There’s a new streaming service on the block.
Sony Pictures Entertainment’s home video arm (Sony Pictures Home Entertainment) will roll out its new 4K high-definition movie streaming service on April 4, the company said on Tuesday during a press event in San Francisco.
But there’s a catch. The new service will only be available to people who buy Sony’s 4K televisions.
Sony first detailed the new streaming service, dubbed Ultra, during this year’s Consumer Electronics Show.
Although 4K televisions have been on the market for a couple of years with prices of the devices on the decline as their popularity has increased, there hasn’t been as much 4K-ready video available to stream over the Internet compared to high-definition video, which is of lower quality.
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Over the last year, however, streaming services like Netflix (NFLX) and Amazon (AMZN) have started to offer 4K versions of shows and movies for their customers.
Sony Pictures Entertainment vice president Jake Winett explained on Tuesday that Sony’s decision to create a 4K streaming service came in response to more consumers upgrading home Internet services, presenting Sony with the opportunity to stream larger, higher-quality video without hiccups.
“We wanted to give consumers a streaming option that really showcased the best quality content,” posited Winett. Thus, Sony is hopping on the 4K bandwagon.
Still, the electronics giant’s version of the service is different than other streaming services.
For example, consumers will only be able to purchase movies, rather than rent them like they would on Amazon’s Prime video streaming service. Winett noted it was “a commercial decision” to only let users buy movies, although he suggested that might change in the future.
“We can turn on rentals pretty quickly if we wanted to if we see consumer demand,” remarked Winett. “It’s fairly straightforward for us to light that up.”
It will cost $30 dollars to purchase a 4K version of a movie for streaming. That rate drops to between $12 and $15 when customers upgrade lower-quality movie streams to 4K. To top it off, if a customer buys a Sony 4K television this summer, he or she will get four free 4K movies to stream, Winett promised.
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Additionally, customers will only be able to buy movies developed by Sony Pictures Entertainment. The company did not say how many films will be available when the service comes online, but some of the titles already announced include Concussion, The Night Before, The Walk, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, and Ghostbusters.
