That might be changing sooner than you think.

Today Netflix chief product officer Neil Hunt told The Verge that Netflix expects to be streaming video at the massive 3,840-by-2,160 pixel 4K resolution in the fairly near future: this year or next. If you thought Netflix was a data hog before, you ain’t seen nothing yet.

Now we know why Netflix recently unveiled its speed list of the 17 fastest Internet service providers in America.

“We have work to do with the compression and decode capability,” Hunt admitted, but he noted that Netflix’ own House of Cards was shot in 4K.

Assuming a massive amount of compression would need to take place in order to be able to stream 4K video reliably and quickly, the question becomes: What kind of hardware will be necessary to run full-res Netflix in the near future? Smart TVs, and appliances like Xboxes, Wiis, and Apple TVs might need very significant upgrades to have the kind of onboard power to run real-time decompression for that much video. Not to mention much more on-board storage, even if just for buffering.

One other thing Hunt wants to see from video producers? A higher frame rate.

Hunt says we’ve now pretty much maxed out the resolution of our eyes but that 60 frames/second would make for a much better video experience than the current 24 or 30.

photo credit: pkingDesign via photopin cc

The upcoming PlayStation 4 could serve as one of your first gateways to 4K video content — just as the PlayStation 3 helped bring Blu-rays to the living room, and the PlayStation 2 did the same with DVDs.

Sony Electronics president and chief operating officer Phil Molyneux (above) hinted that the 4K service would make its way to the PS4 in an interview with the Verge last night. While it’s not exactly a confirmation, we can’t imagine Sony would keep a flagship video service off of its much-hyped new console. Molyneux announced Sony’s intention to create the first 4K distribution service at CES back in January.

4K offers four times the resolution of 1080p HD video, which is currently the highest resolution supported by TVs and Blu-rays today. The technology was one of the stars of CES — likely because the industry seems ready to move on from promoting 3D in the home. Broadcom announced a 4K gateway chip at CES that could make it easy for devices to manage massive 4K data streams.

Sony has already confirmed that the PS4 supports 4K resolution videos and photos, so the announcement doesn’t come as a huge surprise.

What is surprising, though, is how Sony is approaching the service. According to Molyneux, 4K movies will be around 100 gigabytes in size, depending on their length. In comparison, 1080p HD videos streamed via Netflix and iTunes are typically around 4 GB to 8 GB. He told the Verge that huge file sizes and typical broadband speed are “challenges that we have to work through. … We’ve got some very good ideas that will make that a comfortable consumer experience.”

He could be referring to overnight downloads for the 4K movie service, which the PlayStation 3 already offers when downloading large games. But that’s still a significant difference from the instant access consumers are expecting with services like Netflix and iTunes. A 100 GB download could take eight to 12 hours to download, and it could also quickly eat up your ISP’s bandwidth cap. It’s even less convenient than hopping in the car and finding a Redbox kiosk.

Perhaps Sony will come up with some method to alleviate the huge downloads. Molyneux said that work on new compression was in “active progress.” But even then, you’ll likely be looking at files around 50 GB to 70 GB.

I can’t imagine consumers will suffer through such an arduous process to view 4K video, especially when its benefits are difficult to see on TVs smaller than 60- to 80-inches. So not only will you need to buy a new TV to watch 4K content, it’ll also have to be somewhat massive (unless you opt for a projector setup). That’s why Samsung is so focused on its 85-inch and 110-inch 4K TV sets.

4K content certainly looks great, from what I’ve seen. But given that most people can’t even see the difference between 720p HD and 1080p on typical TV sets, 4K seems destined to be ignored by consumers. The headache around Sony’s 4K service certainly won’t help.

Photo: Dean Takahashi/VentureBeat

While 4K Ultra HD televisions were everywhere at this year’s CES, 4K Ultra HD content was not.

“4K” is a buzzword for video content with four times the resolution of current 1080p high-definition displays. It’s beautiful, hopelessly expensive, and so far supported by just about zero content.

