Getting return video to talent in the field, particularly those working from at-home studios, has been one of remote production’s biggest challenges. Japan’s Techno Mathematical Co. (TMC) is using low-latency encoding and decoding technology that has become indispensable for the likes of NBC and CBS stations. Above, By using a TMC encoder, WCBS New York is able to keep the end-to-end delay low enough to allow meteorologist Lonnie Quinn to present the weather map remotely from his home Weather Barn.
Japanese public broadcaster NHK has announced that it will begin broadcasting a new 8K channel via satellite by December. The network announced earlier this year that it had intended to do so in advance of its plans to broadcast the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics in the high res format. This follows speculation that Samsung will debut its first 8K consumer TV set at IFA later this month.
NHK Adds Lawo Mobile Kit
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NHK Goes For New Gold With 8K Olympics
In October 1964, Tokyo welcomed the world as it hosted the Summer Olympics. The event signaled Japan’s recovery from the devastation of World War II. To broadcast the proceedings, venerable pubcaster Nippon Hoso Kyokai (NHK) was there. Now in its 90th year, that star has faded slightly as changing viewer demographics and questions about neutrality pose challenges for the broadcaster that has always pushed the tech envelope.
NHK Researcher Lays Out 8K Roadmap
Japan’s government and NHK are bullish about giving Japan a broadcast system that supports ultra-sharp 8K — 16 times the resolution of HD — in time for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. And now, Japan’s public broadcaster is not ruling out virtual reality as a possible future use of the format.
This year, Japanese public broadcaster NHK announced that it will speed development of its 8K Super Hi-Vision, which offers 16 times the resolution of HD, and begin broadcasting tests in 2016 with the goal of starting a commercial terrestrial service as early as 2018 — two years before the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Although there is still a tremendous amount of development needed to create a full 8K ecosystem, a visit to NHK’s Science & Technology Research Laboratories in Tokyo suggests that the broadcaster may be closer than many industry observers think.
Japanese public broadcaster NHK has for the first time transmitted video signals in 8K definition over a significant distance.
NHK Demos 8K Technology At NAB Show
Japanese broadcaster NHK demonstrated for the first time outside Japan the real-time, over-the-air transmission and reception of 8K, which is 16 times the resolution of HDTV. The broadcaster plans to record its “Super Hi-Vision” 8K coverage of the figure skating and opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics from Sochi, Russia, in 2014 and to begin domestic 8K satellite tests to coincide with the 2016 Summer Games hosted in Rio.
Ultra high definition television (UHDTV) or Super Hi-Vision, an 8K system that delivers 16 times the resolution of current HD technology, is set to be approved by the International Telecommunication Union as the next-generation global television format.
