It was back in mid-2012 when we saw the world’s first 4K TV, the 55-inch Toshiba Regza RZ1. Yep, Toshiba was first to market a 4K or quad-HD TV.
This year, after improving on that first 4K TV, Toshiba proudly introduces the new 2013 models using their 2nd generation 4K TV system. These TVs come in 58″, 65″, and 84″ sizes, all having four times the resolution of an HD resolution TV. That’s 3840 x 2160 for you because for screen sizes over 55″, the rougher the picture quality becomes in just a Full HD resolution.
Film director Paul Soriano talks about how vivid the imagery is when viewing on Toshiba’s new 4K TVs.
Toshiba’s 2nd generation 4K TV system features Toshiba’s own CEVO 4K video processing engine. This CEVO 4K is responsible for up-scaling content and restore its precision (up to 90%) so you don’t need to wait for native 4K content. However, standard def or YouTube videos won’t be quite as sharp and detailed when up-scaled especially on the 84-inch TV.
Toshiba’s TV Brand Manager Yuji Motomura shows us the Cevo 4K processor used on their new 4K TVs
The CEVO 4K on these new TVs is equipped with a quad-core CPU for high picture quality processing and a dual-core RISC CPU for real-time video processing. This engine features a handful of video restoration technology:
- Fine Texture Restoration. Detects texture portions and restores very fine texture back to a “œnear-4K” level.
- Brilliance Restoration. Restores brilliance by analyzing specular and diffused reflections.
- 3D Frame Resolution +. Restores texture by referring to the congruent texture in ambient frames.
- Reconstruction Method. Restores the precision by simulating the reverse-process of a camcorder’s digitalization process.
- Color Texture Restoration. Restores the detail color texture and edges by refining the high-chroma texture.
- Color Restoration. Restores richness of color expression from the compressed color information.
- Self-Congruency Method. Restores sharp, smooth edges and textures by gathering congruent textures in a frame.
During the demo, it was very easy to appreciate the sharpness, clarity and vibrancy of Blu-ray content when viewed on a 4K TV. It’s clearly the future of home entertainment especially if you’re loaded with HD videos as you can easily be immersed in the viewing experience every time you watch a video on it.
We haven’t gotten word on the pricing and availability yet for these from Toshiba but it’s a good thing that smaller-sized 4K TV’s will be accessible soon.