Rumor: Apple building 4K Ultra HD television set for launch in 2013 or early 2014
The latest rumor regarding Apple's much speculated entry into the living room says the company is developing a TV with a screen resolution that meets the 4K UHD standard, otherwise known as Ultra HD, and could debut the television set by the end of 2013.
Citing supply chain sources, DigiTimes reports the device, supposedly to be called the "iTV," will sport a 3,840-by-2,160 pixel display, voice and motion controls and internet connectivity. While the publication's insiders have a spotty record in predicting Apple's hardware releases, its display industry sources are somewhat more reliable.
If true, the iTV would fall under the guidelines of the 4K UHD standard of 2160p, which boasts four times the pixel count of a 1080p HDTV. The most recent Consumer Electronics Show and other expos worldwide have seen TV manufacturers like LG and Samsung showing off the cutting edge tech, though the 4K panels carry prices well out of reach for the average consumer.
According to the sources, Apple and manufacturing partner Foxconn have been discussing the mass production of UHDTVs for "quite some time," but the Cupertino company is said to be looking for a reliable panel supplier. The publication noted that most firms capable of building the high-resolution displays will already be at near full capacity in 2013 to satiate demand from Chinese vendors.
While Apple's own display suppliers are capable of producing panels for a standalone television, they are reportedly focused on making components for the iPhone, iPad and iPad mini. LG Display will likely be able to mass produce the necessary panel sizes by the second half of 2013. This means a 4K iTV could launch by year's end, the sources say, but is more likely to happen in early 2014.
Citing supply chain sources, DigiTimes reports the device, supposedly to be called the "iTV," will sport a 3,840-by-2,160 pixel display, voice and motion controls and internet connectivity. While the publication's insiders have a spotty record in predicting Apple's hardware releases, its display industry sources are somewhat more reliable.
If true, the iTV would fall under the guidelines of the 4K UHD standard of 2160p, which boasts four times the pixel count of a 1080p HDTV. The most recent Consumer Electronics Show and other expos worldwide have seen TV manufacturers like LG and Samsung showing off the cutting edge tech, though the 4K panels carry prices well out of reach for the average consumer.
According to the sources, Apple and manufacturing partner Foxconn have been discussing the mass production of UHDTVs for "quite some time," but the Cupertino company is said to be looking for a reliable panel supplier. The publication noted that most firms capable of building the high-resolution displays will already be at near full capacity in 2013 to satiate demand from Chinese vendors.
While Apple's own display suppliers are capable of producing panels for a standalone television, they are reportedly focused on making components for the iPhone, iPad and iPad mini. LG Display will likely be able to mass produce the necessary panel sizes by the second half of 2013. This means a 4K iTV could launch by year's end, the sources say, but is more likely to happen in early 2014.
Comments
...And while they're at it, a 4K UHD projector
http://techland.time.com/2012/05/14/digitimes-apple-rumors/
Their occasional correct guesses are probably just that: guesses. Or fictions, either by them or by false "sources."
Most of us on this forum could make an educated Apple guess, claim a phony source, and turn out right more often than DigiTimes.
DigiTimes' only talent is self-promotion, apparently.
I don't even acknowledge them as a source of news. I see them as a "What if" query generator.
I think this is the real deal... the display, the codec, then the content...could equal "revolutionary"....???!
DigiTimes. Hook. Line. Sinker.
Let's talk again if and when Phil Schiller pulls the sheet off one at Moscone Center.
In the Apple world, 2160p would be known as Retina HD.
This could be Cook's first market disrupter as CEO. There's no point in Apple producing a 1080p TV when the prices have fallen so drastically and everybody and their dog probably already own a 1080p TV. This would be great timing as stated earlier with the H.265 codec. It makes a lot of sense.
This makes the most sense to me. Everyone and their dog has a 1080P TV. Apple would have nothing to really stand out from all the other TV's except for design, which isn't enough in such a crowded market.
