Extron True4K: Yea or Nay?

Manufacturer’s program is aimed at creating transparency and clarity for products’ 4K-related specifications. Integrators and consultants weigh in on its effectiveness.

Tom LeBlanc

When Extron announced its True4K specification, which aims to define an industry standard and spur transparency when it comes to 4K product specs, the AV integration industry had questions.

AV systems designers, many of whom had struggled with misleading claims on 4K labeled products, welcomed Extron’s attempt at transparency. There was still skepticism, though, for many who had been burned by manufacturers when it comes to 4K.

Now that the industry has lived with Extron’s True4K spec for about six months, we sought reaction from integrators and consultants on what they think of the program and the impact they’ve perceived in the industry. While some of folks we asked offered an “I’m not going to touch that topic” type of response, those who did discuss seem to appreciate what Extron is trying to do.

“At least Extron is telling us what they mean when they say True4K.” —Jim Maddux, Electrosonic, senior project engineer

“In general, I think their approach is a good one. It’s critical that manufacturers spell out all of the 4K parameters they support in as much detail as possible,” says Mark DiQuinzio, managing director of AV engineering at Kenilworth, N.J.-based Diversified Systems.

The reason more detailed specs are necessary, DiQuinzio adds, can be found in the field. “We have already run into situations where we connected a 4K output from device A to a 4K input on device B and did not get video to pass. Turns out there was either a frame rate mismatch, or color bit depth mismatch, which we did not know about in advance since neither vendor provided detailed specifications.”

Being able to easily find that information, which can trip up a system design, is vital, says Electrosonic senior project engineer Jim Maddux.

“Quite often I see devices that say ‘4K ready’ but then after digging or calling the manufacturer I find out that it is really only UHD [Ultra HD] at 30 fps [frames per second]. I don’t want to get into whether or not UHD is 4K, but we should be able to find out what they mean when they say ‘4K ready.’ I like this True4K approach, the information is there where you need it.”

Extron’s True4K specs are “absolutely valuable,” says Olympia, Wash.-based CCI Solutions senior systems consultant Rick Boring.

“Is it exactly what I want? Maybe that’s another story. I appreciate very much that Extron is kind of leading the industry in providing a bunch of information, but as a consultant designing systems I want even more information—but what they offer is head and shoulders more than I see elsewhere.”

Watch Extron VP of sales and marketing Casey Hall discuss True4K:

 

‘Transparency’ vs. ‘Confusion’

Extron is extremely clear that “True4K” isn’t a certification or label indicating “true 4K.” The program is about specification transparency.

Still, putting a “True4K” logo adjacent to a listing for a product that doesn’t meet the spec standards for 4K isn’t ideal even though he doesn’t view it as “a labeling effort,” DiQuinzio concedes. “I would not expect to see True4K logos on any product. Rather, I hope to see a true 4K specification on the data sheet for each device.”

In other words, DeQuinzio would like to see the specs listed but not the “True4K” logo if the product doesn’t meet the standards. “As long as the vendors are clear and specific on their data sheets, we can figure out what will connect to what,” he says.

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