Sky Deutschland looking to 4K future

Sky Deutschland plans to develop a next-generation set-top with 4K capability and additional functionality, SVP of technology Gerry Duffy told press at IBC yesterday.

Speaking at Cisco’s press lunch event, Duffy said Sky Deutschland planned to develop a next-generation platform that would include 4K. However, Duffy said that Sky had to innovate to find ways to make the ultra-high-definition experience compelling to viewers.

“What do we have to do to make it compelling? It’s not just about adding some resolution but creating new formats we can try to exploit to make it compelling to users,” he said. “While ultra-HD catches headlines at the moment, what it really means for us is a new platform to [roll out] with a new powerful set-top box. We can look to the next generation of platforms with Cisco to add extra capability to proposition we give to cusotmers.”

Duffy said that while 4K would be “central and number one on the list” of capabilities of the new platform, he hoped to be able to use that to deliver new features and functionality such as multiple HD feeds of football matches running simultaneously on screen in a mosaic format from which viewers could choose which to watch.