First, before I even ask the question, I want to say up front that I know we are a ways away from widespread use of 4K capable displays AND available 4K content. That being said, it does seem to be coming. Display manufacturers seem to be pushing full steam ahead with it as the new frontier as they look for selling points after 3D. It remains to be seen how quickly content will follow, but it will come at some point.

So, as I am about to step into a home with a DM 8x8 and am considering stepping up to a 16x16, I'm just trying to understand what these pieces can and can't do. I've searched and can't find confirmation of support for 4K within the line. Looking simply at specifications, the latest HDMI 1.4b standard supports 4K @30fps, but I don't know if they've been tested against the 14.b spec. Beyond that, as we look towards further development of 4K, according to an interview I heard with Steve Venuti (President of HDMI licensing), he expects the HDMI Forum to introduce yet another iteration of the standard later this year. Among other things, it will support 4K @60fps and in doing so possibly double the bandwidth in the spec (currently at 10.2Gbps for HDMI 1.4b).

Now, I don't expect any product to be future proof and the pace of advancement on the HDMI standards front has been very fast and continues to be so. I just want to know what I can and can't reasonably expect from hardware that I consider to be critical infrastructure. I'm trying to be forward thinking on cabling but if it's reasonable to expect that I'd have to replace the DM in 3 years if/when 4K catches on, I'd like to know that now so I'm not disappointed later. That answer probably won't change my plans, but it would help set proper expectations.

Thanks in advance for any feedback.

This isn't an answer, but I did find this:

http://crestrondigitalmedia.blogspot.com

It's a blog that seems like it was done by Crestron folks but hasn't been updated since March of 2010. In a blog post from 1/4/10, the following appeared

"3D / 4K video: DM’s backplane has support for these higher resolutions. Future DM parts will be able harness these capabilities and deliver them to a display near you. Keep in mind that this type of content is far from being widely offered, but we should still plan for the future."

Again, it doesn't answer my question , but it's just about the only thing I've found talking about DM switches and 4K.

I think that if you run fiber, you will be in better shape no matter what. I think that is probably going to be the biggest bottleneck. And with DM being card based, there is a better chance of not having to replace everything.

I think you're not getting any response because nobody cares. How long have we had Deep Color ready TV's and projectors?? Try and find a Deep Color Bluray!

By the time 4K is actually available, you'll have moved on.

I agree about the fiber route. What I have been unsure about is whether the backplane of the DM design can handle these additional bandwidths that are coming even in a card cage design. Hopefully there is an answer (even a best guess) out there even if Crestron doesn't want to have an official stance on it.

I would agree that many of the HDMI format tweaks have seen little adoption and use in practice. My gut tells me that 4K will land somewhere above 3D, but below HD. In other words, it won't cause mass purchasing replacement of older TVs, but it will have greater adoption than 3D has had to this point and that we will see an eventual widespread content shift from HD to 4K. To me, that makes it a future feature that is worth thinking about. At that point, would the bleeding edge have moved on to the next thing? Sure. But we can see this one is on the horizon now and since infrastructure components like the DM are far from cheap and sit at the core of your distribution system, understanding what they are capable of seems reasonable to me.

That being said, does Crestron do trade-ups? I mean, if the current crop of DM units could not handle 4K, would they offer upgrade paths to the new infrastructure hardware? I know this is something more commonly seen and discussed in more direct consumer facing hardware, but it seems like a fair question to ask. My guess is that they don't and the only solution would be to entirely replace the unit and possibly the associated cards (assuming current cards could not be used in a newer design). It may be that given Crestron's target user base, this pathway is just accepted as normal business. If so, I won't challenge that, but I would like to know up front so I can make informed decisions and set expectations for the future.

It could be as simple as firmware upgrades. I'm sure in 20 years when 4K software starts appearing, they'll be ready.

I got some feedback from tech support folks at Crestron who escalated the question and, according to them, the backplane of current DM units can handle 4K resolutions. I didn't get more specifics than that, but that's good enough for me.

Oh, by the way, I see we're now supposed to officially call 4K "Ultra HD" according to the CEA...