Comcast has joined the 4K club

As 4K technology slowly starts entering the mainstream content providers are moving to make access to content in Ultra High Definition more easy. Online video streaming sites like Netflix and Amazon have already started streaming content in 4K. Now a major pay-TV provider, Comcast, is getting in the game as well. Today the launch of Comcast’s Xfinity in UHD app took place. It is an on-demand programming application, and there’s just one thing wrong with it, the app is only available for 2014 Samsung UHD TVs. So if you own a 4K television but its from a manufacturer other than Samsung, even if the model is from 2014, you’re out of luck.

Comcast has launched a limited set of programming in Ultra HD, available on 2014 Samsung 4K TVs, becoming the latest distributor to stake out a beachhead in the next-generation video format. Initially, Comcast Xfinity customers will be able to stream every episode of the current season of NBC’s “Chicago Fire” and USA Network’s “Covert Affairs” and “Suits” via the Internet to compatible Samsung Ultra HD TVs. In February, the cable company is set to debut NBC’s “Parks and Recreation” (pictured above) in the ultra-high-resolution format, and will expand with additional programming next year. Others in the U.S. that have launched 4K Ultra HD video services include DirecTV, Netflix, Amazon.com, Sony and M-Go. The format provides a dazzlingly rich picture, with four times the resolution of 1080p HD and a broader color palette. Today, not many American consumers have Ultra HD TVs: just 450,000 Ultra HD televisions are expected to ship in the U.S. in 2014, according to the Consumer Electronics Assn.