ultra hdtv content distribution
see how soon 8000-line display technology migrates to a wider audience, especially given the growing availability of 4K displays. These 4K displays, and in particular
the QFHD (quad full HD) models now emerging, are generating some 8.29 million pixels, or four-times that of normal ‘full’ HDTV. Toshiba has a portfolio of QFHDs showing 3840 x 2160 resolution, some of which are being used for ‘glasses-free’ 3D. The top-of-the-range model is a Regza- branded 55” unit, showcased at the recent CEATEC event in Japan, and about to go on sale in Japan at about $12,000. However, the main stumbling block
for NHK’s 8000-line transmissions is one of bandwidth consumed. In this sector NHK has made spectacular progress over the past three years, moving from an extremely static pile of computers needed to handle the raw 24 Gbit/s of images, down to an improved 250 Mb/s which is good, but not good enough! However, Dr Kubota says that the next major thrust is further compression to around 100 Mb/s using emerging high efficiency video coding (HEVC), which is expecting to be an MPEG standard within the next year or so. Back in 2009 Dr Hans Hoffmann,
one of the European Broadcasting Union’s senior technology specialists, described NHK’s efforts as: “The next big technology jump....We know HD has two standards - 720p or 1080i. The next step is 1080p at 50 or 60 Hz. Then the industry has to look at the next big technology jump. Investment is all-important, while we must also remember that there are other interested parties, like the gaming sector, interested in what we are doing, or the role broadband and a home storage device might play.” Dr Hoffmann is spot on. Where else
can the industry go? The likes of Sony and Panasonic are both promoting 3D enthusiastically, and subsidising many key sporting events in an attempt to push the sale of their 3D sets. Indeed, it is now a fact that all but the cheapest flat-panel displays are already fitted with suitable 3D chipsets. In other words, the consumer is ‘getting’ 3D whether it is viewed or not. But most industry insiders accept
that 3D, however good it is for some event-based programming, is never going to replace today’s HDTV broadcasting. Something else will be needed down the road. And that ‘something else’, at least in the view of NHK, is ‘Ultra HDTV’. Its logic says that in the near future,
when 3D displays are saturating the market and are no longer maintaining a decent profitability margin, then the TV set industry is going to be seeking the ‘next big thing’ and moving onto 4K and 8K displays. And while connected TVs are also fun in supplying catch-up and other non- linear material for viewers at home, the broadcasters - and in particular the pay-TV sector - will want to differentiate their channels from the non-pay players. That’s the theory. Whether players
like BSkyB or DirecTV in the USA bite this particular bullet and create a few prestige Ultra HD channels for sports and other event-based programming only time will tell. The question also applies to Europe’s financially hard- pressed public broadcasters, although it is interesting that the BBC has already moved past the ‘experimental’ stage in 3D transmissions, and is now planning many 3D productions for both its home market and for sale via its BBC-Worldwide commercial arm. In other words, never say ‘never’ in the highly competitive world of
NHK now has an LCD working at 85”, developed jointly by NHK and Sharp. The company’s goal is to now move onto a second- generation set, probably at 70”, but with finer, reduced-size pixels.
broadcasting. Pay-TV broadcasters will always seek to differentiate their output from their rivals, while public broadcasters dare not lag too far behind in supplying high-quality images for their viewers. Which is why the ITU’s statement,
on 14 October, that it had agreed most of the relevant specifications for handling Ultra-HDTV is so welcome. NHK demonstrated its proposals to the ITU in Geneva on 26-27 September using the same set-up as seen at IBC earlier in the month. David Wood, chairman of the relevant ITU working party in the Broadcasting Service Study Group, said the ‘relationship’ that a viewer has with television viewing is linked to the overall experience of the picture and quality of sound. “The extremely high quality of UHDTV will have a definite impact on our lifestyle and on our engagement with the programmes we watch,” he predicted.
www.ibeweb.com l november/december 2011 l ibe l 9
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