Video sharing service YouTube will demonstrate 4K streaming technology at the CES 2014 show in Las Vegas next week in a bid to kickstart Google's new open-source VP9 video format.
The company's Ultra HD videos will be on display on televisions at the Sony, LG and Panasonic booths during the annual tech fest in the Nevada desert, using the VP9 codec Google has developed in-house.
Google hopes VP9 can offer an alternative to the H.265 standard and already has the support of hardware manufacturers like ARM, Intel, Samsung, Sharp and the aforementioned trio.
YouTube, which may support H.265 in the future, said VP9 will allow for higher resolution video at a bit-rate that isn't beyond your connection, but will also halve the amount of data needed to stream in HD.
Death to buffering?
"By 2015, you'll be surprised every time you see that spinning wheel," Francisco Varela, global director of platform partnerships at YouTube, told Gigaom in an interview.
YouTube's announcement comes after Netflix revealed that selected viewers will be able to watch House of Cards season 2 at full 4K resolution when the new episodes debut later this year.
This week, Stream TV also said it would be demonstrating glasses-free 4K 3D video at the show, which kickstarts in earnest on Monday.
