The 8K Association, which promotes the growth of the 8K ecosystem, has updated its performance specifications for the powerful 8K Association Certified mark program. The updated specification adds new decoding requirements, new image quality metrics, and a game mode. Along with the new updates, 8KA announces new members to the group including Prime Video, content creation company 4by4, and testing service provider UL.
TV shoppers looking for televisions that offer four times the resolution available from 4K TVs and that meet the high-performance standards of the 8K Association Certified program will benefit from the new broader performance requirements applied to 8K TVs launching in the market starting this year.
In addition to the existing requirements for high performance, 8K Association Certified logo program now recognizes a broader set of video decoding standards that will promote the availability of 8K streaming content.
The 8KA is also pioneering the use of Ambient Contrast Ratio as a new way to help ensure good picture quality performance in different ambient lighting conditions. The 8KA ACR test measures the reflectivity of the TV with a test pattern in both bright and dim illumination conditions. This sets levels for performance in each case that the TV must pass.
“Using ACR as a metric allows us to better manage the experience of viewers in different ambient light conditions that we all have in the home, noted Pete Sellar, Chair of the Certification Work Group in the 8KA. “These and other efforts we are putting into developing of Certified Specification should give consumers confidence that 8K Certified TVs support the latest developments in TV viewing.”
New Gaming mode requirements have also been included in the revised specification, including support for the Auto Low Latency Mode and Variable Refresh Rate via HDMI 2.1 interface.
Some new members to 8KA include the Korea-based 4by4 Inc, a visual technology company producing 8K demo and promotional videos. The company also manages the KEYCUTstock platform to license video clips up to 8K in resolution.
“We have worked with some content creators to produce 8K video contents from the raw video data and have verified the quality of 8K video content on 8K TVs,” said Junho Yoon, CEO. “4by4 would like to share the experience with other 8KA member companies and help educate other content creators on the benefits of 8K. We are even looking at creating 8K versions of older classic Korean dramas for OTT distribution.”
UL (underwriter Laboratory) offers a wide range of testing services and is in the process of being audited to become an 8KA certified test lab to measure 8K TVs for the Association’s logo program. The company will join Allison Labs and Telecommunications Technology Associates in 8KA testing.
“The 8K Association embraces the goals of these new member companies and is working with its Work Groups to facilitate the industry advancements that can lead to 8K streaming services,” concluded Chris Chinnock, 8KA Executive Director.
