Overexaggerating 4K's Benefits Could Harm Early Adopters, UK's UHD Forum Warns Retailers

The Digital TV Group’s UHD Forum in the U.K. is “providing advice to retailers to ensure that they can provide consumers with accurate information” on 4K TV, “satisfying the early adopters who will be the bedrock of future market growth," CEO Richard Lindsay-Davies said Thursday. His statement followed a reprimand the U.K.’s Advertising Standards Authority gave online retailer DSG Retail not to re-run ads it ran during the holiday selling season overexaggerating the benefits of 4K, he said. The authority directed DSG in future ads to clearly communicate “the standard of quality that would be achieved” on a 4K TV and not to claim, without supporting evidence, that the image quality would show greater detail not viewable on a 1080p TV, he said. “Ultra HD represents an enormous opportunity for the TV industry to take the viewing experience to a level even greater than the leap from standard-def to HD, but exaggerating the offering at an early stage could damage consumer confidence before the true benefits come to fruition.” DSG representatives didn’t comment.