WRAL-TV first to air in 4K HD

Capitol Broadcasting’s WRAL-TV, the CBS affiliate in Raleigh-Durham market, has become the first local broadcast station to produce programming in the emerging 4K Ultra High Definition.

The Raleigh station has established a history as an industry leader, becoming the first to broadcast a digital signal in high definition in 1996. Four years later, WRAL-TV was the first to produce a newscast completely in HD, noted a Fayetteville Observer story.

The new broadcasting technology of 4K Ultra High Definition, a video resolution that offers four times the details as a current high-definition picture, is more commonly known as “4K.”

With technical support from Sony Electronics, WRAL produced the 4K documentary “Take Me Out to the Bulls Game,” a look at one of the top minor-league baseball teams in the nation – the Durham Bulls. The first public viewing was screened this week at Durham Bulls Athletic Park.

Jim Goodmon is president and CEO of Capitol Broadcasting. In a company news release, he said, “We believe 4K is the next major development for broadcasters to enhance the viewing experience for our audience. The simple truth is, the only way to learn what we don’t know and be able to design the transition is to just do it.”

RBR-TVBR observation: Earlier this year, Comcast and Samsung partnered for 4K Ultra HD content to deliver it over Samsung UHD TVs. Xfinity TV customers with Samsung UHD TVs will launch an Xfinity TV 4K app directly on their TVs that will allow them to stream, via the Internet, a variety of 4K UHD movies and TV shows On Demand. Additionally, Comcast is currently working with programmers, including NBCUniversal, to provide a library of 4K UHD choices for the Xfinity TV 4K app. This move from Capitol is the first in the  next piece of the puzzle for widespread adoption. While I have not seen 4K TV in action, I’ve heard it is unbelievably realistic. Think of 1080i resolution increased 3.7 times. Intra-industry cooperation will help the bottom line for all involved, expand 4K adoption and increase the production of 4K content. These sets are still pretty expensive now, but with wider adoption, price points will drop, as they always do.