Japan Ups the Ante in 8K TV
Tokyo, Japan, June 4, 2013-Japan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications will be adopting 8K broadcasts, which is 16 times the resolution of current HDTV, by 2016, two years ahead of schedule. Japanese broadcaster NHK said it already has plans to conduct trials 8K Super Hi-Vision TV in 2016. Reports say NHK is preparing to build a compact, more-easily managed camera that can capture in the double 4K resolution.
In the meantime, Japan has announced it will use 4K broadcast in July 2014 during the final match of the 2014 World Cup.
8K and 4Kare two formats of “Ultra HD” seen as the next-generation technology for television broadcasting. The U.S. and U.K. are among the countries already exploring the potential of 4K, the more achievable goal, as the needed production equipment has started to enter the market. But Japan is trying to outdistance everyone by announcing its plan to use 8K broadcasts in 2016.
4K is currently being seen as a stopgap on the way to 8k (7680 × 4320, or 33.2 megapixels), which is comparable to 70mm IMAX (some say 8k is better). Video experts have tagged 8K as the point where pixel density truly approaches “retina” levels of detail at all but the very closest distances for normal consumer display sizes.
At the NAB in Las Vegas in April this year, NHK already announced its plans to record its “Super Hi-Vision” 8K coverage of the figure skating and opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics from Sochi, Russia, next year. It will also begin domestic 8K satellite tests to coincide with the 2016 Summer Games hosted in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil.
NHK said its aim is to launch an 8K broadcast service in Japan by 2020. However, it said it has no plans to test Super Hi-Vision at the World Cup in Brazil 2014.
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