Strategy Analytics is predicting that more than 11 million North American homes will own an Ultra HD TV by the end of 2016 as prices drop to more affordable levels and 1080p models start to disappear from large screen product lineups. By 2020, all 40-inch or larger TVs being sold in North America will be Ultra HD models by which stage nearly one in two homes in the region will own at least one Ultra HD TV, the research firm suggests.
Ultra HD content still remains a sticking point, however.
“The uptake of Ultra HD bears many of the same hallmarks as the early days of ‘basic’ HD in that TV manufacturers have been very quick to seed the market with the necessary displays but there is very little in the way of content in order to take advantage of the full potential of the technology,” Chirag Upadhyay, an analyst at the company’s Connected Home Devices service, observes. “In the case of Ultra HD, streaming services such as Netflix and Amazon are offering some Ultra HD programming but with less than 10 full-time Ultra HD channels operating globally today, most consumers have to make do with generally less than impressive upconverted content.”
Strategy Analytics’ data has 80 percent of all Ultra HD TV shipments in 2015 as being 50-inch or larger displays. That share is predicted to fall as the feature filters down into smaller screen size segments, but the research predicts the 50-inch and larger segment still accounting for more than 50 percent of Ultra HD TV demand by 2020.
“2160p resolution has almost become a given in the large screen TV market and attention is now turning to other attributes that fall under the Ultra HD umbrella such as high dynamic range, wide color gamut and high frame rates,” David Watkins, director of the company’s Connected Home Devices service, notes. “A high proportion of mid- to high-end Ultra HD TVs sold this year will support HDR which in combination with higher resolution and enhanced color representation will deliver a significant step change improvement to the TV viewing experience beyond resolution alone.”
More info on the full report, ”Ultra High Definition TV Displays: Global Market Forecast 2012-2020,” is available here.