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Webinar addresses challenges of 4K

4K Ultra HD is now on the scene and it is making waves in the digital signage world. When it comes to resolution, more is better, but there are still challenges to get 4K up and running on displays. IBASE addressed these challenges in a webinar.

November 15, 2016 by Bradley Cooper — Editor, ATM Marketplace & Food Truck Operator

It almost seems quaint nowadays that people used to consider 720p the height of HD. 4K Ultra HD is now the scene and it is making waves in the digital signage world. When it comes to resolution, more is better, but there are still challenges to get 4K up and running on displays. IBASE Technology USA along with Intel addressed these challenges in a recent webinar entitled, "4K Digital Signage A Holistic Overview."

Dwight Looi, lead designer for SI-613 Signage Player at IBASE, and Naren Kumar, segment marketing manager of digital signage, North America, Intel, presented on how companies need every block in place to create a 4K experience. Looi mentioned the key elements that need to be in place:

• The display has to be 4K.
• The interface must be able to support 4K.
• The content must be 4K.

Looi also noted that older equipment won't work. DVI, VGA, component video and older versions of HDMI can't support 4K resolution. "Wireless standards mostly do not support 4K wireless streams. Eventually they will, but even then, compression will suck CPU time and reduce quality," Looi said in the webinar.

Looi suggested getting the right equipment and infastructure is key, from fast CPUs and large memory bandwidths. Businesses also need to keep their eyes on Extended Display Identification Data, which lets the graphic controller know that a display is connected and gives the individual specifications. EDID is also a common failure point in 4K.

"If EDID data is late, corrupt or missing, you may get a black screen, blinking screen or an image in the wrong resolution," Looi said.

Several tools are luckily making 4K displays easier to handle, such as lower prices and more support for HDMI 2.0. Kumar also went over some key 4K success stories during the webinar.

Click here to listen to the webinar.

About Bradley Cooper

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Bradley Cooper is the editor of ATM Marketplace and Food Truck Operator. He was previously the editor of Digital Signage Today. His background is in information technology, advertising, and writing.

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