With the help of a 4K television set, soccer fans have the chance to catch the tiniest details of this year's ongoing World Cup. From beads of sweat racing down Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo's face to the bite mark left by Argentinean enforcer Luis Suarez, every miniscule detail can be enjoyed from the comfort of home.
Three matches are expected to be filmed in ultra high-definition (UHD, nicknamed 4K HD), which boasts approximately four times the resolution of 1080p and enables users to enjoy a more vivid, clearer picture in their home theater environments.
Many TV makers in China and abroad see this to be a good opportunity to boost their 4K TV sales. For instance, Beijing-based LeTV, known for its online video platform, launched its 4K TV in April and promised to offer buyers the World Cup in 4K, even though China Central Television, the country's exclusive live broadcaster of the event, reportedly has no plans to stream the three 4K matches for domestic audiences.
China's electronics maker TCL in March unveiled a 4K TV set especially for soccer audiences, claiming they can transform the remaining 1080p matches into the new format. The company's CEO Li Dongsheng said on his official Sina Weibo in late June that driven by the event, global sales of 4K TVs would be lifted to 12.7 million this year, about seven times the figure of the previous year.
Analysts said that World Cup fever may give 4K TV sales a quick boom, but the new technology's longer-term outlook remains cloudy even in China, the world's largest seller of such TV units.
China's TV makers have long been actively carving out territories for this new format. In 2013, Chinese brands accounted for 84 percent of global 4K TV shipments, said a report issued in March by NPD DisplaySearch.
China's 4K TV sets feature modest capabilities at relatively low prices, but that will not be enough to persuade local price-sensitive consumers to place an order, Luo Qingqi, director of Pa Le Consulting Corporation, told the Global Times Tuesday.
"For a rather long time, 4K will be adored only by some tech fans, and ordinary people see no urgent need to embrace the new format at present," he said, partly citing the uncertainty surrounding 4K broadcasts and content chains.
Luo's opinion was echoed by Jia Jinghua, an independent home appliance expert in Shandong Province.
The lack of content is a major hurdle for the adoption of 4K TVs, Jia told the Global Times Tuesday.
Indeed, 4K content is scarce. Japanese Sony is among the minority in providing UHD films. Currently, only Japan enables 4K TV broadcasts, according to media reports.
TV stations and traditional film distributors in China have yet to show any clear signals of offering 4K contents. "Making 4K film takes a longer time and needs more investment in technology and bandwidth, and staid TV broadcasters will not easily dip their toe in the sector, where consumers still need a fairly long time to accept this trendy format," Jia explained.
Complete reliance on TV broadcasters is likely to put TV makers at risk when promoting the new format. As a result, scrappy Chinese Internet companies are expected to be the format's savior.
Seven traditional TV manufacturers including Samsung, TCL and Sony reportedly inked cooperation deals in March with Union Voole Technology, a Beijing-based film and digital media provider, which pledged to offer them 4K content.
NASDAQ-listed Sohu.com Inc said in mid-June that it has produced a 16-episode online drama using UHD technology, which can be viewed via mainstream 4K TVs. LeTV also joined the party with a plan to make 400 episodes of 4K TV dramas and several 4K films this year.
However, it seems that it will not be possible for China to count on online video streaming to increase demand for UHD TVs, given the low Internet bandwidth in the market, said Jia, believing that the popularization of 4K TV's still requires the aid of TV broadcasters.
China's lack of unified standards to regulate the current 4K TV industry is likely to result in a mixed market and uneven development, according to Jia.
Japanese TV-making giant Sony, an official FIFA partner, is actively bringing the cutting-edge 4K technology to the ongoing World Cup, providing 4K recording equipment to help record selected matches as a promotion.
If soccer fans want to view action from the tournament in 4K, Sony thinks it has the answer with its BRAVIA KD-55X8500A.
The Wi-Fi-enabled gadget can be installed with an application especially designed for the World Cup to further optimize the broadcasting of matches with sound collected on the field as well as present information related to the event. This app will be suspended when the tournament is over.
The gadget sports a 140-centimeter LCD panel with a resolution of 3,840 by 2,160 pixels, four times higher than what is now available on a Blu-ray disc. In addition, the device is also equipped with passive 3D technology.
Samsung UA55HU8500 18,999 yuan ($3,042)
Sony might have an edge over its rivals in UHD TVs, but its South Korean competitors are reluctant to be left behind in the new trend. Samsung is the most popular 4K TV brand in the eyes of Chinese consumers. Its UA55HU8500 received the most attention in May in China, according to Beijing-based market research center ZDC.
The device is equipped with a resolution of 3,840 by 2,160 pixels as well as a 140-centimeter screen. Similar to Sony's BRAVIA, it also adopts passive 3D technology and enables 3D sound, but also has the its additional feature of being able to receive voice commands.
In order to cater for the World Cup fever, Samsung's TV set offers a football model which enables viewers to enjoy more vivid matches and amplify the picture to check details.
Its PVR function can help record matches, but users need to connect the device with a Digital TV signal and external movable hard disk.
Xiaomi Mi TV 2 3,999 yuan ($640)
As traditional TV makers begin to do battle in the 4K arena, Chinese Internet companies have gradually become the rising stars in the sector with their low premium and relatively effective Internet marketing strategies. Beijing Xiaomi Technology Co unveiled its first 4K TV set, Mi TV 2, in May and sold 21,000 units in less than an hour on Tuesday.
With a 124-centimeter screen, Mi TV2 boasts four times the resolution of 1080p, as most existing 4K TVs do. It also has built-in Wi-Fi support and offers 3D films.
Thanks to Xiaomi's cooperation with iCNTV, the exclusive VOD provider for the World Cup matches, Mi TV 2 owners can enjoy all matches and highlights any time. But it has not offered any 4K content yet.
The sound effects offered by the TV set also carries its own appeal. Attached with a 20-centimeter wireless independent subwoofer and an external soundbar, the device can create a theatre atmosphere. And with its independent speakers, the aluminum-framed Mi TV 2 claims to be thinner and lighter. Some analysts, however, said that the screen size may not be large enough to present the 4K image.
