When I say niche I mean a small segment of the market or targeted to a select demographic. 4K sets are no longer niche, they are now mass market items. However, 4K TV is still niche, not a lot of 4K content. Those that have content usually own a few dozen or more Ultra Blu Ray disc. Ultra Blu Ray disc are still niche. That is why I previously stated that most 4K TV's will be used by the masses as gloried upscalers. Also, it is my belief that optical disc is one its way out. I don't believe that Ultra Blu Ray will revive a dying optical disc market. So the future of 4K TV(movies) is reliant upon streaming. I know there's Netflix, Roku, Vudu, however their 4K offers are minuscule at this time. There is a possibility that Cable companies might start providing 4K content, thereby advancing 4K TV into the mainstream, however that possibility is greatly problematic.
I was reading a post by gentlemen on another forum who offered his insights on the 4K streaming and cable companies ability to provide 4K content, he made some great points. Here's some of what he had to say.
" Streaming cannot support widespread 4k adoption in the US. Yes, it can for the moment because there aren't a lot of 4k displays being sold. However, as the price of 4k displays drop, and they will, they will begin to replace 1080p displays on the shelves. Just like 1080p gradually replaced 720p units over time. Once 4k displays start heading off of Walmart shelves, which they will, there is going to be a large demand for 4k content. Streaming will not provide this. As it is now, cable sends a highly compressed 720p stream because of the bandwidth restrictions they have. Most of the cable companies infrastructure is copper, not fiber. Cable companies will not be able to support 4k content on their current infrastructure even if they try to compress the signal. To many elephants trying to go through the proverbial garden hose. OK, no problem we can just use Netflix or any other streaming flavor. Once again, we are back to a copper infrastructure because most home ISP connections are provided by the same cable companies. Once ISP/cable companies see their bandwidth being crippled by 4k streaming, they will cap it. Comcast has already gone this route. With caps, you are in overage territory after a couple of movies. Before everyone jumps my premise, I am a senior network architect who worked at one of the largest carriers in the US and globally for that matter. It is a reality that the current infrastructure in the US cannot handle widespread adoption of 4k media with those users expecting media to be delivered across copper paths. Europe is better poised for this because they have a lot more fiber in the ground. Customers with Google fiber, FIOS, and U verse are fine. However, those services are a minuscule subset of the total broadband subscribers. Dish network and DirectTV may be the answer for streaming 4k. The irony is that 4k may actually drive people back to physical media" [2016]
I agree that infrastructure is always going to be a problem, but one that is being addressed and will definitely take time.
- Don't argue Ultra Blu-Ray is small, as well as traditional Blu-ray for that matter, streaming is taking over
- Again you draw extremes with minuscule content on Amazon, Vudu, Roku, Hulu, Google Play, Apple 4k, and gaming, I argue that the content is not as minuscule as you make it out to be, but definitely not main stream.
Netflix - All of it's new, multi award winning content is in 4k HDR
Amazon - All of it's new content is in 4K HDR
VUDU - Even Disney now has embraced the 4K Medium and as a Company who has 9 of the top 10 movies in America, that is a big deal
Mainstream, definitely not there yet, for a lot of the reasons the poster pointed out in 2016
Minuscule? - definitely not, with 4k Gaming, Streaming, and Major Movie studios I think its safe to say it has moved past minuscule and as more 4K TVs sell the market for 4K content will continue to grow.
I joke with my buddy, Apple who does not invest in technology it doesn't see value with, remember no MacBook ever had the option for a Blu-Ray disc, has even joined the front with its new 4K Apple TV.
