In a recent article we did a little investigative research on the state of 4K and four significant trends:
- The upgrade in picture quality is significant and will drive an increase in value to the consumer – and additional revenues for services.
- Competitive forces are operating at scale – Service Providers and OTT distributors will drive the adoption of 4K.
- SNL Kagen forecasts the number of global UHD Linear channels at 95 by the end of 2016 – and 237 globally by 2020.
- Geography. 4K is already far more widely deployed in Asia Pacific and Western Europe than in the U.S.
In this article we want to further highlight the state of commercially available 4K UHD services. The UltraHD Forum published a list of UHD services that are “live” and it’s worth checking out.
To break it down, there are 18 VOD and 37 Live services with 8 in the US and 47 outside the US.
The 4K adoption rate isn’t moving as slowly as one might think, so don’t make the mistake of misreading its speed. It’s time to start building your 4K workflows now as the competitive pressure is fast approaching.
Note: The following UHD service chart is courtesy UltraHD Forum.
| Operator | Country | Service | Topology | Delivery Model | Notes |
| AcTVila | Japan | VoD | OTT | Unicast ABR | |
| airtel 4K | India | Live | IPTV | broadcast | |
| Amazon | US | VoD | OTT | Unicast ABR | |
| Bein | Middle East | Live | DTH | Broadcast | |
| BT | UK | Live | IPTV | broadcast | |
| Comcast | US | Push VoD | Cable | DOCSIS 3.x | NBC used HDR10 & Atmos for Rio Olympics |
| Dalian Tiantu | China | TS Playout | Cable | unverified | |
| DirecTV | US | VoD | DTH | Push VoD | |
| Dish UHD promo | Live | IPTV | broadcast | ||
| Fashion one (SES) | Luxembourg | Live | DTH | broadcast | |
| Festival4K | France | Live | IPTV | broadcast | |
| Fransat | France | Live | DTH | broadcast | |
| Fransat | France | TS Playout | DTH | broadcast | |
| Free | France | Live | IPTV | Multicast | Android middleware, 1 channel at launch: Fashion TV loop |
| Globo TV | Brazil | VoD | OTT | Unicast ABR | |
| High 4K TV | Live | IPTV | broadcast | ||
| insight | Live | IPTV | broadcast | ||
| Inspur | China | Live | Cable | unverified | |
| J:COM | Japan | Live | Cable | Broadcast | |
| KPN | Netherlands | Live | IPTV | Multicast | |
| KT | Korea | Live | IPTV | Multicast | |
| LG Uplus | Korea | VoD / Live ? | IPTV | Multicast | |
| M-Go | US | VoD | OTT | Unicast ABR | |
| Nasa TV | US/Europe | Live | IPTV | broadcast | |
| Netflix | US | VoD | OTT | Unicast ABR | |
| NOS | Portugal | Live | Cable | Broadcast, Multicast, Unicast ABR | OTT trials have occured |
| NTT Plala | Japan | Live / VoD | IPTV | Multicast | |
| Orange France | France | Live | IPTV | Multicast | Dolby Atmos available on some broadcasts |
| pearl tv | Luxembourg | Live | DTH | broadcast | |
| SFR | France | Live | IPTV | Multicast | UHD used to promote Fiber |
| SKBB | Korea | Live | IPTV | Multicast | |
| Sky Deutschland | Germany | Live / Push-VoD | DTH / Cable | broadcast | Launched October 5th 2016, 2 Live channels + Push VoD |
| Sky Italia | Italy | Live | DTH | broadcast | “Super HD” launched June 2016, HDR Announced for 2017 |
| Sky UK | UK | Live | DTH | broadcast | Available to premium Sky Q customers |
| SkyLife | Korea | Live | DTH | broadcast | |
| SkyPerfecTV | Japan | Live | DTH / Opticast | broadcast | HDR announced for October 2016 |
| Slovak Telecom | Slovakia | VoD | OTT | Unicast ABR | |
| Sony | US | VoD | OTT | Unicast ABR | |
| Sth Korea’s Pandora | Korea | VoD | OTT | Unicast ABR | |
| Stofa | Dennmark | Live | cable | Multicast | Viasat Ultra HD |
| Swisscom | Switzerland | Live & VoD | IPTV | Multicast | Testing HDR |
| Tata Sky | India | Live | DTH | broadcast | cricket world cup’15 |
| Telekom Malaysia | Malaysia | Live | IPTV | Multicast | Demonstration/Trials – Launch soon |
| Telus | Canada | VoD | OTT | Unicast ABR | Starts with VoD – Live coming soon |
| Tivusat | Italy | Live | DTH | Broadcast | |
| Tricolor | Russia | TS Playout | DTH | broadcast | |
| Turkcell | Turkey | Live | IPTV | Multicast | |
| UHD-1 | Live | IPTV | broadcast | ||
| UMAX | Korea | TS Playout | Cable | broadcast | |
| Videocon | India | Live | DTH | broadcast | cricket world cup’15 |
| Vidity | US | VoD | OTT | Unicast ABR | |
| Vodafone Portugal | Portugal | Live | IPTV | Multicast | |
| Vodafone Spain | Spain | Live / VoD | IPTV | Multicast, Unicast | |
| VUDU | US | VoD | OTT | Unicast ABR | Dolby Vision and Atmos support announced |
| waiku tv | France | VoD | OTT | Unicast ABR |
