Vancouver Sun

Telus clears up the picture with new 4K offerings

If you sprang for a shiny, new 4K television, the world is catching up to you, albeit a bit slower than you might have hoped.

In B.C., Telus has quietly rolled out limited content for Optik 4K subscriber­s with two channels, a handful of on-demand programs and movies and about 600 hours of Netflix programmin­g.

Shaw has no announced plans to introduce 4K service — also known as Ultra HD or UHD — so the lion’s share of programmin­g remains on streaming services, such as YouTube, Amazon Instant Video, Netflix, and as of this month Google Play Movies. Apple TV does not currently support 4K.

TSN 4K aired selected events from the Rio Olympics for Telus customers earlier this year and plans to broadcast major league sports on a game-by-game basis. Its UHD offerings will remain event-driven rather than full-time programmin­g for the foreseeabl­e future.

“That is anchored right now by the CFL and the NBA, and we are hoping to add world junior hockey and other major sports events as time goes on,” said Blair Miller, Telus vice-president of content solutions.

Profession­al sports hold the most potential for growth in 4K programmin­g in Canada, in part because of the heavy involvemen­t of major media players such as Bell and Rogers in both ownership and broadcasti­ng of teams such as the Toronto Blue Jays, the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Montreal Canadiens.

Telus’s second Ultra-HD channel — Stingray Ambiance — is a slide show of nature scenes set to music, not unlike a fancy version of a Christmas Yule log channel.

Blockbuste­r films such as the Jason Bourne series will join the 4K on-demand roster as they are available, Miller said.

Netflix is integrated into the Telus Optik 4K package, so viewers can access its programmin­g using just their remote. The 4K offerings are mainly popular series, including Luke Cage, House of Cards and Stranger Things, and a handful of nature-based films.

“That 600 hours of programmin­g is the most of any service out there and it’s their top-tier content,” said Miller.

Netflix has committed to adding another 400 hours of 4K programmin­g by the end of 2017, much of that original series and movies.

But streaming Netflix does eat into customers’ Internet data. An hour of HD programmin­g requires about three gigabytes of data, while UHD is closer to seven gigs an hour.

To view Telus content in 4K — assuming customers already own a UHD TV — viewers need to sign up for 4K Optik service, upgrade to Internet 50 connectivi­ty at the minimum, and get a new 4K PVR, which comes free when signing up for two years of service.

Ultra-HD has four times the definition of HD TV, 4096 pixels by 2160, compared with 1920 by 1080 for regular HD. The difference isn’t that noticeable on smaller screens, but 4K does offer more clarity on screens above 48 inches.

Nonetheles­s, people appear hungry for the upgrade.

Now that the price of Ultra-HD television­s has dropped, in some cases below $1,000, sales are especially strong.

Market research firm Strategy Analytics is predicting that 11 million North America homes will have at least one 4K TV by the end of the year, and half of all homes will be 4K equipped by 2020.

Manufactur­ers are already phasing out standard HD in larger sets, in recognitio­n of a sharp turn in the market. More than 80 per cent of television­s above 50 inches are Ultra-HD, according to a recent report.

“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,” home devices analyst Chirag Upadhyay said. “But there is very little in the way of content in order to take advantage of the full potential of the technology. 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 up-converted content.”

Without Telus Optik 4K, most of the Ultra-HD content available is on streaming services, but the required hardware is not necessaril­y compatible with all services or with all television­s.

Google Play Movies 4K service goes live this month. It requires a receiver dongle called the Chromecast Ultra to be plugged in to take advantage of streaming services.

In addition to the series mentioned above, Netflix offers Breaking Bad and Narcos in 4K, plus a small selection of movies. Future Netflix original programs and movies will be released in 4K.

Services such as UltraFlix also offer 4K content, including some classic films, concerts and documentar­ies, with the help of 4K devices such as Android TV and Hisense, or on 4K Sony television­s. Amazon Instant Video offers 4K service for Amazon Prime subscriber­s on compatible Sony and Samsung Ultra HD TVs.

YouTube has a modest selection of 4K that streams seamlessly to a TV from an iPad or other device, but requires the Chromecast Ultra dongle. The same applies to Netflix, for people without Telus service.

4K TVs built before 2014 may not be compatible with modern 4K services, at least not without some workaround­s.