DirecTV has unveiled its latest set-top box, making it much easier for users to have access to 4K content.
The box itself is called the 4K Genie Mini, and it reportedly allows any of its users to rent from a selection of movies and documentaries in 4K.
"Customers who want the best picture quality are creating more demand for 4K," said senior vice president of Consumer Premise Engineering Henry Derovanessian in a statement. "The new 4K Genie Mini allows us to meet that demand by expanding 4K access to more of our customers nationwide."
The announcement is a big step forward for DirecTV. Customers were previously able to watch 4K content, however, it was only available to those with "DirecTV Ready," which is almost no one.
Of course, in order to take advantage of the 4K content available, users will need a TV that supports 4K as well as HDMI 2.0 and HDCP 2.2. While this seems like a lot, these capabilities have become a lot more common over the last few years.
The real problem right now is the limited library of content available to those with the box. According to DirecTV, the selection will vary from week to week, and those wanting to watch something will have to wait for it to be downloaded before they can begin watching. Ideally, however, this will be a stepping-stone for DirecTV to offer a much larger selection of 4K content. It should also be mentioned that the box only allows users to stream the 4K content offered by DirecTV — that is to say that this will probably be one of two boxes for most users.
The 4K Genie Mini also supports Dolby Digital Plus audio as well as full DVR controls. It is also considerably smaller, making it easy to fit next to a 4K UHD TV.
While the box does support the watching of multiple streams at once, with another stream available in another room, it should be noted that it only supports the viewing of one 4K program at a time.
DirecTV values the new 4K Genie Mini at $99, however, the retail price is not yet known.
DirecTV itself is undergoing a major transition, having recently been bought by AT&T for a massive $49 billion. This acquisition makes AT&T the largest paid television provider in the U.S.
Via: Forbes
