appetite, technology improvements and market requirements have seen the demand for 4K (UHD) capability increase in the last 24 months. Consultants, customers and system integrators’ knowledge and experience are pushing us for the technology now. They are consistently looking towards finer pixel pitch, which is providing higher impact on their LED video walls.”
CORPORATE CLIENTS
Baxter – who highlights particular demand from blue chip corporate clients – notes that the use of 4K ties in well with other features that the LED and processors bring to the market. “For example, we now offer 5G architecture, range of bit-depth, true MicroLED, off board power, lifetime warranty, and hot swappable power supplies,” he says.
“The products we are seeing deployed in the 4K sector are our DirectLightPro (DLP), DirectLightSlim (DLS), DirectLightUltra (DLU) and VDS.”
The key here, adds Baxter, is that all these products have the chip set to be 0.6mm pp, 0.7mm pp, 0.9mm pp and 1.2mm pp. “It means that they create a high impact, truly seamless, 4K (UHD) LED video wall in corporate high use areas, which becomes very appealing,” he observes.
Whilst the momentum behind 4K shows no signs of abating, the trend towards 8K is in a more formative stage at the present moment. De Witte makes a prediction: “Personally, I think that going up to 8K depends on the capacity of the human eye to appreciate the extra resolution in multiple applications. It’s also quite expensive still and so therefore it will take some time.”
However, he adds that he expects customers in some markets to be looking into the potential of 8K as part of their next investment window.
Graeff. adds: “I think there are verticals that are super-interesting for 8K. That’s why [parent company] Delta Electronics is exploring it, but I would say that it is a niche segment in terms of the market size at present.”
4K DOMINATION
So for the foreseeable future, at least, it looks like the UHD story will be dominated by 4K. With price-points falling in some areas as the underlying technologies mature, the tools to support a painless migration from HD to 4K will be in reach of an ever-increasing number of pro AV customers.
