The Evolution of 4K Technology: An Exclusive Interview with Bill Naito

As we delve into the world of 4K technology, it's essential to understand the evolution of this cutting-edge medium. In our exclusive interview with Bill Naito, we explore the advancements in 4K and beyond, including the latest innovations from Sony.

Watching this footage is a rich experience that warrants closer examination. The visuals are stunning, with crisp details and vibrant colors that transport us to new heights. It's clear that the production team has put immense effort into crafting an immersive experience that leaves viewers in awe. We're not just talking about 4K resolution here; we're discussing an entirely new level of visual fidelity that redefines the way we consume media.

The use of upscaling techniques is a significant aspect of this technology. By leveraging advanced algorithms and proprietary processes, manufacturers can take 2K content and elevate it to breathtaking 4K quality. This process involves complex calculations and sophisticated image processing techniques that yield remarkable results. It's no wonder that enthusiasts and critics alike are abuzz with excitement over the prospect of witnessing this enhanced visual experience.

Sony's foray into 4K technology has been nothing short of revolutionary. The CS product, which was showcased at a prominent electronics event, left many in attendance speechless. Although it may seem like a humble circle with a light, this device represents a significant milestone in the company's pursuit of innovation. By integrating advanced components and sleek design elements, Sony has created a 4K player that is not only visually stunning but also remarkably functional.

The addition of a server to these systems is another game-changer. This technology enables users to access high-definition content directly on their TV, negating the need for separate devices or cumbersome setup procedures. The result is an enhanced viewing experience that puts consumers at the forefront of entertainment. Moreover, Sony's plan to launch a download service for 4K content promises to revolutionize the way we consume media.

The prospect of instant access to a vast library of 4K content has significant implications for the industry as a whole. As streaming services continue to dominate the market, it's clear that consumers are increasingly reliant on this technology. By embracing 4K and its associated technologies, Sony is poised to redefine the entertainment landscape.

In other news, there have been whispers about the potential of physical distribution channels for 4K content. While some industry experts predict a future where download will reign supreme, others argue that a hybrid approach – combining both digital and physical elements – may be the most viable strategy moving forward. As an industry, we're working tirelessly to develop new compression ratios and technologies that will enable seamless playback of 4K content on a wide range of devices.

The advent of Blu-ray technology has been instrumental in paving the way for this new era of high-definition media distribution. By pushing the boundaries of what's possible with disc-based storage, manufacturers have paved the way for an explosion of creative possibilities. As we move forward, it's clear that 4K will remain at the forefront of our collective imagination.

In conclusion, the journey to a truly immersive viewing experience has been nothing short of remarkable. By combining cutting-edge technologies and pushing the boundaries of what's possible, manufacturers like Sony are redefining the way we consume media. As we look to the future, it's essential that we acknowledge the significance of this development and explore its far-reaching implications for an industry that will continue to evolve at a breakneck pace.

In terms of our plans for the PS4, I can reveal that we'll be sharing more details in due course. Rest assured that you won't be disappointed – Sony is committed to delivering exceptional experiences that redefine the limits of what's possible in gaming and entertainment. With the launch of our download service set to take place this summer, we're confident that consumers will have ample opportunities to access an impressive library of 4K content.

Of course, one challenge facing us all is the potential for slow internet speeds to impact playback quality. As consumers increasingly demand high-definition content on-demand, it's clear that reliable broadband connections are crucial. Fortunately, our team has been working diligently to develop solutions that will ensure seamless playback experiences even when faced with slower connection speeds.

Looking ahead to the future, there's one thing that's certain: 4K is here to stay, and it's going to continue to revolutionize the way we experience media. As an industry, we're committed to pushing the boundaries of what's possible, exploring new technologies and formats that will further enhance this visual medium.

With our focus on delivering exceptional consumer experiences, we believe that a hybrid approach – combining both digital and physical elements – will be the most viable strategy moving forward. By acknowledging the strengths of each format, we can create truly immersive experiences that meet the evolving needs of consumers worldwide.

