ROLLING THE DICE ON RESOLUTION
Do broadcasters still influence our choice of TVs? And is it really ‘television’ anyway? Derek Powell investigates.
With 8K on the way, Derek Powell asks whether broadcasters still influence our choice of TV.
Given that the word ‘television’ means, literally, vision at a distance, it is a little strange that the large entertainment screens which dominate our living rooms today still bear the name. It made perfect sense throughout the blackand-white era, and when we switched to colour television in 1975. But about a decade after that, things started to change. VCRs appeared, spawning a revolution in what we watched on television and when. A decade after that, the coming of the internet brought other screens into our lives and other program sources onto the ‘television’ screen. The share of TV content from those distant broadcasters has been steadily eroded by VHS, DVD, cable TV, Blu-ray, downloads, Chromecasts, and multiple streaming services.
For some time now, replacement TV buying has been driven largely by features that have not been taken up by broadcast television (at least in Australia). There was 3D TV, and now Wide Colour Gamut and HDR. In Australia 4K resolution, let alone 8K, hasn’t been taken up by our traditional free-to-air broadcasters.
The who’s who of 8K
So what is driving the push to upgrade from 2K to 4K, and in particular, now towards 8K? Many industry insiders now take the view that the LCD panel manufacturers have become the power behind the push to higher resolutions. It is getting harder for LCD to compete against the picture quality of OLED and their sales have been slipping. In response, LCD fabricators have been able to scale up their resolution from 4K to 8K more quickly and cheaply than is possible with OLED (though LG does have 8K OLED; see News). They hope people want more, not better, pixels.
There is no doubt that electronics manufacturers are a major force behind the push for consumers to upgrade to new sets with the latest features, regardless of the availability of content. But it is interesting to note that it is a broadcast organisation that started the push toward 8K — and right now they are broadcasting 12 hours a day of 8K content to their own home market. It is Japan’s national broadcaster NHK.
NHK has a long and distinguished history in driving technological change in video systems. And they are patient. NHK started investing in research into really high-definition video back in 1995, and the first 8K prototype, dubbed Super Hi-Vision, was shown in the NHK labs in March 2002. By 2006 Super Hi-Vision equipment was demonstrated at NAB and IBC (the leading US and European broadcast trade shows) and the next year the broadcast standards organisation SMPTE formally adopted a standard that allowed for 8K broadcasting.
Even before the pronouncement that the 2020 Olympics were to be held in Tokyo, NHK announced that they would broadcast the 2020 Games in 8K Super Hi-Vision — but was that just a dream? Let’s weigh up the pluses and minuses a year out from the Games and see just where 8K really stands.
Production
There is no shortage of 8K production equipment. NHK themselves built the first 8K camera, a huge 80kg studioonly model, in 2002. By 2013, though, there were modern
8K studio cameras, lightweight ENG style cameras, and point-of view cameras that were small enough to mount virtually anywhere. Now, Panasonic and Sony both have broadcast 8K cameras suitable for studio or Outside Broadcast live production. In the cinema and documentary production world, a range of specialist manufacturers such as Panavision and industry leader RED have professional product available now. Prices are high (at a reported $80,000) but realistic, at least for movie studios. Technology will trickle down, of course, with a prosumer 8K camera from Sharp previewed at the 2019 CES show that’s reportedly targeted at a US$3k price point.
What is still missing, however, are zoom lenses that can handle the full 8K resolution. Fujinon have produced a 7.5x f2.8 zoom which they showed at the Japanese broadcast tradeshow Inter BEE last year, but like other models from Canon, it was built especially for NHK and was not yet available for sale. Sigma, Canon, Panavision Zeiss and others also have a selection of prime lenses that they rate for 8K but most of the industry agrees that there is a long way to go before a good range of production zooms is available. And as our editor Jez has pointed out in this magazine previously, developments in glass don’t follow Moore’s Law and will take longer than the typical electronics cycle to catch up.
Delivery
It looks like getting basic 8K content (4:2:0 @30Hz at least) onto screens is within sight. The HDMI 2.1 standard announced this year will handle inputs to consumer television sets, though as yet there are no 8K players. It is hard to predict the future for disc-based content, as some manufacturers (Samsung, Oppo) have announced that they won’t be releasing any new Blu-ray players. Sony and Panasonic still have product, though there is no sign at all of an 8K-capable disc system yet.
There are some important caveats though. The HDMI 2.1 format allows for resolutions up to 8K at 60Hz it is unclear whether it will be able to achieve 8K at 120Hz, which is the goal of NHK Super Hi-Vision. It is also very early days for HDMI hardware. There are no certified 2.1 cables (yet) and we’re currently in an ‘early adopter beware’ situation, because even 8K televisions which do boast HDMI 2.1 connections may not be able to handle resolutions above 8K at 30Hz. Manufacturers, under the terms of their HDMI Licence, can claim ‘HDMI 2.1’ even if they support only a limited subset of 2.1 capabilities, so long as they declare what they do support. Will that lead to problems? You bet!
Crucially, there is a compression format to enable 8K digital delivery. Dubbed JPEG-XS, this is already in use by NHK to deliver pictures via satellite and it offers a pathway to streaming and other forms of delivery.
Content
NHK itself has led the way in content by launching that 8K Satellite channel, which first went to air on 1 December 2018. The demonstration channel (there’s also another NHK satellite channel that broadcasts in 4K) broadcasts to Japan for 12 hours a day. The 8K content includes specially restored versions of 2001: A Space Odyssey and My Fair Lady, both of which were originally produced on 70mm film and so have enough resolution to be scanned in 8K. There is also a variety of travelogues, music programmes and sporting shows, including highlights of the 2018 Pyeongchang Games.
On the audio side, it is worth noting that NHK’s 8K service also includes some content that has been produced in the special Super Hi-Vision 22.2-channel audio format, though other content (such as movies) are in conventional 5.1 surround sound. We’ll leave the discussion of audio for another day!
Streaming, the great hope for content these days, also has some question-marks with regard to 8K. Although some Japanese cable TV services are experimenting with carrying the NHK 8K channel, it is only available where the subscribers are connected via FTTH (Fibre to the Home). Other technologies, like HFC (Hybrid Fibre Coaxial) can’t handle the bandwidth required. This is something that doesn’t bode well for potential future services in Australia.
Although no terrestrial broadcast transmitters are currently 8K compatible, NHK is actively pushing for an ITU standard that would allow 8K broadcasting using existing digital channels. If that eventuates, it just might be a game changer for broadcasters.
Summing up
NHK is ready to go with an 8K broadcast of the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, although it is sure to be a limited affair and mostly restricted to Japan via domestic satellite. It is conceivable that, with their broadcaster’s strong push, Japan may just leapfrog 4K altogether and lead the charge to 8K adoption. That said, I wouldn’t put money on it, since the focus of manufacturing has moved from Japan and is now established in Korea and China, making those markets the ones to watch.
In Australia, although you’ll be able to buy 8K sets this year, there’s no 8K content readily available, and extremely limited ways to get 8K content into your TV even if you could get it! Given the Japanese experience, the decision not to go FTTH with Australia’s NBN could cripple the prospects of 8K streaming here, at least for many. When content does arrive, my bet is that gaming consoles will lead the way.
I really liked a quote from Pete Putman, writing for HDTVexpert. com, who described the development of UHD and 8K as like “…building the plane while flying it... Some pieces are in place,” he declared, “others are coming, and some have yet to be developed and are years off.”
For now, the 8K content status is ‘flight delayed’. We’ll be sure to let you know when Pete’s piecemeal plane finally gets clearance to land in Australia. Derek Powell