Fasulo Highlights High-Res Audio and Video, Streaming in CEDIA Keynote
DENVER -- Chief Operating Officer Mike Fasulo affirmed Sony’s commitment to high-resolution audio and video in the CEDIA Expo keynote Wednesday. Citing the 25th anniversary of CEDIA, Fasulo noted Sony’s support of the custom integrator channel even before the association’s formation. This year at CEDIA Expo, Sony announced 4K Ultra HD TV, projector and receiver models offering control over IP for smoother integration with integrated home systems.
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The media player and the latest Sony 4K TVs support “the growing trend toward streaming media,” including the Amazon 4K service announced at IFA, along with Netflix, said Fasulo. In a staged Q&A with Netflix Director-Engagement Management Rob Caruso, Fasulo cited a trend projecting that by 2017 video streaming to the home is expected to dominate consumers’ video consumption behavior. Caruso cited projections indicating declines in traditional media consumption that he called “small but continual.” Those declines translate to increases in nontraditional forms of video watching, he said.
Caruso said Netflix will launch in six new countries later this month, which along with the growing number of connected devices, will fuel the growth in streaming consumption. Not only has content been retrofitted for streaming, Caruso said, but now content is being “specifically created to stream, both in how it’s created and how it’s scripted,” including short-form content “not necessarily tailored to the ad model."
Netflix has seen “strong consumer engagement” with 4K content, Caruso said, citing season two of House of Cards and all five seasons of Sony Pictures’ Breaking Bad along with nature series. In addition to the quadruple resolution of 4K, Caruso predicted “another massive leap forward with picture quality” with the introduction of high dynamic range (HDR). As TV makers begin to adopt HDR, “that’s when we start to see the true brightness and color depth … and that’s what the creative [people] want to see and intend to bring out when they're filming these TV shows,” he said. Caruso said there’s no specific timetable for when Netflix will be able to stream HDR content, “but it’s obviously very dependent on devices at the other end” along with content creation “at the other end of the chain.” As devices arrive, Caruso believes content “will be there in HDR shortly thereafter."
The overall benefit of 4K is broader than picture quality, Caruso said. He referred to a “more modern television experience,” referencing viewing on smartphones and tablets that have “dramatically reset” consumers’ viewing expectations. There’s no longer a need to wait for content on a schedule, and the Internet has changed access allowing for more refreshed content, he said. The advantages of the mobile experience “need to morph to the big screen,” he said. Caruso cited features including devices that turn on quickly, have sleep modes, second screen control and the ability to return quickly to the most recently used app “and in the same context that you left it.”