ARE you ready for the next big revolution in TV viewing? What, another one? I hear you scream. Welcome to the uphill struggle that manufacturers and retailers face in selling the Ultra HD (UHD) dream.

If you’re one of the many people who upgraded to a High Definition set in the last five years or so – it will feel galling that companies are hoping will now dump our TVs and switch to a format four times more detailed, enabling us to count the remaining hairs on the top of Wayne Rooney’s head.

There were also people who were encouraged to buy 3D TVs – advertising and shops were full of them from 2010 to 2014. The reality of pictures ‘popping out’ of our TVs never came true – it was expensive for people like SKY and the BBC to make content, and only one person could get the sweet spot in front of the TV – hardly perfect for those with a family. 3D has now been erased from history.

Unlike the 3D fiasco, UHD is a fantastic format – if you are plumping for a TV larger than 50 inches it really brings the content to life. There is four times more detail in the image that makes for a more realistic experience. The technology has been specifically tweaked for fast moving action, like sport – greatly reducing the blur. Without buying into the marketing guff – a UHD signal can, at its best moments, make it feel like you are looking through a window to watch the big match.

There are two major challenges to the adoption of UHD – lack of content and how it gets to your set. The UHD picture has so much more detail so it requires more room in the broadcasting spectrum – the current Freeview system through the aerial doesn’t have the available space, and one UHD channel would take up the space of four HD channels on the expensive satellites rented by Sky TV.

UHD content can only be delivered to the 20% or so of UK homes that are connected to super-fast Internet and given the almost unrealistic requirements, homes outside of Wiltshire’s towns would struggle to receive even on their upgraded broadband networks.

So far, subscription video services from Amazon and Netflix have the richest vein of content, with major TV shows like Daredevil and House of Cards available in the format for around £9 a month. BT has launched a new UHD sport channel this month, at £15 it feels expensive, but the amount of content is set to grow throughout the year.

Ready to join the queue for an UHD TV? Don’t all rush – they’ve just developed Super HD, eight times more detailed than HDTV.