You’ve probably seen the term a few times this week; Ultra HD Premium. All major electronics manufacturers that have released Ultra HD TVs use the term to indicate that their TVs are Ultra HD Premium certified. But, what exactly Ultra HD Premium certificate is and what does this mean and what good is it for you as a consumer?
Ultra HD Premium: what does it say?
Ultra HD Premium is a specification drawn up by the Ultra HD Alliance, an organization made up of many major manufacturers and content providers. For example, Panasonic, LG, Dolby, Netflix, Samsung, Sony Univeral Pictures and Warner Bros. member of the organization. They have made an official specification for 4K Ultra HD HDR (high dynamic range) devices and content, complete with an Ultra HD Premium logo.
The main purpose of this certificate is to indicate which TVs and Ultra HD Blu-ray discs meet the highest requirements for displaying 4K HDR content. Of course to stimulate the sale of devices and the accompanying content. According to the Ultra HD Alliance, the combination of 4K Ultra HD and HDR (high dynamic range) is good for the most optimal viewing experience.
The Ultra HD Premium specification focuses on resolution, HDR, maximum brightness, black values and the color range of content or a device. The main elements of the specification are as follows;
- Image Resolution: 3840 × 2160
- Color Bit Depth: Minimum 10-bit signal
- Color: BT.2020 color representation
- High Dynamic Range: SMPTE ST2084 EOTF
That is all a bit technical, but this actually means that as a consumer you know that you will receive a ‘premium’ 4K experience when you see this logo on a TV, Blu-ray player or Blu-ray disc. Premium in this case, however, simply means that the content or hardware meets the specific requirements stated above, so the resolution is really 4K, the color depth is really 10-bit and HDR is supported with the SMPTE standard.
However, these are not very high requirements or very special requirements. It is therefore absolutely not the case that equipment or content with the Ultra HD Premium certificate is much better than equipment without it. It remains a large part of marketing and by diving into the specifications you can also find out for yourself which standards a TV meets, for example. If you come across this logo, it does not necessarily say anything about the image quality of a TV or a player. It simply says that certain requirements, which are already quite standard in the market and are used by almost all manufacturers, have been met. Does a device come without a logo? Then view the specifications because there is a good chance that these requirements will be met but the logo has not been paid for.
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