UHD Broadcasting
With the cable industry ushering in the UHD broadcasting era in the second week of April, experts point out that the government should focus on increasing investment in UHD content and expanding opportunities for local companies to revitalize the local UHD market and related industries.
Industry analysts are saying that the broadcast television industry ought to take the initiative and to make an investment for the production of UHD content.
In particular, the cable TV industry is going to invest 40 billion won (US$38.5 million) in the development of UHD content for 3 years to help the UHD industry flourish. It will also make another investment of 650 billion won (US$625 million) by 2017 in facilities (40.3 billion won, US$38.8 million), terminal equipment (194 billion won, US$186.6 million), and the development of networks and technology (415.7 billion won, US$399.9 million).
An industry source said, “Currently, it is not feasible for locally-made equipment to overtake that produced by foreign companies like Sony and Canon, but the software or content production field creates a lot of opportunities for the local industry to grow.” The source added, “I hope that the government and local companies will invest in the UHD industry and provide more opportunities for the industry.”
Observers say that the development of infrastructure such as frequencies and lines for UHD TVs is also necessary for the industry to grow, so that local broadcasting service providers, including cable TV operators, IPTV providers, pay television providers, and mobile carriers can steadily transmit UHDTV content on a large scale. The commercialization of still-expensive UHD TVs is also critical.