Demand for 4K HDR content is increasing and, unlike many other devices, Just Add Power products are able to be updated thereby eliminating the need to regularly replace devices as new content formats come to the fore.

As testimony to this, the company is poised to release a firmware update for their range of 3G Ultra HD over IP products to support 4K HDR content distribution to multiple screens over a 1GP network.

“The industry is dominated by devices that are ‘standards based’. Things like H.265, HDBaseT, JPEG2000, and so on. This means that the devices were built to the fixed specification of those published standards and chip sets. When you design a product that is based on a published standard, there is not really any allowance for improvements,” says Just Add Power founder and director Ed Qualls.

“On the other hand, Just Add Power devices are actually small computers running the Linux operating system. This gives us the freedom to keep improving our product by updating our software applications running within the Just Add Power devices, which protects the customer’s investment. In the case of HDR, there was no viable HDR content available when we first built the 3G series. When the Samsung 4K Blu-Ray player hit the street with HDR content, we were first in line to purchase the products. Immediately we were able to analyse how HDR was actually implemented and then wrote a firmware update to support the HDR data stream. We even went one step further and developed a new app that allows the individual display receivers to turn the HDR content flag on or off on demand.

“We decided to do this because we were seeing that the HDR experience is not always appealing to all viewers. This programmability of our smart devices allows the individual to have complete control over their viewing experience, including the ability to decide if and when you want to see HDR.”

To upgrade Just Add Power devices, dealers can go to http://support.justaddpower.com. There they will find the free firmware updates and can also access to the Just Add Power Knowledge Base to find answers to a wide variety of questions. The same support site can be used to ask installation specific questions and to open tickets for any support issues dealers may have.