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Finding content for 4K

The advent of 4K resolution has had a big impact on the digital signage industry, but the topic of sourcing 4K content seems to be one of the bigger concerns still surrounding 4K in digital signage.

September 30, 2015 by Aneysha Wakelin — Digital Marketing Executive , SignStix

Where to find 4K content?

The advent of 4K resolution has had a big impact on the digital signage industry. In just two years, 4K has become more widespread and grown further than HD did in its first 10 years of existence, according to 4K.com.

This year, the 4K ecosystem has quickly become well established, with 4K signage players and commercial-grade displays making their way into the market. However, the topic of sourcing 4K content seems to be one of the bigger concerns still surrounding 4K in digital signage.

But how hard is it to find 4K content? Is the cost of producing 4K content versus HD that much more labor intensive and expensive?

4K video content

Seemingly, one of the biggest barriers to the adoption of 4K digital signage is the origination of 4K video content, not 4K graphics.

Four-K stock footage is becoming more and more accessible though, and with high-quality, more affordable 4K video cameras coming to the fore, capturing 4K video is much easier than you might think. There is no doubt that we'll continue to see an influx of cheaper 4K video cameras and even smartphones over the next couple of years.

4K graphics and animation

From a graphics and animation perspective, creating digital signage content for a 4K display should not be any more labor-intensive than creating content for a 1080p display if you have implemented a digital signage solution that supports 4K-resolution out-of-the-box. Using a 4K solution, animations will retain their native resolution.

4K will only grow in popularity

With nearly 50 percent of U.S. homes adopting UHD TVs by 2020*, it's important that organizations meet the expectations of consumers and their demand for 4K content. Other studies have predicted a fivefold increase in 4K television sales for the current year's end, from just fewer than 1 million units sold to about 5 or 6 million by the end of 2015, which is testament to the increasing demand for 4K displays.

According to Strategy Analytics' David Witkins, "ultra HD will become the standard resolution for virtually all large-screen TVs within three to four years' time and we will see it penetrate further into smaller screen sizes as manufacturing efficiencies improve."

What's more, as mobile phones with very high pixel density become the norm, consumer expectations for pixel-perfect displays will only heighten over time.

But they also may help meet the demand that expectation helps create: Variety reports that there's already been a full 4K UHD movie shot entirely on the new iPhone 6s.

*Source: Strategy Analytics