Digitimes Research projects that global Ultra HD television shipments will experience a compound annual growth rate of 160 percent from 2013 to 2017, jumping from 1.5 million units to 68.2 million. The report estimates that 26.6 percent of all TVs shipped in 2017 will be Ultra HD, and more than 90 percent of LCD TVs will offer UHD resolution or higher. In addition, Digitimes anticipates that Blu-ray support for UHD and increased user-generated content will help push demand.

“However, it will be active engagement from TV manufacturers that will be the primary driving force of Ultra HD TV growth,” reports Advanced Television.

“Traditionally, new TV technologies, such as 3D and OLED, have been driven from the top end of the market, in terms of both vendor support and pricing,” notes the article. “Ultra HD technology, on the other hand, is being driven by panel makers in mainstream markets by a multitude of vendors, with the China market taking the lead.”

Top vendors including Samsung and Sony may have to adjust pricing as a result, which could lead to early consumer adoption.

The report predicts that Ultra HD penetration will exceed 10 percent of the overall TV market for the first time in 2015.