For a company that’s responsible for the stuff that happens between the source and the display, like Matrox Graphics, demand for 4K video makes for some interesting conversations.
David Chiappini, VP of R&D for Matrox, encourages system designers to give a little extra thought to certain aspects of a 4K video system.
What times of connectors are ideal for what you’re trying to do? Will the data be compresses or uncompressed? Are you IP literate?
He chats with CI about important 4K considerations that integrators ought to take.
What are some 4K considerations that AV integrators shouldn’t overlook?
Connectors is a good place to start. Connector types are really important. You’ve got DisplayPort 1.1, HDMI 1.4, DisplayPort 1.2, HDMI 2.0 … You’ve got to figure out what is the right type of connector for the application, what is the right type of medium to view the data.
Another good place to look is how are you going to view that data. Is it going to be compressed or uncompressed? And if it’s compressed data, how are you going to get that transported, switched and so on? The really hard thing today and the thing that everyone wants it to be able to have any content anywhere, including 4K, so compression is a big play in that space.
What do integrators need to do to prepare for 4K demand?
Now with 4K [it’s a market] where IP is ahead of the readiness of the matrix switcher. So whereas you can get the matrix compressed 4K video at 4K 30Hz if you really want that 4K 60 Hz experience IP is ahead of where a lot of the matrix switcher and hardwired solutions are.
So the first thing is you have to start thinking about how IP mixes into your solution. That’s a different skillset so integrators have got to really educate themselves [on] a new set of skills to catch up to a very IP based world as opposed to the matrix switch [and] hard wired world of the past.
Then of course IP is much more scalable because whatever I’m using as my 4K infrastructure will also be tomorrow’s 8K infrastructure, which is only a few years down the line. So I think that figuring out getting that IP mindset and skillset built into their portfolio is going to a very key differentiator if they want to really grow and take advantage of the 4K world.
Where are we at in the shift toward 4K?
Screens are already there. Content is probably the big missing factor. But computers can generate this; everyday graphic cards can generate 4K content, distributing of that 4K from cameras are starting to be there now.
When I say starting I mean at an affordable level. 4K has been around for many years, but in the last two years it has become much more affordable. Screen are going to cross over with HD screens in a couple of years.
So I think that 4K is on a big rise right now, still at a slight premium but by the time 2017 second half rolls around I think that 4K will be everywhere, and between now and then it will be the fastest growing technology just because people want to get that better visual quality and the more pixels available to them as soon as they possibly can.
