As reported on The Verge.
By Aaron Souppouris
Netflix will start streaming movies and TV shows in 4K soon, but only to certain TVs. “We’re not naming specific manufacturers,” Netflix Chief Product Officer Neil Hunt tellsStuff, “but we have several of the major TV vendors who are going to be producing 4K-capable TVs — they’ll be announcing them at CES [in early January].” The high-resolution streams won’t be coming to all 4K TVs, though, and will initially come to select new sets that have Netflix pre-installed. Hunt says that the feature may “eventually” come to Xbox One and PS4, but notes that the standards necessary to enable 4K streaming are “just a a little premature” right now.
‘HOUSE OF CARDS’ WILL STREAM IN 4K
Standards aside, the main issue Netflix faces in bringing 4K streaming to the masses is a lack of high-resolution material. As previously revealed, the company’s award-winning House of Cardsis shot and edited for 4K streaming, and will be one of the first supported shows. “Since it’s going to take a while until there is a material catalogue in 4K, it’s important for us to get out front and begin to push it,” says Hunt. “Initially it’ll be a set of sample offerings, not a big part of the catalogue … I think we can be instrumental in beginning the shift of production towards 4K.” Another problem Netflix faces is internet speeds: by the company’s own estimates even the Netherlands, which leads its speed tables, only manages to pull down an average of 3.16mbps from the streaming service— far less than required for 4K streaming.