Almost half of 4K TV owners have never watched UHD at home

A little over half of 4K TV owners have used their sets to their maximum potential.

According to a new study from Hub Entertainment Research, only 57% of 4K TV owners have watched UHD/4K content on their sets, leaving 43% of owners who have not. 

These  findings are from Hub’s Evolution of the TV Set study, conducted among 2,517 US consumers. Interviews were conducted in May and June, 2019. 

The key reason cited for not viewing 4K is simply that users do not know where to find content. Of those who have not watched 4K, 30% said that they don’t know where to find 4K content to watch. Almost a quarter (22%) of non-UHD viewing 4K TV owners said that they don’t have access to 4K content while 20% said they do not have the right equipment and 18% said that they were happy with the quality of HD.

Surprisingly, cost is not a highly important factor, with only 15% saying that 4K’s expense was a barrier. 

The report also found that consumers are much more familiar with Roku than with Amazon Fire. The majority of consumers (59%) said they know at least something about the Roku brand, and 26% said they know a lot. However, only 43% said they are familiar with Fire TV and 15% said they know a lot about the brand. 

Finally, the report looks at the non-TV features of smart TVs, finding that 37% of respondents use their TV for streaming music or audio, with a quarter of those using the feature frequently. 

Less popular features include looking at social media (11%) and looking at digital photos (10%). 

“As smart TVs, connected TVs, connected devices, and TV voice-control devices proliferate, many new services and features have suddenly become available to TV set users”, said David Tice, co-author of the study. 

“But TV manufacturers and services have a long record of inadequately educating consumers on their offerings. TV brands and content distributors need to work together to increase consumer awareness, as these great new features won’t help sell TV sets or services – or command a premium – if people don’t understand them.”