The Japanese government, however, is looking to fill that void. The Asahi Shimbun reports that Japan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications could launch the world’s first 4K broadcast as soon in 2014 — two years ahead of initial launch estimates.

That’s big news for Japanese companies like Toshiba, Sharp, and Sony, all of which have been heavily pushing the new video format. Getting 4K content out there is key if these companies want to give consumers reasons to actually buy 4K displays.

The first broadcast would come via communications satellite, and would be followed quickly by satellite broadcasting and plain old wired digital, the Asahi Shimbun reports.

No amount of 4K content, however, can solve the problem that currently plagues the format: It’s too damn expensive. 4K Ultra HD televisions run for roughly ten thousand dollars — and that’s on the low end. And you’d need to buy a television as large as 80-inches just to see the 4K difference. Hello, impracticality.

You’ve seen what we loved at CES last week, as well as some of the weirdest news out of the event. Now here’s a choice selection of the very worst of CES 2013.

Huawei’s Ascend Mate destroys all logic

In the quest to make smartphones ever-bigger, Huawei now reigns supreme. That’s not exactly a good thing. The Chinese company debuted the 6.1-inch Ascend Mate at the show, putting it firmly between Samsung’s already big Galaxy Note line and 7-inch tablets.

The impracticality of the Ascend Mate trumps the slight convenience of a bigger screen: It’s too big to fit in most pockets, almost impossible to use one-handed, and it looks completely ridiculous when you actually try to use it as a phone. There’s a point where we have to say “no more!” when it comes to increasingly larger smartphones, and I believe the Huawei Ascend Mate is it. – Devindra Hardawar

The big players hold back

This was a surprisingly weak year for major device announcements from big companies like Microsoft and Sony. Most companies now hold their own events for smartphone and tablet launches, since it allows them to control the news, instead of fighting for attention at CES. Many are also waiting until Mobile World Congress next month to show off their new mobile gadgets. It could be that we’re also seeing a drought of new devices after the tablet and smartphone gold rush of the past few years.

Whatever the reason, the door seems wide open for smaller companies to make a splash at CES in the future. Just look how much of an impact Nvidia and Qualcomm were able to make at the show. — Devindra Hardawar

Sony and Microsoft had nothing to say on the console front, as they’re waiting for E3 in June to make a splash with the game audience. On top of that, Microsoft had very little to say about where the Windows 8 ecosystem is going after its underwhelming launch in the fall. This foot-dragging by industry leaders is giving opportunity to startups and usurpers. But those companies won’t have the muscle to push aside their rivals. For consumers, that means they’ll have to wait longer for innovation. — Dean Takahashi

Source: Hyper Drive's Instagram

Hyper Drive proudly posted pics of its booth babes on Instagram.

The booth babes

It’s 2013 and we’re still dealing with companies showing off scantily clad ladies to hype their wares. You could say it’s just Vegas, but of course that would be a lie. “Booth babes” are a staple of pretty much every major tradeshow, especially when they involve tech like games and cars. But it seems more than a little anachronistic today when we’re having serious and important discussions about gender equality in the tech industry.

The storage company Hyper Drive was one of the worst offenders. Its booth featured women wearing practically nothing except underwear and body paint, with all the agency of a statue. Sexual objectification ahoy!

Just look at the storm VentureBeat’s Jolie O’Dell whipped up when she (rightly) lambasted a sexist CES ad campaign. That post ended up sparking the #notbuyingit hashtag, which sadly applied to quite a few companies at CES. — Devindra Hardawar

4K Ultra HD TVs swing … and miss

4K Ultra HD TVs were introduced by nearly every major consumer electronics vendor at the show. But the innovations were all too similar. Each vendor had similar (huge) screen sizes, since they source their screens from many of the same vendors. Nobody spoke about price tags, but $10,000 for a 55-inch 4K screen sounds like a typical figure.

