Dubai: Televisions with four times the resolution of Full HD, also known as 4K or ultra-high definition, will grow by 28 per cent this year in the UAE to 138,000 units.
According to research firm GfK, global 4K TV unit sales will register 614 per cent during the 2014-2017 period while sales value will grow 235 per cent during the period.
In the Middle East and Africa region, 4K sales units will grow by 1,500 per cent during the 2014-2017 period while sales value will soar by 650 per cent during the period.
“4K is driving the TV market but the next era is HDR (high dynamic range). The TV industry is going through an interesting phase as the global TV sales are heading southward but the sale of 4K TVs is heading northwards,” Satoru Arai, head of Sony Middle East and Africa, told Gulf News, after launching six new Android models with prices ranging from Dh4,999 to Dh19,999on Tuesday.
HDR is a new video signal format which can deliver wider range of brightness and colour.
He said that Android makes it easy to stream video, function as a gaming device and provide enhanced features such as Google Cast and voice search.
While 4K and OLED have been the buzzword for 2015, but this year it will be HDR, Arai said.
4K TV sales increased from 200,000 units in 2014 to one million units in 2015 and expected to cross 3.2 million in 2017, registering a 1500 per cent growth in the Middle East and Africa, as per GfK statistics.
Sony is leading this growth, the company recorded six fold increase in 4K TV sales and 153 per cent in value terms in 2015 as compared to 2014.
Even though 4K TVs have been in the market for a while, 4K content is growing at a snail’s pace from major content providers.
Netflix, Hulu, Amazon and YouTube have some 4K content.
Joris Evers, Vice-President and Head of Communications for Netflix Europe, Middle East and Africa, said they are the first to deliver 4K to consumers and have steadily expanded its library, with most live-action originals in 2015 available in this format. Over 2015, the number of titles available in 4K for its originals have grown nearly tenfold.
To make HDR streaming contents available to consumers, Arai said that Sony has teamed up with major global content providers, including Netflix.
He said that Netflix has indicated that 5 per cent of its content will be HDR ready by 2017 and by 2019, it will be 20 per cent.
Arai said that Sony launched 16 models last year and 19 models so far this year, and will be launching more models.
