UHD Alliance expands Ultra HD Premium certification

To bare the Ultra HD Premium logo, those sources will have to conform to the same specification as 4K TVs and Ultra HD Blu-ray players, which includes support for 4K, high dynamic range (HDR), a wide colour spectrum and 10-bit colour depth.

The expansion makes sense considering the increasing number of 4K sources available; 4K set-top boxes are now firmly a ‘thing’ thanks to the likes of Sky, BT and Virgin, and the Google Chromecast Ultra and Amazon Fire TV - and possibly an upcoming 4K Apple TV – are strongly representing 4K media streamers too.

“With 4K UHD TV shipments increasing by 42% to 81 million in 2017, the one constant in a continually and rapidly changing content delivery environment is the consumer demand for a premium content experience regardless of the delivery platform,” said UHD Alliance chairman Michael Zink.

The Alliance anticipates that product testing and licensing for media streamers, set-top boxes and PCs will begin in “early Fall” this year.

Becky is a hi-fi, AV and technology journalist, formerly the Managing Editor at What Hi-Fi? and Editor of Australian Hi-Fi and Audio Esoterica magazines. With over twelve years of journalism experience in the hi-fi industry, she has reviewed all manner of audio gear, from budget amplifiers to high-end speakers, and particularly specialises in headphones and head-fi devices.

In her spare time, Becky can often be found running, watching Liverpool FC and horror movies, and hunting for gluten-free cake.