The big problem is that the 4K ecosystem is very weak. Hollywood-style support in the form of movies is going to be slow in coming. That lack of content support is similar to the debacle around 3D TVs and the 3D glasses needed to watch them, when consumer electronics manufacturers tried to push a technology that consumers didn’t want. There isn’t a great way to get 4K video content into the home and distributed around the house. 4K looks better than the usual HDTV, for sure, but the manufacturers better bring down the prices and make the systems more useful and differentiated. – Dean Takahashi

As a movie lover, I’m enamored with the idea of getting an even bigger TV with a crazy-high resolution. But Dean’s point still stands — right now we’re just seeing nice TVs, not the content ecosystem to support it. There’s no new disc-based format on the horizon to support huge 4K files, and we’ll need to see major advances in streaming compression (not to mention home Internet speeds) to see a 4K version of Netflix’s streaming.

The practicality of 4K TVs is also a problem. You’ll need at least an 80-inch set to see the difference between 4K and today’s 1080p HD, which makes the format all but useless for people who can’t fit giant screens or a projector into their home.– Devindra Hardawar

If hardware manufacturers are to survive, they can’t just keep pumping out hardware, Panasonic chief executive Kazuhiro Tsuga said in a keynote speech at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas today.

“We are expanding our role from a hardware manufacturer to a total solutions provider,” he said.

Having said that, he promptly introduced a new 4K OLED TV. The TV is a half-inch thick and 56 inches diagonally. That’s a pretty big achievement, but it won’t fly off the shelves unless there is content to support it.

Panasonic’s approach to organizing home video involves creating profiles for each family member. When you sit down and login, the TV shows the channels that are relevant to you.

Panasonic believes a next-generation TV experience is more personal. And in a world flooded with content, discovery of what is important to you is a priority. That problem has popped up for those perusing app stores, which have hundreds of thousands of apps, and it will happen soon on TVs as well.

Tim Vanderhook, CEO of Specific Media, spoke on stage about a partnership with Panasonic to create an enhanced viewing experience. Specific Media uses your history of rating shows and liking content to make recommendations to you within a menu. A heat map (or darker color) shows which shows are highly recommended to you.

A few more key areas Panasonic said it is focusing on: It’s working with IBM to bring cloud computing to managing connected devices in smarter, greener homes. It’s also working to push forward the electric car market, making batteries for a variety of electric cars, like the Tesla S, and applying its energy-saving know-how to that industry.

Sony said today it will launch several new 4K Ultra HD televisions. It will also start filling out the ecosystem to support the switch to a new line of brighter and crisper displays.

Phil Molyneux, head of Sony Electronics, announced at Sony’s press event at the Consumer Electronics Show that Sony will launch new 55-inch and 65-inch 4K TVs in addition to the 84-inch TV it has already launched. The move is similar to announcements by a number of other TV makers at the show today.

“It’s really like looking through a window,” Molyneux said.

He said Sony would launch the first 4K video distribution service to provide more content for 4K TVs. Movies such as the Amazing Spider-Man are available in 4K Ultra HD, but a lot more content has to materialize before consumers will join the bandwagon. Sony has 4K digital cinema projectors in 14,000 theaters and has now launched a 4K video camera for consumers. Sony Pictures plans to release a number of Blu-ray 4K movie discs in the spring.

“4K is not the future,” said Kaz Hirai, chief executive of Sony. “It’s now.”

Sony also announced a 4K 56-inch OLED display. But, unfortunately for Hirai, the TV gave a blue screen when it was unveiled.

“Excellent,” Hirai said, when the TV failed. Everybody laughed, except the Sony employees, who wheeled the TV off the stage.

Samsung showed off lots of fresh new gear today at CES, including smart TVs, sleek laptops, Wi-fi-enabled cameras, and an absurd connected refrigerator.

While the event wasn’t the most exciting (we would have liked more phone and tablet announcements), it at least showed some of the latest things Samsung has been cooking up.

Here’s what the Korean electronics giant showed off:

New Samsung Smart TVs, including a 110-inch Ultra HD 4K TV

The biggest announcement by far at Samsung’s press event today was the introduction of powerful new smart TVs with quad-core processors and improved voice controls. It also showed a 85-inch Ultra HD 4K TV and talked about a 110-inch 4K TV that will be available for viewing tomorrow on the CES show floor.

