Sony and Netflix team up to offer 4K video streaming

Sony and Netflix team up to offer 4K video
So sharp, Walt will cut your screen in two

Sony took to the stage at CES 2014 to announce a deal with Netflix to bring more 4K content to users' living rooms.

The two have teamed up to improve the amount of 4K movies and TV shows to the Netflix platform, and doing it more quickly too.

Reed Hastings, Netflix CEO, said it saw the internet as 'the natural medium to deliver [4K video] as the first million homes with 4K TVs don't have much content except that found on the net.'

He added that Netflix is working with Sony as well as other content groups to bring 4K to the platform, and original Netflix content, such as House of Cards later this year, will be shot, edited and processed in 4K.

Sharpening the past

Hastings confirmed that it's working with Sony to go back and remaster its content into 4K quality, which will include Breaking Bad among other series.

The new service also allows for faster streaming, with Hastings stating that 4K content began faster than ever before – and users will 'only' need 15Mbps broadband speeds to stream the higher resolution video.

While that might sound like a hefty speed needed, given its four times the resolution of standard HD content it's a rather impressive speed requirement, showing the impressive compression on offer with the new codecs.

We're still waiting on a release date for 4K streaming on Netflix, but when you can finally afford a 4K set the good news is you'll have some stuff to watch from the outset.

Gareth Beavis
Formerly Global Editor in Chief

Gareth has been part of the consumer technology world in a career spanning three decades. He started life as a staff writer on the fledgling TechRadar, and has grown with the site (primarily as phones, tablets and wearables editor) until becoming Global Editor in Chief in 2018. Gareth has written over 4,000 articles for TechRadar, has contributed expert insight to a number of other publications, chaired panels on zeitgeist technologies, presented at the Gadget Show Live as well as representing the brand on TV and radio for multiple channels including Sky, BBC, ITV and Al-Jazeera. Passionate about fitness, he can bore anyone rigid about stress management, sleep tracking, heart rate variance as well as bemoaning something about the latest iPhone, Galaxy or OLED TV.