UltraCast technology from MediaTek streams 4K video from smartphone to TV

4K video is the latest buss word in technology and streaming media, and today MediaTek announced new technology that will offer a faster way to stream 4K video from a smartphone to a 4K-ready television or to a supported TV set-top box.  The technology is called UltraCast and it will be available on its MediaTek Helio smartphone processors, along with the company’s 4K Ultra HDTV chipsets.

MediaTek says that UltraCast is an extension of the Wi-Fi Certified Miracast technology. It uses the company’s own video smoothing algorithm, which it says helps to preserve picture quality of 4K video while also reducing latency between devices. The company says it is offering to give access to its UltraCast technology to all third-party smartphone, TV and set-top box hardware makers.

The use of UltraCast is supposed to be an economical one for hardware makers, according to MediaTek, as it uses the existing 4K recording capabilities on smartphone platforms and 4K Ultra HDTV. UltraCast is currently available for all of MediaTek’s hardware partners and customers, but there’s no word on when the first smartphones or TVs will be released that will use this technology.