Verizon Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 with LTE connectivity

The Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet added LTE connectivity via the Verizon network and will be sold at Verizon stores. Samsung said the device will be available this month.

Wi-Fi-enabled cameras and camcorders

Samsung launched a line of updated cameras and camcorders than can be connected to Wi-Fi and automatically upload your latest photos and videos to the Web.

T9000 smart refrigerator

This $4000 refrigerator includes an LCD panel with an Evernote app for keeping track of important things. THe LCD display also shows apps for calendar, weather, and more. Oh yeah, it also has super fancy temperature and humidity controls. I rather like Gizmodo’s reaction piece to this absurd appliance.

Sleek Ultrabook laptops

Samsung also showed off some Ultrabook laptops it recently announced. This includes the refreshed Series 7 Chronos (pictured) and the Series 7 Ultra.

Photos via Michael O’Donnell and Sean Ludwig/VentureBeat

As expected, Korean electronics titan Samsung has unveiled a series of feature-filled smart televisions with voice controls, a 110-inch Ultra HD 4K set, and a powerful 55-inch OLED TV.

Samsung has been a major player in the Smart TV race, and last year’s Samsung CES conference was filled with TV models that helped build a connected home with tablets and smartphones. Now it’s upgrading those experiences with the latest tech like 4K TVs, which are incredibly expensive but deliver stunning visuals.

Samsung showed off a variety of new TV models, including a number of LCDs and plasmas. The highlight was easily the announcement of the 110-inch ultra HD TV, which sounds like a concept but it’s still crazy. There’s also the 85-inch ultra HD TV set (pictured above), which was shown onstage and looks similar to the Toshiba 4K TV set we saw last night.

Samsung also showed off its 55-inch OLED TV, which it showed last year at CES but never released it to the market.

It notes the following features as highlights on its latest TVs:

Samsung Smart Hub: Five intuitive panels help consumers manage and navigate different types of content, which are displayed as thumbnail images for the first time so it’s even easier to select and watch the content on the big screen. With a light hand gesture (flipping), you can discover five totally different experiences in Smart Hub, as if you have five new TV sets.

S-recommendation: Quickly and easily search for TV programs, premium video-on-demand, apps, social content and locally stored content on personal devices. The special recommendation engine also offers customized content recommendations for the most personal TV experience ever.

Advanced Smart Interaction: Use everyday language and casual gestures to find content or command and control the TV.

Content and device convergence with multiscreen features: Samsung’s Smart View allows you to move your content seamlessly between devices in real-time; AllShare connects the TV to compatible mobile devices and home appliances wirelessly and creates a smart center for media and whole-home automation. You also can mirror your TV content on compatible Samsung Galaxy tablets and phones.

Evolution Kit: Owners of flagship Samsung 2012 TVs will be able to update their TVs with the latest Smart TV features simply by slotting in this Evolution Kit without having to buy a new TV.

Check out the photos below for more from Samsung’s event today:

Forget “4K.” The next-generation high definition standard will be officially called “Ultra High Definition” when it hits homes, the Consumer Electronics Association announced yesterday.

Current HDTV displays top out at a resolution of 1080p, also known as “Full HDTV.” 4K is a standard currently being used in theaters, and from my experience it provides an almost film-like image quality to the big screen. When it comes to the home, though, it looks like the CEA is aiming for a more marketable and less technical term for the next big HD upgrade.

So what goes into Ultra HD? According to the CEA, it will sport a resolution of at least eight million active pixels, with a minimum size of 3,840 by 2,1060 pixels. Displays also need to maintain a 16 by 9 aspect ratio (the widescreen format that’s already required for HDTVs). Ultra HD devices have to include at least one digital input that can handle 4K video without upconversion.

For most consumers, though, Ultra HD may be more than they need. Current 1080p HDTVs work well up to 80 inches — so unless you go beyond that size, 4K isn’t really worth it for most viewing distances. Home theater gurus, for the most part, also feel that the idea of 4K TVs in the home is “stupid, stupid, stupid.”

