Qualcomm Details Its Vision For A Sustainable 4K Future

We spent three days in New York with Qualcomm to hear about its vision for a faster, 4K-ready future. Here’s everything you need to know

Pretty much everything that happens in mobile happens as a result, at least in part, of Qualcomm. The US-based chipmaker was the first to market with a 28nm chipset, the first with on-die LTE radios, and the first company to really talk up the necessity of LTE-A, 4K content and the need to constantly improve the quality, speed and management of data on a global scale. And that’s just what happened between 2012 and 2014.

So what’s next? We just spent a few days in New York with Qualcomm to find out. There’s a lot to discuss, most of it very cool, and large swathes of it are to do with 4K content, more specifically; creating the network capabilities required to disseminate 4K content out to you, me and everybody we know. And while this certainly sounds great –– who doesn’t dream about watching Cops in 4K!? –– it’s not without its challenges. 

Take this nugget of information: by 2017 mobile users will consume around 10 trillion GB of data on their smartphones. That’s a HUGE uplift from today’s figures, and the vast majority of this data traffic (around two-thirds, according to Qualcomm) will come as a result of Ultra-HD video from places like iPlayer, Netflix, Hulu and HBO Go. 

A lot of this is to do with the fact that people spend more time looking at their phones or tablets than their TVs nowadays. Another reason is the changing ways in which content is delivered to consumers. Could you imagine something like Netflix 10 or 15 years ago, for instance? Nope. And the reason is because for things like Netflix to exist you need fast-connectivity to ensure an optimum viewing experience with zero lag and crystal clear quality. 

And the next logical step in this ever-evolving content journey is the switch to 4K. 

The Push for 4K Content

So what’s going to deliver 4K content to the masses? Better connectivity in mobile devices, smarter uses of LTE technologies and new wireless standards that will move data around your home at previously unheard of rates, according to Qualcomm. But all of this belies the one BIG issue currently confronting everything to do with 4K –– why should you care? 

Ask most people and they’ll tell you that they’re perfectly happy with their 720p or 1080p HDTV. Ditto for mobile phones and tablets. As of late-2014, 4K displays and content still feel a bit like hen’s teeth (weird, strange and pretty much none existent in everyday life). But ALL this will change in the next few years according to the multitude of speakers present at Qualcomm’s New York-based 4K bonanza.

How? Simple: it’ll just happen – just like 1080p did, said Qualcomm’s Senior VP of Snapdragon, Raj Talluri. The only difference now is that we’re better prepared for the switch thanks to huge advances in mobile technology and big, industry-defining changes to the way content is distributed. Take Netflix and Hulu, for instance. In the space of a few short years these two companies have changed the way people consume their favourite TV shows and films, challenging the very core of traditional forms of broadcast media. Netflix was also one of the first services to adopt 4K programming for shows like House of Cards and Breaking Bad.

There are already plenty of 4K-capable handsets on market (the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 and LG G3, to name just a couple) and these can be used to shoot scalable footage that can be used in feature length films and TV shows. Qualcomm even enlisted the help of Nathan Silver and James Gunn, director of Guardians of The Galaxy, to further emphasis the point that 4K is already here inside certain smartphones and can, in the right hands, be used to create industry-grade material.

The Elephant In The Room 

But this isn’t a solution in itself; no one wants to spend their free time watching homemade movies on YouTube, even if they are in 4K. People want iPlayer, Netflix and HBO Go content in 4K. This is the sticking point. And while Netflix is already doing 4K content, it is still fairly thin on the ground in Q4 2014, which must be sort of demoralizing for anyone that’s stumped up cash for a 4K HDTV this year.

The BBC and Sky are “experimenting” with 4K, but even Qualcomm admits it will be awhile before 4K is a viable option for many –– both Sky and the BBC have yet to really do anything remotely resembling a “push” on 4K, instead preferring to focus on the now, more traditional 1080p services. And whichever way you look at it players like Sky and the BBC will play a HUGE part in adoption of the standard. Getting these guys onside is a must.

Nevertheless, the price of a 4K TV has dropped from around $15,000 to $1,000 in the space of just a few short years. Fast forward to 2016/17 and you’re probably looking at around $500-$600 for a 4K setup in your living room, perhaps even lower. And once this happens and more and more punters are buying 4K TV sets the BIG content providers will begin ramping up their respective 4K outputs in earnest.

Most people will likely own a 4K smartphone or tablet before upgrading their TV beyond 720p or 1080p, however, and given the prior factoid regarding time spent on mobile devices vs. time spent watching TV, this kind of makes sense. Phones and tablets are cheaper and offer A LOT more utility too, which, again, is perhaps why we now spend so much time looking at them compared to the idiot box. 

