As a result of this project, in March 2013 HISPASAT initiated a series of validation tests for the launch of the Hispasat 4K channel in September 2013, made available in Europe by the Hispasat 1E satellite. Throughout 2014 improvements have been made to the channel, including an increase in the frame rate, from 25 to 50 fps, substantially improving the perceived image quality, especially for images with a great deal of movement. They have also done tests on the first prototypes of the user receiver known as the Set-Top Box (STB), bringing technology closer to the end user. In 2014, at the NAB Show in Las Vegas, HISPASAT announced the start of free-to-air broadcasting of the Hispasat 4K television channel in Central and North America.
