Panasonic talks the rise of 4K, says it will not follow the failings of 3D

Panasonic has spoken out on the state of the emerging 4K market, claiming that with more drive behind it than 3D, the TV sector’s new must-have feature will not be hit by the same failings.

Although the first 4K TVs will set wannabe owners back northwards of £2,500, the Japanese manufacturer has suggested that consumers and industry players alike are heaping more focus on the rise of 4K.

Questioned by TrustedReviews on whether the drive for 4K content is higher than that for 3D, Craig Cunningham, a Product Manager for Panasonic stated: “I think so. The majority of content is going to be shot in 4K. I’m sure there is going to be race on between the broadcasters with service providers to really get the 4K out there as quick as possible.”

Although insisting there is still a place for 3D content in the home entertainment space, Cunningham has suggested that the industry has learnt from the lack of early content which hampered the technology’s adoption.

“I’m hoping there is going to be some big announcements because the fear for the consumers – well not so much a fear but more of a concern – is ‘This 4K TV is great, but when am I going to get content to watch it?’.”

Despite these concerns, the Panasonic Product Manager believes that 4K will be an easy sell, to the UK consumer at least.

“I think convincing the UK consumer that 4K is the next generation is going to be really easy,” he told us. “When you see the different in picture quality between even Full HD and 4K, you see that it’s the future.”

Although a lack of available content will mean 4K TV adoption is slow at first, Cunningham believes there will be a wealth of 4K content available soon.

 “As an industry we move so fast and 4K content, it will come,” he said. “I’m sure by the end of the year you’ll find plenty of 4K content.”

He added: “At Panasonic we are doing what we can to address 4K content so our Lumix cameras for example all can film 4K so you can still create some 4K content you just need the movies now and the broadcasters to get on board. Netflix is going to be a great start to that.”

Although the likes of Netflix have already thrown their backing into the 4K movement, Cunningham has said sport will be a major driving factor in the standard’s uptake.

“Sporting events will really be the key,” he said speaking on how to improve 4K efforts.

“Sport as a spectacle is always a driver for new technology. I’m sure 4K coming to sport will be a natural progression. I imagine when Sky eventually does something it will be around sport to start off with.”

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