Why 4K Input is Crucial in Video Conferencing and Collaboration

[caption id="attachment_1433" align="alignnone" width="946"] 4K video is becoming accessible to general public[/caption] High-resolution 4K input has become a preferred choice for developers in key areas like smart city, smart office, smart surveillance and digital health. Due to advancements in hardware technologies and drop is costs of high bandwidth connectivity, we are moving towards an era where a 4K video is becoming accessible to general public.

What is 4K?

4K, widely known as Ultra HD is an image or video which renders at a resolution of 4096/3840 x 2160 pixels i.e nearly four times that of Full HD. It can light up to 8.3 million pixels producing a superior quality picture and allows the display size to increase without compromising on picture quality. 4K offers a large spectrum of colors and carries a far higher image details with cleaner and rounded edges. Hence, it is becoming a widely accepted standard for the picture of high quality. Recently released cameras like GoPro HERO5 or Logitech 4K Pro have the capability to capture a 4K video.

4K Input in Video Conferencing and Collaboration

The high-quality video input from 4K camera implies that it can be helpful in building professional camera based tools in areas of smart infrastructure, entertainment or healthcare. In a business environment where effective communication is crucial, a 4K video input can help us make the conversation effective. Smart office infrastructure is a typical example of how a 4K video input can make a significant difference. If a speaker is displaying a complex flowchart on a projector screen and the presenter needs to interact with his remote colleagues while pointing out to the projector screen, a 4K video input will help him achieve this without tilting or moving the camera device. The smart office also includes smart boards which can make conversations and information exchange more efficient. If a designer has to guide a hardware developer to build a complex module of a network, he can share his screen which supports 4K video. Since the quality of the image or video will be considerably high, the time required to zoom in and out for minor edits will be minimized. When we say health care, it goes without saying that there will be areas like elderly care, specialty remote doctors, medical staff education, etc where it is not feasible for a specialist or patient to commute from one place to another. Elderly care is an illustrious case since baby boomers are getting older and their health vulnerabilities demand greater concern. If an elderly patient is on house-observation after getting treated for leg fracture or knee surgery, his condition doesn’t allow periodic commute. But he has to learn a new set of healing exercises every week. In those cases, a 4K video input allows him to share a high-quality video stream with the orthopedist without making much effort to move towards the camera. The same excellence can be facilitated in the case of specialty remote doctors. Imagine a dermatologist interacting with his patient over a clear-as-life quality video. It will be pivotal in guiding the patient by examining the minutest details on the skin. This can help the specialist to do a periodic analysis of the treatment she is offering and make necessary changes. 4K video is about to become an indispensable component of video collaboration. We need to future proof our devices to support a high-resolution 4K input. Inforce’s ACC-1S80™ accessory card enables developers to bring in UHD 4K video input into their  Snapdragon™ 820 based products through HDMI to CSI. This helps developers to build robust video collaboration devices with 4K input. Inforce provides solutions and services to the companies which can help them integrate 4K technology into their product line