First live 4K broadcast in UK.

The United Kingdom's first live 4K TV broadcast took place earlier today courtesy of Sky, which is Europe's biggest and best known satellite broadcaster.

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Currently one of the biggest problems for prospective 4K TV suppliers is getting the content to the actual TV sets, as at the moment there is no suitable optical format, and broadband delivery mechanisms aren't as yet feasible with current broadband speeds.

Whilst others ponder delivery mechanisms though Sky has taken the bull by the horns and has both televised and broadcast today's live soccer match, between Stoke City and West Ham football clubs, to a select audience at its headquarters in London.

The lucky viewers watched four of Sony's latest 4K sets for the demonstration, worth £25,000 each ($38737.50 USD each at current exchange rates) and the whole demonstration was a very exciting first for UK broadcasting.

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4K TVs are still prohibitively expensive by most people's standards and even early adopters are reluctant to lay out cash for a developing technology with limited available content, however Sky not only has the resources to develop such a platform, it also has the perfect and as yet only viable method of delivering such content via its already existing satellite network.

55 inch models are now starting to appear in or around £4,000 ($6,200 USD) and if Sky can follow the pattern set numerous times throughout its history, most recently repeated in relation to its HD rollout, it seems they could be in the enviable position of getting first to the market with a product that virtually no one else has the mechanism to deliver.

Certainly it would appear that the future of TV in the UK seems set to change yet again heralding yet another phase of innovation.

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And finally, for those that just have to know these things, the final score in the match was Stoke City 1 : West Ham 0.

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