The Ultra HD name is even more confusing considering that Japan’s NHK just received approval for “Ultra-High Definition TV” to describe 8K TVs. (Yup, you guessed it, 8K is the next step beyond 4K.) Now it seems like NHK may have to come up with a new way to describe its next-next gen technology.

We’ve dropped a line to CEA, asking them to explain some of this naming confusion.

Update:  A CEA representative clarified the UHD confusion, saying that the group was aware of the other next-gen HD names. They noted that CEA found market research for the Ultra HD name tested well with consumers, and that they understand the technology as something superior to current HD standards. They also added that manufacturers can add modifiers to clarify their products.

ITU chose the term Ultra High Definition for both 4K and 8K. NHK uses the brand Super Hi-Vision to refer to its 8k technology, a long term project not expected to be fielded until after 2020. Our UHD working group was aware of both of these terms.

CEA’s terminology is for consumers and manufacturers are free to add an additional modifier to our UHD nomenclature, such as UHD 4K, should they chose.

Sony, meanwhile,  is saying it will still use the 4K label alongside UHD. A Sony spokesperson sent us the following statement over e-mail:

Sony lauds the CEA’s efforts to come up with a common language to describe the next generation high-definition technology. However, to ensure clarity for consumers and delineate between today’s and tomorrow’s technology, Sony will continue to use the 4K moniker for its products and will market its future products as 4K ultra high-definition (4K UHD).

Above: LG’s 84-inch 4K TV.

Even though the next major successor to current HDTV technology is likely the 4K standard, which is currently being used in many digital theaters, an even higher quality standard has just been approved: Ultra-High Definition TV.

Japan’s NHK has been spearheading UHDTV with its 8K technology, and yesterday the International Telecommunication Union approved NHK’s standard, the Verge reports.

UHDTV sports an eye-blistering resolution of 7680 by 4320, a 120fps frame rate, and a wider array of colors. In comparison, modern HDTVs max out at 1080p quality (1920 by 1080, slightly lower than the 2K standard), and the 4K standard supports resolutions up to 4096 by 2072.

Basically, UHDTV is calling for an insane level of picture quality, and it will likely be years before 8K content is even available. It’s also arguable how necessary 8K resolutions will be in the home, where even the 4K standard may be overkill. At average viewing distances, current HDTV sets work well up to 80 inches, and the benefits of 4K sets will only be apparent beyond that size. That leaves little practical use for 8K UHDTV (unless you happen to have a movie theater in your den).

In the words of CNet’s TV reviewer Geoffrey Morrison, 4K TV sets are just “stupid, stupid, stupid.” That may make 8K TV sets downright idiotic.

It used to be that integrated graphics chipsets could barely run a simple DVD properly. But come next year, the integrated graphics in Intel’s upcoming Ivy Bridge processor will be able to power eye-bleedingly sharp 4K high-definition video at massive 4K resolutions, VR Zone reports.

In comparison, Intel’s current Sandy Bridge graphics chipset only supports a maximum resolution of 2,560 by 1600. The additional graphics horsepower in Ivy Bridge means that a mere laptop will be able to power huge pro-grade displays, as well as have the ability to decode 4K HD video. To match that performance today, you’d need to invest in expensive graphics cards (and forget about doing it on a laptop).

Sporting a resolution of 4096 by 2304 pixels or more, 4K HD is the next major leap in video quality after 1080p HD video, the standard resolution for Blu-ray video, and the current maximum resolution for most HDTVs. With support for the 4K HD built-in, computers running Ivy Bridge processors will be able to play back massive video files without a sweat. In fact, according to Intel, Ivy Bridge will be able to juggle multiple 4K videos at once.

Of course, Intel’s Ivy Bridge graphics will also feature faster 3D graphics capabilities, but its support for 4K resolutions will likely be a good investment over time. We’ll likely be seeing 4K computer displays become more affordable within several years (right now the only such entry costs around $36,000 dollars), and 4K will eventually make its way into our living rooms (home projectors supporting 4K are just now being announced).