Korea’s two tech giants Samsung Electronics Co. and LG Electronics Inc. are racing for a front lead in the fledgling market of the ultra high-definition (UHD) on hopes that consumers will be finally be persuaded to buy the expensive 4K UHD TVs once local terrestrial TV stations start feeding 4K-based broadcasting service in February.

UHD quadruples the amount of pixels available in a standard HD TV set, meaning more details in color, contrast, and every aspect of TV picture plus clarity. TV makers have poured out 4K TVs since last year, but the new-generation TVs mostly stayed in the showrooms because of their costly price and lack of native 4K content. But that would change in Korea as it would become the first in the world to start commercial broadcasting service in UHD next year.

The Korean TV makers are competing not only in technology standards for terrestrial UHD broadcasting and but also in image quality improvement with their self-developed technology modes, quantum dot TV and organic light-emitting diode (OLED) TV, respectively. UHD is synonymous to 4K, referring to image width of 4,000 pixels. Experts claim the UHD image can even be more vivid than the real thing.

The UHD market is expected to gain traction once contents are delivered in the technology. European and U.S. broadcasters are also preparing to air UHD programs. Local experts believe UHD to become the mainstream in Korean broadcasting within the next three to four years.

UHD TV sold globally this year totaled 55.69 million sets. Its sales are expected to balloon to 76.82 million units in 2017, 97.25 million units in 2018 and more than 100 million units in 2019, according to market watchers. In value, the market would be worth about $60 billion by 2019.

Samsung Electronics will aggressively field SUHD TV to maintain its leadership in the UHD TV market throughout next year and beyond. SUHD TV is equipped with second-generation quantum dot technology to support UHD’s exceptional picture quality.

According to Samsung, the quantum dot display uses nanometer-sized particles and delivers more color variations which could lead to producing up to 1 billion color shades that would allow viewers to see the world as it should be seen. The technology also increases the overall display brightness to a maximum level, allowing users to continue viewing details and vivid colors even in bright light.

LG Electronics aims to strengthen its OLED TV lineup for the UHD TV market. Each pixel of OLED TV emits light by itself, offering more natural color reproduction with expanded color gamut and better off-axis viewing. LG Electronics is also committed to realizing the perfect audio quality through TV speakers.

By Kim Dong-eun

[ⓒ Pulse by Maeil Business News Korea & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]