As we wrap up this exclusive interview with Bill Naito, it's clear that Sony is committed to redefining the world of 4K technology. With a focus on innovation and exceptional quality, they're poised to deliver unparalleled viewing experiences that will captivate audiences for years to come.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enhey guys it's NE with a Verge I'm here with Phil molo president and ceoo of Sony electronics uh and you're here in New York just to show off kind of all your newest stuff you've got on the electron electronic side of Sony yeah that's right we we asked to you good guys to come in and come and see our latest and greatest but we we also took it a little step further uh coming out of CES Consumer Electronics Show uh we announced our 4K TVs and you know uh a few other products great products but today we wanted to show you a side by-side comparison against our competitor's product so that you could judge which was the best experience or best audio or best picture um so pretty brave move and uh I I think uh it shows the confidence we have in the product Lines no so you know what I got out of this was that you're here you're showing off your products against your competitor's products uh in some cases it's very traditional you have a TV they have a TV you think your TV is better I think everybody understands that story from Sony uh but with your headphones it's you're entering kind of a market that you haven't been in before so they have fashionable stylish headphones and now you have fashionable stylish headphones are you trying to say that your products stack up next to theirs directly you know we we've always been in the headphone Market you know we've always had a major share in the headphone Market um the the key difference is and and really what I wanted to explain today we are the go-to headphone manufacturer for the professional end of the the industry we've been in there many years um and if you go to recording studios today you'll see them wearing Sony headphones because it's a trusted representation of what happens uh in terms of the recording studio and the monitoring of the audio output and the mixing so those professional uh producers and mixers use Sony headphones but a long way and it's not only in uh recording studios it's also if you got a TV stations or radio station they've got Sony headphon tones on in the majority of cases so you're trying to bring that experience to the consumer I I think it's important that it's understood from a uh from a professional end of the market that we are the go-to headphone because of the quality of the audio the true representation of the audio output and then using our knowledge and our experience and Technology put that into our consumer orientated headphones so that you know you or other people can hear the music as it was meant to be he heard and how the artists want you to hear it yeah so the other thing that struck me about today was aart from the tablet the xeria Z tablet which is very interesting and very beautiful what you shut off is very traditional sort of consumer electronics from the electronic side of Sony right uh but the company has talked a lot about the one Sony initiative the need to bridge across the company uh and the two hottest sort of segments that Sony has are the mobile uh and the PlayStation 4 and you it's not that they're not here it makes sense they're not here they're different divisions of the company but your integration up through the company into those products is was not really evident is there is there a reason that you're so tightly focused on just the Consumer Electronics portion here um no so then uh it's great Insight so thank you for that uh the reality is we are extremely well connected and I'll give you a concrete example we showed today our 84 in uh TV it's stunning and uh you know it's 4K ultra high definition so it's a completely different experience but we launched that product into market last November and as part of that launch we worked with the Sun pictures our movie company and we remastered several of their Blockbuster in fact 10 of their Blockbuster titles Amazing Spider-Man and and salt and Lawrence of Arabia into native level 4K content and we packaged that together on the server together with the 84in TV with a tablet so that there was a uh world's first experience for consumers to have native 4K movies in their home so that's you know from a Sony pitch point of view that's their assets yeah from Electronics it's a TV Electronics we put it together and we deliver to the consumer if we're more concretely talking about the sunny mobile side then the Experia zed uh will be part of our goto Market approach we're talking about nearfield communication and one touch we have some great audio product out there uh in terms of our speakers and our audio ball uh that always gets a giggle but uh so the xeria Zed will be one of those products that we show demonstrating uh that one touch but if I had to push you on on on the tablet on the on the Z it's that is the here you showed cameras televisions headphones which Sony has sold for forever and then there's a tablet which is a very new product category which is potentially an explosive product category which is very different than the traditional other products and I would say your focus was on the traditional products and less so on this kind of weird hybrid that blends the elements of a television that has obviously the technology from the mobile side of the business right how do you how do you see Sony transitioning and having focus on both the mobile stuff the weird new products and the traditional products so today we we showed the exper i z tablet right uh and and we're demonstrating that in conjunction with the TV and how it's your your second screen and the unique application we have their TV side view ask you you the is you can play with the content that you can see uh visually on your tablet do you think the tablet is more of a mobile device a television device or a Computing device so my our opinion is we we have the Experia zed handset and that is truly mobile yeah right so it's kind of for the consumer now the center of the world and your social story Etc