8K + 5G: A NEW EQUATION?
Huawei is leaping feet first into 8K, with a plan that seems likely to challenge some big players. You could be surprised where this may lead, suggests Derek Powell.
Huawei is planning 8K TVs connected by 5G and potentially a whole new OS, reports Derek Powell.
As our last issue hit the presses, the Nikkei Asian Review reported that Huawei plans to introduce the world’s first 5G television. Say wha? But yes, you heard correctly. Huawei’s first entry into the television market will reportedly have not only an 8K display but also an unprecedented 5G module, allowing wireless data communication at better than current NBN speeds. So what would this new device be? Is it still a television? The report highlights that interactive content will be enabled by the speedy two-way 5G connection so perhaps it will be more akin to a smartphone — or an enormous phablet that you hang on the wall. Or are we seeing the birth of a new class of device altogether?
Nearly every tech blog on the planet duly rehashed the Nikkei report. Some commentators rightly noted that a 5G connection would obviate the need for the cable connection that right now delivers most entertainment content, at least in the US. For its part, Huawei was keeping quiet on the product… so further comment largely petered out.
But there’s more to it than just an odd-seeming pairing of features. Huawei, despite its current bad press, is aiming high. So it is a salient time for us to take a close look at what they are doing. The idea of
an 8K/5G display is an especially intriguing prospect, and worth a little exploration.
In this column a few issues ago we questioned whether television broadcasters were still driving the development of domestic television receivers. The issue arises because none of the key features now propelling new TV sales — 4K, 8K, Wide Colour Gamut, High Dynamic Range, even surround sound — are actively supported by our television networks. Last issue, Sound+Image further noted that both Samsung and Oppo are now out of the Blu-ray player business, and speculated whether optical media had any future at all.
That pretty much leaves network streams as our best hope for actually seeing 8K UHD and HDR content finally delivered to our screens. But how will it get there? Unless you have a fibre connection to your home, the maximum speed we can expect from NBN right now is 100 megabits per second (Mbps). By contrast, 5G promises 100Mbps
as a minimum, with a theoretical maximum of 20 gigabits per second. While it seems fanciful now, given the tiny penetration of 5G in Australia and its premium pricing, 5G may be the fastest service we can buy in the near future.
At the maximum 5G speed of 20Gbps you could theoretically stream uncompressed 8K/4:2:2/ 10-bit UHD at 24 frames per second. But any practical service would, of course, need compression. It is expected that future codecs like HEVC (High Efficiency Video Codec) and VVC (Versatile Video Coding) will reduce the bandwidth for 8K down to a more manageable level of around 100Mbps. So bandwidth for 5G should be adequate, while current NBN copper connections may well struggle on an average evening.
The amount of data consumed would be an issue, however. Even using a next-generation codec, an 8K movie file could be 50GB or more in size. Right now, even the meatiest 5G plans in Australia top out at around 150GB of data per month! Clearly you can’t economically buy enough data to stream many 8K movies yet, even if they were available. But experience shows that prices must come down and data allowances will eventually increase. So 5G/8K does work out technically; we just need the economics to settle down a little.
Expanding the ecosystem
But Huawei has bigger plans than just being the first with an 8K/5G telly. The goal, according to Nikkei’s report, is to “complete its ‘ecosystem’ of consumer electronics… which already includes everything from smartphones to wearable devices”. In so doing, Huawei is setting itself up as a challenger to Apple and Samsung, both of which are exponents of the connected ecosystem of electronic devices.
That ‘ecosystem’ is certainly expanding, with Huawei just (on August 10th) announcing its first smart television, under the branding of ‘Honor Vision’. It is also entering the PC market, shipping a not inconsequential one million laptops during 2018, its first full year, with a goal of becoming a top 5 PC manufacturer by 2021. Its ‘Matebook’ range, powered by Intel i7 chips are already available here, along with a MediaPad tablet.
Putting 5G at the centre of this system makes a lot of sense, as Huawei is the world’s biggest producer of telecoms equipment and, despite its recent problems with the US and Australia, continues to do well in the European market. As well as carrier-grade 5G base stations, Huawei has a range of phones which will soon include the Mate X, a 5G smartphone that features a foldable screen. Overall, according to the latest IDC sales report, Huawei is now the second largest smartphone manufacturer by units shipped, not far behind Samsung and in front of Apple. And unlike those two competitors, its phone business is still growing, even without access to the US market.
As well as connecting the TV to all the content you might need, Huawei envisions the 5G module in the TV operating as a wireless router for the entire home, a hub for all other electronic devices. And Huawei already makes many of those devices. It sells a small range of fitness tracking smart watches in Australia (though these are not 5G as yet), along with wireless earphones and an AI speaker that competes with Apple’s HomePod.
Currently, all these devices reside on an Android platform, but that may be about to change. One stoush in the recent trade war saw the US threatening to deny the Chinese manufacturer access to Android — but that might just backfire. According to China Daily’s global edition, Huawei is ready to launch its own operating system, ‘HongMeng’ — to be styled ‘Harmony OS’ and the ‘ARK compiler’ for Western markets. And while that new Honor Vision TV line isn’t (yet) 8K nor carrying a 5G module, it does use Harmony OS, and Huawei’s graphics (below) clearly indicate its intended close connection with the brand’s ‘Honor’ smartphones.
Crucially the new OS will reportedly also work with all Android apps, and will include other features as well. The China Daily report says that up to a million smartphones with the HongMeng operating system onboard for testing have already been shipped. Other sources report that that Oppo and Vivo — two huge vendors in China — have “sent teams to test the new system”. Currently, all these manufacturers use Google’s Android with their own services built over the top. Naturally, the possibility of a competitor has caused more than a little consternation in the Google camp.
So where are we now? Suddenly, an 8K/5G mash-up seems to make perfect sense, at least as an alternative to cable services and off-air broadcasts. Moreover, we could be only a step or two away from a third major ecosystem to challenge iOS and Android, at least in the Asia market. Watch this space — as Paul Kelly and Kev Carmody memorably put it, “from little things, big things grow”. Derek Powell