Broadband suppliers are about to become even more unhappy with bandwidth glutton Netflix as word arrives the streaming video service is pushing out its first 4K Ultra HDTV show.
Granted, the near total dearth of 4K TVs in consumer homes will limit the damage to Comcast, Verizon and the rest, but Netflix says its service could change that scenario as the new screen resolution starts to catch on. Right now, no 4K TVs are shipping and only a handful of television equipment reviewers have such a set.
"[4K streaming is] available everywhere Netflix is available and the first TV sets are hitting reviewer's desks and store shelves now," Netflix told one news outlet, adding access is limited to TVs with built-in Netflix and HEVC/H.265 decoding capabilities.
The company's original program House of Cards is reportedly the first available in 4K. Initial reviews have the streaming quality rated at somewhat poor with scenes shot in low-light conditions, to very good in outdoor scenes with bright light available. This probably has more to do with the compression that Netflix has to put in place in order to cram the signal onto the Internet.
"You can't cheat the physics of compression," the site reports
Breaking Bad also may be released in 4K.
Netflix said 4K content was on its way during International CES. At that time, CEO Reed Hastings said his company would come out with a special 4K streaming app on upcoming 4K TVs from all the top manufacturers.
Netflix is facing some flack from critics who believe the necessary compression will ruin video images.
Hastings and Netflix are ignoring these possibly troubling comments, which makes perfect sense since so many 4K TVs are about to become available.
LG alone announced 12 models that will ship with the app needed to stream 4K programming.
