The Future Of Super Duper High Definition (VIDEO)
Posted by Martin_Connelly on Thursday, Oct 21, 2010
As data storage gets cheaper and chips get smaller, video footage is getting bigger. Lots bigger. Standard HD resolution is usually 1,920 × 1,080 pixels (or 1080p). The BBC is talking about something up to 16 times that, 7680-by-4320 pixels to be precise (if that doesn’t look like 16 times, remember we’re talking both axises).
Check out this video from BBC Studio 0.
At full resolution, those signals are transmitted at 24Gb/s. Blimey.
Ultra HD is nothing new, and unlike what happened with with Blu-Ray and HD DVD, it seems like people are actually working together. NHK, the Japanese national broadcaster, (which incidentaly developed HD) has been working on it for years. They call it Super Hi Vision, and it’s 33 megapixels. No biggie, says Nobuyuki Hiruma, associate director at NHK’s Science & Technical research Laboratories in Tokyo
When colour TV was introduced we started our HDTV research, and now HDTV is common we have started the research for the next generation.
The BBC demonstrated a prototype of their “Ultra” HD TV (UHDTV) in early 2008, but now that the Olympics are looming, they’ve partnered with NHK, and are looking into Super Hi Vision for their Olympics broadcasts. That’s why they sent the signal to Tokyo in the video above.
As media consumption moves onto handheld devices, moves like this could help to separate the cinema experience from just watching TV at home. The clarity they’re talking about boggles my mind, and certainly will make for great spectacle.
Here, by the way, is that live show they broadcast, in standard, regular old definition.
Photo via: Amsterdam RAIFiled under:
About the author
Martin Connelly is a freelance transmedia journalist based in St. John's, Newfoundland. He's worked across borders, both figurative and literal: as a newsroom editor for China Central Television In...
