Amazon Prime Video joins Samsung-led 8K Association

Amazon Prime Video, a subscription-based video streaming service run by Amazon, joined cross-industry group 8K Association earlier in December, Samsung Electronics said Friday.

Samsung Electronics, one of the founding members of the 8K Association, said in a statement that Amazon Prime Video’s entry raises the anticipations for the 8K ecosystem’s growth momentum, in addition to Google that joined the group in May this year.

8K refers to a set of high-performance standards that offers a display resolution with a width of about 8,000 pixels, four times the resolution available compared to 4K standard‘s 2,160 pixels.

Samsung added that Amazon Prime Video is ready to support the ecosystem as one of the leading over-the-top streaming platforms, citing its multi-year licensing deal with Universal Pictures that was announced in July.

“The 8K ecosystem is seeing an expansion with the participation of Amazon and Google,” Yong Seok-woo, executive vice president and head of R&D Team of visual display business at Samsung Electronics. “(Samsung) will broaden the definition of 8K TV‘s standards and will support the production and distribution of content in 8K resolution.”

Samsung Electronics is one of the pioneers in promoting 8K-standard technologies. A day earlier, Samsung Electronics announced that its TVs and gaming monitors for 2022, provided in 4K and 8K resolution, will support the new HDR10+ gaming standard for a more immersive gaming experience.

Amazon Prime Video was one of the new members during the second half, along with Korea-based content creation company 4by4, US testing service provider Underwriter Laboratories. 8K Association also announced that Chinese TV maker Sichuan Changhong Electric rejoined the body.

Established in January 2020, the 8K Association is dedicated to promoting the 8K ecosystem and includes companies involved in the ecosystem -- ranging from TV brands to display panel makers, content creators, technology and equipment providers test labs and chipset providers.

It runs the 8K Association Certified program, and has so far certified over 80 TV models.

By Son Ji-hyoung (consnow@heraldcorp.com)