and when you're out and about that's your go-to device I believe that when you have your tablet that is uh partly mobile but predominantly in home device and used as a second screen because our Xperia Zed uh mobile phone device is a 5-in screen yeah but the experior Ed tablet is a 10-in screen so obviously if you're at home and you can lean back um and interact with your TV and also uh have a social agenda social media agenda it's a better experience on a 10-in so you have to look at what is outside world inhome world and then what is the best product offering to facilitate your needs will you have an LTE version of the tablet will you do a maybe 3G 4G HSPA tablet outside the US I think that's a natural progression isn't it but if the tablet's mostly an inhome do you do you need it are you seeing consumers ask for I said mostly but of course then people on the road in business will have a need for an LT uh device and to use it for productivity purposes yeah so really depending on the consumer but we're focused on satisfying the consumer and of course understanding their habits and bringing the solutions they need yeah so let me talk to you about the tablet as a second screen I think is very interesting like that is actually an explosive use of the tablet right it's growing very fast and now you've got uh these new televisions is there any direct integration between the tablet and the TV so uh at this stage not uh you know we have some ideas that I'll talk to you later on uh but uh you know we're using our tablet it has an infrared it's probably the only one on the market now where you can control not only your TV but your home audio uh equipment and you know whatever you have at home but we also put you unque Sony developed applications like TV side view yeah uh which is giving a a much better user interface to control and understand the content that's on your TV box uh and also share with your friends and social media and you know I'm watching this and what do you think or dive in and understand who the actors are and what other movies or programs they've been in so it's richer experience we bringing there so let's talk about the TV uh it's obviously at 4K you're talking a lot about upscaling yeah uh a lot of uh X reality all the stuff you're doing to make 2K content look better yeah uh but at CS my favorite product CS uh was a Sony product that doesn't exist it was a circle with a light in it and it said prototype 4K player is that any more real have you put chips Inside the Box yeah so we were teasing you at CS I mean it was I know I know it was just a circle with a light but we have to put context on this so um with our 84in 4K Ultra High defition TV we ship it today with a server and pre-loaded content and that's just like a PC Tower right it's a PC Tower but it's got some tricks in there to make sure the the consumer experience is you know great wonderful uh but in addition to that now we're working on a Home Server that will allow in the summer a download service for 4K content okay as well as we have Sony Entertainment Video Unlimited so you'll be able to get access to HD content as well yeah uh and that's that server is not maybe a little bit fictitious at this moment the player it was a beautiful it was my favorite thing CS I'm not I'm not even kidding I showed I took four people buy it just to see it I said this box for the light is the best thing NS yeah so I I mean Sony is brilliant at design cosmetic design and Industrial design we we do it beautiful we got wonderful Engineers so you look at the TV um there 55 and 65 and the Magnetic fluid speakers that point at you rather than at the wall and give you that Dynamic Sound output um and you see that server you don't want to hide it in the in the cupboard right you want to put it on the wall it's beautiful well so but it's functional as well well you know that's funny and I know you can't talk too much about the PS4 but that's the natural there are two things that I want to ask you about one is they didn't show us the PS4 at the PS4 launch event because they said we we don't want you to think about the Box we want to think about the controller and second you're building a a download service for 4K Y is it going to work on the PS4 have you thought about it working on the PS4 do you know um it's a little bit like uh we showed the server uh mockup as you said at CES and you thought it was beautiful but you couldn't get any details right um and then we're showing it again we're giving you a little bit more as as we go along so similarly for the PS4 we'll give you more details in due course but I promise you you will not be disappointed okay and in terms of other 4K distribution yeah uh download might take a long time right the files are will be big are you anticipating that they'll take overnight are you thinking they'll take a few hours they start instantly yeah the the size of a typical movie depending on the length of movie you're talking 100 gab and plus right and up um so then you come into variables about how fast is your Broadband at home or do you have Optical broadband like they do in Houston um where then you can get the movie down there pretty quickly yeah so that is one of the challenges that we we have to work through and for our summer launch of our service we've got some very good ideas that will make that a comfortable consumer experience um and then looking to the future we we need to develop as an industry new compression ratios yeah and Technologies and that D dialogue is in active progress at the moment is there a I mean I you talked a little bit about Blu-ray and the progress they're making yeah is are you anticipating a a physical distribution for 4K as well I'm not discounting it okay do you think it'll be download primarily so I I think the whole world is moving more and more to download consumers are used to download right and streaming so uh I don't want to Discount the good work that's going into potential physical media distribution um but that's an industry Association and they're working hard uh but for the summer we will bring this uh download Service uh first to Market world's first and compelling content ENT and a you know a wider catalog catalog of