Netflix confirmed that the Breaking Bad series will be streamed in 4K ultra HD resolution with 5.1 surround sound starting June.
Netflix, the popular video streaming service in the U.S., is bringing the American crime drama series, Breaking Bad, in 4K resolution. By adding the Sony-owned series to the 4K library, Netflix is expanding its offerings for customers owning the latest 4K UHD televisions.
Sony has already licensed the series to Netflix for airing and the video streaming company had revealed plans to bring Breaking Bad in 4K, earlier this month when it started airing House of Cards series 2 in 4K.
The latest announcement comes at a crucial time when 4K TV owners are looking for new content in highest definition. Netflix has also promised to add more 4K content in the coming years. Additionally, the company is planning to make its own Original Series available in 4K resolution. Orange is the New Black is being tested for 4K and will make its debut along with other shows.
"You'll see us license more and more content. So we'll do Breaking Bad, but we'll also do all of the Originals that make sense that have a format or style that benefit from that better video quality," Greg Peters, chief streaming and partnerships officer at Netflix, told The Telegraph. "It won't be a lot. The whole corpus of content that we have, we're basically talking about either stuff that's new or that's being remastered off of film, which we'll see more and more of. So we'll start small, but get bigger and bigger."
Ultra HD 4K resolution is the highest standard in content clarity. It boasts 840x2160 resolution, 10-bit color precision, and 60 frames per second and richer colors. Such content, of course, is available on the latest UHD TV sets offered by various companies. In a recent announcement, Samsung and Sony inked a deal with Best Buy to open hundreds of in-store locations nationwide. The store-within-a-store concept will be used to display a wide range of electrical goods including their 4K televisions.
The prices of the 4K televisions, which once touched the skies, are falling dramatically. Several companies are planning to offer models in the sub-$1000 range.
To enjoy the best quality, Netflix recommends viewers to have a reliable broadband in addition to a 4K supported TV. The company recommends at least 20Mbps for streaming, a little more than the required 16Mbps speed, due to service variability.
