In the meantime, technology designs for substantial further improvement of video compression have begun to emerge. Further data rate increases will put additional pressure on all types of networks (cable and wireless/mobile), and data rates for video content (when current compression technology is used) are increasing faster than the network infrastructure is able to carry economically. Ultra HD resolution (such as 4Kx2K and beyond) is expected to emerge in the near future and will be supported by next generation displays.
According to various reports, video has become a majority of network traffic world-wide, and its traffic load continues to grow at a rapid pace.
It is difficult in the transmission networks of today to carry HDTV resolution with data rates appropriate for high quality to the end user – and this is especially the case on the Internet, where video-over-broadband services have now emerged a major phenomenon. Market demands for video services with increasingly high quality (temporal and spatial resolution, color fidelity, amplitude resolution) continue to be evident, and video has become a major and continuously-increasing percentage of digital network traffic world-wide. Authors: Jens-Rainer Ohm and Gary Sullivan