4K TV's are expensive and niche right now. An ideal market for Apple to enter and be one of the first to market with an affordable (relatively speaking) 4K TV. It goes along with their push to "Retina" displays.
And then there's those two new data centres Apple is building to serve data up for something....
What would be the point of this? Most "HD" channels are just highly compressed 720p feeds as it is. Is there anyone out there that looks at a high quality bluray on their 50+ inch name brand TV and yawns?
Sorry, but no dice.
There is another side of this coin I failed to mention in my earlier post. At a 50% reduction in file we're talking about about 2x the size of their 1080p, and probably somewhat less with other factors considered, but what professional content can be had at 4K. Apparently professional movies and TV shows already filmed in 4-5K resolutions.
Would they really agree to allow Apple to get in at the ground floor by giving them 4K/H.265 encoded content so early on after they've seen the way Apple can dominate an industry so thoroughly? I don't think they are hurting for people to watch 1080p content. The are still a lot of people watching SD content, even on HDTVs.
This actually sounds like the display tech is the driver over any other aspect in the chain so they might have to work with a partner that has a foot in both the display and content camps. That could be Sony, but I can't see Sony giving Apple this golden ticket. Doesn't this just leave Disney as a strong connection to Apple to start the dominos falling like with the original Apple TV? If that's the case I hope it's more effective than with the original Apple TV that was first demoed in late 2009.
There was a patent a while back for glasses-free 3D-TV. %u2026 Ah yes, actually 2010's 3D-projector patent
"Apple's patent describes using a special reflective screen with a rippled texture to create an autostereoscopic projection system, meaning one in which different images are projected to each eye without the need for special glasses."
That sounds more like the basis of a "revolutionary" product.
AirPlay becomes more compelling if you can stream retina games and content from your iPad, Mac to the TV. I'm still skeptical, but AirPlay gets you other content to use on the display beyond streaming movies.
Quote:
Originally Posted by enzos
Sounds stunning. But why? It wouldn't be in Apple's MO to simply a produce a higher res TV; more dots on the screen - wow! - wet-your-pants Nerd Heaven! LG and/or Samesong &c could do that for themselves.
There was a patent a while back for glasses-free 3D-TV. %u2026 Ah yes, actually 2010's 3D-projector patent
"Apple's patent describes using a special reflective screen with a rippled texture to create an autostereoscopic projection system, meaning one in which different images are projected to each eye without the need for special glasses."
That sounds more like the basis of a "revolutionary" product.
Have you ever heard of the Nintendo 3DS?
I'm not going to look it up, but I thought we already had glasses free 3D TVs…
P.S. I hate 3D. It's an expensive gimmick that has fatal flaws because of the eye's physiology, and it should be ignored.
Good point. iPad is already more than 50% more pixels than a 1080p TV. If we get an Apple TV App Store a Retina display will be even more important, something 1080p TVs typically aren't set these day, especially not the 50+ inch models for a normal viewing distance. Perhaps we need to stop looking at this from the perspective of the cable TV we get sent to us right now and look at those other reasons why 4K could be a huge improvement.
Regular 1080 TV's are already boring and the prices for them are cheaper than ever now. Why would Apple want to enter that market which is already heavily saturated? Unless Apple brings something totally new to the table, and somehow releases a game changing TV, I don't see what there is to get excited about. If the TV is just a 1080 TV with an Apple TV built into it, then I don't see what's so great about that.
4K is where things are heading, and it would make sense for Apple to skate to where the puck is going to be, and not skate to where the puck is currently located, like almost everybody else does.
If this rumor were true, then that Apple 4K TV would obviously not be cheap, but so what? Apple's goal is not to make products for poor people. Poor people and people who whine about the price of an iPad Mini do not push technology forward. People and early adopters who would shell out the money for a 4K Apple TV are the driving forces behind new tech, not whiners.
Watching a 4K theatre movie on a 4K TV at home in your living room sounds like the ultimate in home cinema, at least until 8K or 16K TVs gets released in a decade or whenever.
I also read recently that Netflix says to expect 4k Streaming in about 2 years time.