But the real end game for 4K, whichever way you look at it, is of course HDTVs. It’s just adoption of these will take a wee bit longer than their smaller, infinitely more useful mobile counterparts. Qualcomm knows this too, which is why it is building the framework for 4K before 4K is a done-deal in the hearts and minds of consumers, because once they do come around to the idea –– and Qualcomm seems convinced they will –– everything will be in place, ready and waiting. 

Laying The Foundations for 4K

The next BIG thing in Wi-Fi is called Wi-Gig and the reason for the name change is pretty significant, because with this new standard users will be able to send upwards of 3GBps wirelessly around their home. Wi-Gig is a “line-of-sight” technology, which means it won’t go through walls. That’s the bad thing. The good thing is that it will be an ideal solution for pinging something like 4K content –– say a film or TV show –– from your phone, tablet or router directly to a compatible 4K HDTV, with zero cables required.

Wi-Gig 

Wi-Gig operates on a much higher frequency to current Wi-Fi standards, LTE and 3G – around 60GHz. The reason for this is simple: less interference and more throughput (theoretically up to 5Gbps). The BIG IDEA behind Wi-Gig is to remove the need for cables completely and allow for the easy dissemination of high-quality content from one device to another, meaning no more HDMI and no more USB –– everything will connect and communicate wirelessly. 

Intel, AMD and Qualcomm are already signed-up and pushing Wi-Gig, so punters can expect to start finding the technology inside consumer electronics very soon. But it’s not just content that will benefit from Wi-Gig; consoles like an Xbox or PS4 could theoretically use it to wirelessly connect with your TV. Another example: you have a laptop; you take it to work and use a bigger display and a bigger keyboard. Previously this would have required cables, but with Wi-Gig they’d all connect together wirelessly. Devices such as Chromecast are another obvious benefactor. 

LTE-Broadcast

People love watching video on their mobiles and this puts a huge amount of strain on network capacity, resulting in slower speeds and poor service across the board. As data consumption increases a network, say EE, service quality and speed goes down –– too many users spoil the broth, basically. Obviously, this is a HUGE problem and one that needs sorting ASAP.

Enter LTE Broadcast, a method for delivering high-quality video to mobile users without any lag or stutter, regardless of how many people are viewing it, and all without any additional strain on the network itself –– LTE Broadcast is essentially a means for mobile networks to complete with the likes of Sky and the BBC by delivering content directly to their users in the highest quality without any buffering required. 

The content is delivered via “cells” to handsets but unlike current multi-cast services, LTE Broadcast allows multiple users to receive the same content, a 4K film, for instance, simultaneously. The content can be pushed out to an almost infinite number of users without any loss of service, making it an ideal solution to the growing problems associated with ever-increasing data demands. LTE Broadcast has already been demoed at the Super Bowl and can now be experienced inside Wembley Stadium as part of EE’s ongoing sponsorship deal.

Beyond use inside stadiums, LTE Broadcast opens up a myriad of business opportunities for networks to begin competing directly with traditional TV providers like the BBC, Netflix and Sky by offering competing services where new technologies like 4K can be more easily deployed. An example would be a network like EE securing a deal with a company like Universal to create a movie subscription channel, whereby an EE user, for a fee, could access 4K movies on their smartphone or tablet.

LTE Broadcast is basically a HUGE game changer and something that, once again, could change how people watch TV and movies. I’d love to be able to subscribe directly to a film company and get access to their films before they come to Sky or Netflix. I’d pay A LOT for a service like that and, importantly, so would a lot of other people. Ditto for sports events like Formula One, Cricket and Football. Expect EE to lead the charge for LTE-B in the UK with its deal with Wembley and recently announced EE TV Box.

So When Is All This Magical Stuff Happening? 

Soon. Very soon, indeed. As noted above: EE recently launched a TV Box and is currently using LTE-Broadcast inside Wembley stadium. There are currently no BIG offers on the table as yet, but all this could change very quickly, so expect to see some big developments (no doubt around the company’s TV Box) very soon.

With regards to Wi-Gig, plenty of PCs, laptops, smartphones and tablets will soon begin supporting the standard out the box. Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 810 will bring Wi-Gig to millions of Windows, BlackBerry and Android phones inside 2015. Intel and AMD are also onboard with the technology too, meaning laptops and PCs as well. 

As with most things, a lot of what you’ve just read about will happen in the background. One day you’ll just find yourself doing it, sort of like the first time you realized you were watching HD content via Netflix on a tablet while sat on a train. 2015-2017 is going to be a very interesting period for TV, mobile and the advent of 4K.