content for consumers to enjoy with Sony 4K ultra high definition TVs all right well thank you so much Bill it's always a pleasure to pleasure thanks very much good to see youhey guys it's NE with a Verge I'm here with Phil molo president and ceoo of Sony electronics uh and you're here in New York just to show off kind of all your newest stuff you've got on the electron electronic side of Sony yeah that's right we we asked to you good guys to come in and come and see our latest and greatest but we we also took it a little step further uh coming out of CES Consumer Electronics Show uh we announced our 4K TVs and you know uh a few other products great products but today we wanted to show you a side by-side comparison against our competitor's product so that you could judge which was the best experience or best audio or best picture um so pretty brave move and uh I I think uh it shows the confidence we have in the product Lines no so you know what I got out of this was that you're here you're showing off your products against your competitor's products uh in some cases it's very traditional you have a TV they have a TV you think your TV is better I think everybody understands that story from Sony uh but with your headphones it's you're entering kind of a market that you haven't been in before so they have fashionable stylish headphones and now you have fashionable stylish headphones are you trying to say that your products stack up next to theirs directly you know we we've always been in the headphone Market you know we've always had a major share in the headphone Market um the the key difference is and and really what I wanted to explain today we are the go-to headphone manufacturer for the professional end of the the industry we've been in there many years um and if you go to recording studios today you'll see them wearing Sony headphones because it's a trusted representation of what happens uh in terms of the recording studio and the monitoring of the audio output and the mixing so those professional uh producers and mixers use Sony headphones but a long way and it's not only in uh recording studios it's also if you got a TV stations or radio station they've got Sony headphon tones on in the majority of cases so you're trying to bring that experience to the consumer I I think it's important that it's understood from a uh from a professional end of the market that we are the go-to headphone because of the quality of the audio the true representation of the audio output and then using our knowledge and our experience and Technology put that into our consumer orientated headphones so that you know you or other people can hear the music as it was meant to be he heard and how the artists want you to hear it yeah so the other thing that struck me about today was aart from the tablet the xeria Z tablet which is very interesting and very beautiful what you shut off is very traditional sort of consumer electronics from the electronic side of Sony right uh but the company has talked a lot about the one Sony initiative the need to bridge across the company uh and the two hottest sort of segments that Sony has are the mobile uh and the PlayStation 4 and you it's not that they're not here it makes sense they're not here they're different divisions of the company but your integration up through the company into those products is was not really evident is there is there a reason that you're so tightly focused on just the Consumer Electronics portion here um no so then uh it's great Insight so thank you for that uh the reality is we are extremely well connected and I'll give you a concrete example we showed today our 84 in uh TV it's stunning and uh you know it's 4K ultra high definition so it's a completely different experience but we launched that product into market last November and as part of that launch we worked with the Sun pictures our movie company and we remastered several of their Blockbuster in fact 10 of their Blockbuster titles Amazing Spider-Man and and salt and Lawrence of Arabia into native level 4K content and we packaged that together on the server together with the 84in TV with a tablet so that there was a uh world's first experience for consumers to have native 4K movies in their home so that's you know from a Sony pitch point of view that's their assets yeah from Electronics it's a TV Electronics we put it together and we deliver to the consumer if we're more concretely talking about the sunny mobile side then the Experia zed uh will be part of our goto Market approach we're talking about nearfield communication and one touch we have some great audio product out there uh in terms of our speakers and our audio ball uh that always gets a giggle but uh so the xeria Zed will be one of those products that we show demonstrating uh that one touch but if I had to push you on on on the tablet on the on the Z it's that is the here you showed cameras televisions headphones which Sony has sold for forever and then there's a tablet which is a very new product category which is potentially an explosive product category which is very different than the traditional other products and I would say your focus was on the traditional products and less so on this kind of weird hybrid that blends the elements of a television that has obviously the technology from the mobile side of the business right how do you how do you see Sony transitioning and having focus on both the mobile stuff the weird new products and the traditional products so today we we showed the exper i z tablet right uh and and we're demonstrating that in conjunction with the TV and how it's your your second screen and the unique application we have their TV side view ask you you the is you can play with the content that you can see uh visually on your tablet do you think the tablet is more of a mobile device a television device or a Computing device so my our opinion is we we have the Experia zed handset and that is truly mobile yeah right so it's kind of for the consumer now the center of the world and your social story Etc and when you're out and about that's your go-to device I believe that when you have your tablet that is uh partly mobile but predominantly in home device and used as a second