Sky in ultra high-defintion TV first Barney Francis, the managaing director of Sky Sports, is cautious about the technology's potential, but ultimately in favour. "We keep a close eye on emerging technologies here at Sky," he claims. At the company that led the UK into digital, HD, mobile and 3D TV, we want to keep bringing our customers the innovations that improve the experience of watching TV. That's why, back in October last year we first experimented with Ultra HD - or 4k, as some people call it. Any detail of a launch for these pictures, however, are to be confirmed: "As and when affordable UHD TVs are available, over the next few years, our early leadership will position us well," says Francis. How does it look? Sky is testing its ultra-high-definition coverage on four Sony televisions each costing £25,000 - pictures this pretty don't yet come cheap. But already smaller sets, at around 55," are available for £4,000, and costs will fall rapidly. But just as many viewers felt high definition was an unnecessary improvement, today's UHD will be the industry standard in a few years time. So what do these pictures look like? In short, ultra-high definition is so vivid it's almost unreal. Best viewed on big screens, it offers more detail than your eyes can see, and shows more than they would see if you were at a real sporting event. If HD showed every blade of grass, UHD shows every ligule and leafbud. That means it takes some getting used to, but once you've lived with UHD, there's no going back. But there will be plenty of bumps along that road - few users will spend the money on TVs this good unless there is content to justify the purchase, yet few broadcasters will spend money on the programming until there is a good number of TVs already out there. It's a catch-22, but it's one that is mitigated by the fact that many Hollywood films are already being made in the new standard anyway. Getting the new pictures to TV sets, however, remains a challenge: standard spectrum used for regular TV is too full, and the UK's broadband network is simply not yet good enough for it to be sent over the web. That leaves satellite networks such as Sky's effectively the only option for now.