CES: Sony to Launch 4K Movie Download Service

Also plans to start selling "Mastered in 4K" Blu-ray titles timed to the spring release of new Sony 4K TVs

By George Winslow -- Broadcasting & Cable, 1/7/2013 9:56:30 PM

Complete Coverage: CES 2013

As part of a push to jumpstart the new 4K format, Sony announced that it would launch a 4K movie download service in the summer of 2013 and that it would begin selling a number of Blu-ray that had been sourced from 4K masters.

Details were skimpy on the new download service. Sony provided no information on pricing, the number of titles or what kind of compression it might use to reduce the lengthy times needed to download the large high-resolution files.

Sony executives noted that they are already involved in producing 4K films with their F65 camera and that a number of films had already been shot in 4K or, as is often done in theatrical production, mastered in 4K.

The new "Mastered in 4K" series of titles slated to be released in the spring of 2013 would include The Amazing Spider-Man, Total Recall, The Karate Kid, Battle: Los Angeles and The Other Guys. These titles would be sourced from 4K masters and made available at high-bitrate 1080p resolution that can be played on existing Blu-ray players.

Because of the lack of 4K content, the set's abilities to take existing HD content from Blu-rays or broadcast and then up-rez them to 4K will be a key selling point.

Sony also touted its TV technology in a number of other product launches, including the new Xperia Z mobile phone. It has a 5-in. HD 1080p display, a S4 Pro quad-core processor, a 13 megapixel fast-capture camera and 4G LTE capabilities.

The company also stressed new features that make it much easier to transfer content from one device to another through its "One Touch" technologies.