Next-gen TV—with a 4K "Ultra HD" picture resolution—was this year's hot topic at CES. But its success may be in the hands of console gamers.

With leaked details of octal-core processor banks paired with 8GB of RAM, the PlayStation 4 "Orbis" is sounding powerful (just for comparison of RAM alone, the 8GB of system memory is roughly 32 times more than the current model). But to see where 4K comes in, it's worth taking a trip back seven years.

In 2005, very few people had an HDTV. According to one study, there were "as many" as 10 million homes with high-definition screens—globally. The problem, according to many commentators, was the lack of HD content: nobody wanted to buy an HDTV because there was little HD content; very little HD content was made because there were very few people to sell it to. Classic catch-22.

Then along came the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3. For many people (myself included) they were the first devices our houses played host to that could produce high-def content. They gave people a reason to buy an HDTV and that gave content producers reason to invest in the formats it supported.

That's about to happen all over again—the next battle is 4K Ultra HD, and every major television manufacturer at CES this year was showing off their best entrants into this arena.

But it's like déjà vu. Once again we have TV-makers showing off massive new television sets, but nobody seems to know where the content will come from. Even Sony's CEO Kaz Hirai has admitted to being nervous about committing to a disc-based format for 4K video distribution.

It's such perfect timing when you think about it. This year we're expecting to see the next generation of game consoles from Sony and Microsoft and it seems perfectly reasonable—in fact, I would go as far as to say inevitable—that these consoles will support 4K output and make Ultra HD desirable rather than just a passing fad.

It feels even more realistic when you consider how devoted Sony and Microsoft are to having their consoles as home entertainment hubs; both companies have been fearless in signing up everyone from Netflix to the BBC, Sky to LoveFilm, in order to make their console the de facto standard in living room media systems.

They have to focus on the high end of gaming (because Apple's eating the casual market) and the next-gen of television and media distribution.

How it will happen

I believe we will see 4K in consoles enjoy a staggered rollout. First, it will be all about the games. Not every game will be available in 4K, but all will likely be at 1080p and the console will upscale to 2K or 4K. Later, "Play in Ultra HD" will become some sort of a marketing line, like "Better with Kinect" became for Microsoft and some of its motion-control games.

Further down the line, Sony will announce a 4K video-on-demand service, where films in Ultra HD can be downloaded to the console from the cloud. These movies already exist within studio walls, they just need a way of conveniently getting into the living room. A games console could be the doorway.

Within five years, all games on both consoles will be output at 4K resolutions and both Sony and Microsoft will become dominant players in the disc-free distribution of Ultra HD movies.

Today, it may seem like this is all about to happen too soon (how many people own a 4K TV today versus an HDTV in 2005?). But I think it's inevitable, and without 4K games consoles, the next generation of TV will suffer—Sony literally can't afford to let that happen.