As TV manufacturers get set to launch a new generation of Ultra High Definition TV’s it’s been revealed that most consumers don’t have a clue as to what 4K or UHD stands for.
Currently 72% percent of all Australian households have a high definition TV (1080p) or a HD TV while 52% have a second or third TV however very few consumers less than 20% know what 4K or Ultra High Definition stands for.
A recent SmartHouse research study revealed that out of 100 consumers questioned about the new generation of 4K TV’s shown recently at CES 2014 only 18% had heard about 4K or Ultra High Definition technology and of those who did the perception was that there was no 4K content yet for these TV.s
In the US a recent report revealed that consumers owned at least one HDTV set, and 46 percent have more than one, only 30 percent of U.S. adults had heard of 4K Ultra HD TV technology.
The findings were part of a Leichtman Research Group study.
Of the 10 percent of US consumers who had seen an Ultra HDTV, 28 percent were “very interested” in buying one.
A CEA consumer study on Ultra HDTV awareness, suggested that vendors and retailers have a major job to do in making consumers aware of 4K technology.
On a positive note, 72 percent of homes now have at least one HDTV, five years ago, only 24 percent of homes owned a HD TV.
That indicates that when consumers catch on to new high-resolution TV technology, they do so quickly. But complicating matters for TV retailers and manufacturers is that a tremendous number of sets were sold into homes in that short five-year span, indicating that the HDTV replacement cycle may not be as urgent as some other studies have suggested.
24% of Australian households now have a smart TV set that is connected to the Internet.
Twenty-two percent of all households purchased a TV set in the past 12 months – an annual level that has been fairly consistent for the past decade.
“At the same time that consumers are acquiring an increasing number of devices that allow them to watch video anywhere and anytime, television sets in the home are getting bigger and better,” noted Bruce Leichtman, Leichtman Research Group president and principal analyst.
