14 DAY TRIAL // Amazon is working with Samsung, Warner Bros., Lionsgate, 20th Century Fox, Discovery and others to offer Instant Video customers 4K videos.
The announcement was made by Amazon and it comes several weeks after Amazon Studios announced that its 2014 full original series would also be shot in 4K Ultra HD.
“Customers are excited about the future of 4K and the next evolution of high resolution video. We’re working with consumer electronics leaders and Hollywood studios to make that a reality. There are a number of elements that need to work together to create a true 4K experience for customers—you need great content and compatible devices but you also need a service that can deliver that content to your devices so that it plays beautifully—we’re excited about making that a reality,” said Bill Carr, vice president of digital video and music for Amazon.
At the same time, Samsung’s Kyungshik Lee, VP of the service strategy team of visual display business, noted that 2014 would be a breakthrough year for Ultra HD. For this reason, it’s important to deliver great products, but also great content.
“The new 4K Ultra HD displays provide viewers with a superior picture, bringing new life to movies and TV shows, and for content that is not available in 4K, the Ultra HD displays will make every detail of your Blu-ray collection more vivid and crisp compared to standard 1080p screens,” said Ron Sanders, Warner Bros. president.
Lionsgate and Twentieth Century Fox showed the same enthusiasm towards the new collaboration with Amazon on this project, which seeks to create a balance between the hardware required for this type of content and the full HD content itself.
“In Discovery’s nearly 30-year history, the company has led the way in providing closer-to-reality content experiences, from digital to HD to 3D and now, with 4K. We applaud Amazon for developing a true 4K viewing experience for its customers and we look forward to working with them to create ever-better viewing opportunities for our audiences,” said JB Perrette, chief digital officer for Discovery Communications.