Toshiba Announces Plans to Launch Three New 4K TVs in 2013

By Rob Scott
October 1, 2012

Toshiba announced it will start selling its second generation of 4K TV sets next spring.
The TVs — which at 3,840 by 2,160 pixels, have four times the resolution of HD — will include an 84-inch model and two in the 50- to 60-inch range, according to Toshiba executive Masahiko Fukakushi.
Toshiba’s first generation 55-inch 4K TV is currently available in Japan for 750,000 yen ($9,650). Sony recently announced it will also offer its 84-inch 4K model in November for 1.68 million yen.
One potential obstacle involves the lack of 4K content. While the movie industry has started a shift to 4K, there’s no delivery mechanism in place for 4K televisions.
“TV broadcasters have only recently spent billions of dollars upgrading to high definition and a further upgrade to 4K would mean most of their new equipment will have to be scrapped so that’s unlikely,” reports CIO. “The Blu-ray Disc format hasn’t been extended to 4K either.”
In the meantime, Toshiba has been working on custom chips for up-conversion that may prove a short term solution. According to the post: “The quality isn’t the same as if the original 4K content was viewed, but it’s better than HD, said Toshiba.”

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