For the past week or so, LG Electronics has been announcing a slew of new Ultra HD TVs for 2014. Now, they want to give you a little something to watch on one of those super-cool new sets.
The company just announced a brand-new proprietary webOS Smart TV platform. Previously, the company was a little hush-hush about its 2014 Smart TV plans -- and with good reason. Just announced at this week's 2014 CES, the new platform will actually support Ultra HD 4K streaming from Netflix.
Netflix has been testing out 4K streaming for quite some time. If all goes well, LG Ultra HD TV owners will be watching House of Cards in 4K sometime later this year. Reed Hastings, president and CEO of Netflix, was on-hand at the show to help deliver the good news and say that the hit drama would get a 4K boost for its upcoming second season.
"As the world's leading Internet TV network, Netflix will be among the first to deliver Ultra HD 4K to consumers," said Hastings. "Streaming will be the primary way consumers receive Ultra HD 4K and we are excited to be working with LG to make this a reality later this year."
All 12 of LG's new Ultra HD TVs will include the webOS Smart TV platform, as well as a new, built-in 4K HEVC 60p decoder. This allows LG's TVs to decode broadcast signals in both H.264 and HEVC H.265 formats, in either 30p or 60p. Also worth noting is the webOS' Live Menu, which can display information, features and content, including TV show recommendations, a search bar and previously viewed programs.
"Content delivery has been the looming question with Ultra HD TVs ever since LG was the first to market with our 84-inch class TV in 2012," said Sam Chang, senior vice president and head of the LG Silicon Valley Lab. "While our Tru-Ultra HD Engine provides excellent upscaled quality, the overall goal was always native 4K content delivery and Netflix was the perfect partner."
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