screen because our Xperia Zed uh mobile phone device is a 5-in screen yeah but the experior Ed tablet is a 10-in screen so obviously if you're at home and you can lean back um and interact with your TV and also uh have a social agenda social media agenda it's a better experience on a 10-in so you have to look at what is outside world inhome world and then what is the best product offering to facilitate your needs will you have an LTE version of the tablet will you do a maybe 3G 4G HSPA tablet outside the US I think that's a natural progression isn't it but if the tablet's mostly an inhome do you do you need it are you seeing consumers ask for I said mostly but of course then people on the road in business will have a need for an LT uh device and to use it for productivity purposes yeah so really depending on the consumer but we're focused on satisfying the consumer and of course understanding their habits and bringing the solutions they need yeah so let me talk to you about the tablet as a second screen I think is very interesting like that is actually an explosive use of the tablet right it's growing very fast and now you've got uh these new televisions is there any direct integration between the tablet and the TV so uh at this stage not uh you know we have some ideas that I'll talk to you later on uh but uh you know we're using our tablet it has an infrared it's probably the only one on the market now where you can control not only your TV but your home audio uh equipment and you know whatever you have at home but we also put you unque Sony developed applications like TV side view yeah uh which is giving a a much better user interface to control and understand the content that's on your TV box uh and also share with your friends and social media and you know I'm watching this and what do you think or dive in and understand who the actors are and what other movies or programs they've been in so it's richer experience we bringing there so let's talk about the TV uh it's obviously at 4K you're talking a lot about upscaling yeah uh a lot of uh X reality all the stuff you're doing to make 2K content look better yeah uh but at CS my favorite product CS uh was a Sony product that doesn't exist it was a circle with a light in it and it said prototype 4K player is that any more real have you put chips Inside the Box yeah so we were teasing you at CS I mean it was I know I know it was just a circle with a light but we have to put context on this so um with our 84in 4K Ultra High defition TV we ship it today with a server and pre-loaded content and that's just like a PC Tower right it's a PC Tower but it's got some tricks in there to make sure the the consumer experience is you know great wonderful uh but in addition to that now we're working on a Home Server that will allow in the summer a download service for 4K content okay as well as we have Sony Entertainment Video Unlimited so you'll be able to get access to HD content as well yeah uh and that's that server is not maybe a little bit fictitious at this moment the player it was a beautiful it was my favorite thing CS I'm not I'm not even kidding I showed I took four people buy it just to see it I said this box for the light is the best thing NS yeah so I I mean Sony is brilliant at design cosmetic design and Industrial design we we do it beautiful we got wonderful Engineers so you look at the TV um there 55 and 65 and the Magnetic fluid speakers that point at you rather than at the wall and give you that Dynamic Sound output um and you see that server you don't want to hide it in the in the cupboard right you want to put it on the wall it's beautiful well so but it's functional as well well you know that's funny and I know you can't talk too much about the PS4 but that's the natural there are two things that I want to ask you about one is they didn't show us the PS4 at the PS4 launch event because they said we we don't want you to think about the Box we want to think about the controller and second you're building a a download service for 4K Y is it going to work on the PS4 have you thought about it working on the PS4 do you know um it's a little bit like uh we showed the server uh mockup as you said at CES and you thought it was beautiful but you couldn't get any details right um and then we're showing it again we're giving you a little bit more as as we go along so similarly for the PS4 we'll give you more details in due course but I promise you you will not be disappointed okay and in terms of other 4K distribution yeah uh download might take a long time right the files are will be big are you anticipating that they'll take overnight are you thinking they'll take a few hours they start instantly yeah the the size of a typical movie depending on the length of movie you're talking 100 gab and plus right and up um so then you come into variables about how fast is your Broadband at home or do you have Optical broadband like they do in Houston um where then you can get the movie down there pretty quickly yeah so that is one of the challenges that we we have to work through and for our summer launch of our service we've got some very good ideas that will make that a comfortable consumer experience um and then looking to the future we we need to develop as an industry new compression ratios yeah and Technologies and that D dialogue is in active progress at the moment is there a I mean I you talked a little bit about Blu-ray and the progress they're making yeah is are you anticipating a a physical distribution for 4K as well I'm not discounting it okay do you think it'll be download primarily so I I think the whole world is moving more and more to download consumers are used to download right and streaming so uh I don't want to Discount the good work that's going into potential physical media distribution um but that's an industry Association and they're working hard uh but for the summer we will bring this uh download Service uh first to Market world's first and compelling content ENT and a you know a wider catalog catalog of content for consumers to enjoy with Sony 4K ultra high definition TVs all right well thank you so much Bill it's always a pleasure to pleasure thanks very much good to see you\n"