Amazon pledges to make all originals in 4K

Amazon Studios, the original film and TV production arm of the online shopping giant, has pledged to shoot all of its full original series next year in Ultra HD, also known as 4K.

Amazon said the decision would apply to all new pilots and series that it films in 2014 and will include both comedy and drama, with Amazon Studios director Roy Price (pictured) adding that Amazon plans to greenlight its first full drama series next year.

“As a premium original content creator, we’re excited about 4K and the future of Ultra HD technology, particularly as we move into drama series next year,” said Price.

“We think customers are going to love watching these series in the highest resolution ever available to consumers and we can’t wait to deliver it.”

Amazon said that the move will let Amazon customers watch movies and TV shows “with unprecedented picture clarity” with 4K capable of offering video at a resolution of 8.3 million pixels—four times the number of pixels as standard full HD.

Amazon Studios announced earlier this year that it will debut five new comedy and drama pilots in 2014, which will air on Prime Instant Video in the US and Amazon’s Lovefilm service in the UK. The most popular will then receive a full-series run.

It is these full-series shows, along with additional pilots to be filmed in 2014, which will be made in 4K, said Amazon.

At the same time the firm has launched a 4K Ultra HDTV Guide on its site, designed to give consumers “helpful information about the differences between 4K and regular high definition.”