Video

The future ahead of schedule.

NHK 8K World

Less than nine years ago we were all living in a standard definition world. Things were a lot simpler — the broadcast world had something that is now considered a novelty, something called broadcast standards, a set of guidelines that everyone adhered to. Then came high definition, which seemed to turn everything into the wild west. Broadcasters in the U.S. still have no official standard for what constitutes broadcast quality high-definition (HDV is still accepted by quite a few U.S. broadcasters).

So, last year Sony had a tagline for their new F series 4K line of cameras: “the future ahead of schedule.” What Sony didn’t tell you was that this was only a small part of the future. They forgot to mention the 8K cameras they’ve been developing and building with NHK Japan.

Some might be wondering what’s up with 8K, after all, 4K just recently became “a thing.” The fact is that 8K has been around for longer than you think. The London Olympics were shot on NHK 8K cameras and displayed on Panasonic 8K projectors in London.
We got to view the NHK 8K world display at NAB this year. It’s making this list not particularly because we loved it, but because it’s important and whether we like it or not, it is the future.

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When Sony is behind something it’s only a matter of time before you’re left with no choice but to deal with it as a reality.

Exhibit A: Red digital cinema was screaming 4K since 2007 and everyone scoffed at it. Sony decided to make 4K a priority last year. In my opinion this was because they needed a new revenue stream after the push for 3-D failed miserably—and guess what, we’re all talking about 4K a year later, and this time it’s a serious conversation. When Sony and Panasonic are behind something together I know enough not to put up a fight.

Exhibit B: AVCHD, the now ubiquitous HD acquisition codec developed jointly by Sony and Panasonic.

We watched an 8K projected demo from NHK at NAB. The first film we saw was meant to demonstrate the mobility of the NHK 8K cube camera, the second was an 8K fashion show, which was followed by a presentation of the Sochi Olympics in 8K and a FIFA confederations cup match.

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My gut reaction to most of the stuff was that the resolution was clearly there and for the first time I found myself thinking there is such a thing as too much resolution. It was all rather distracting. I could see everything, and at one point I could make out the brand of cellphone a spectator was holding in the stands at the FIFA confederations cup match. The only application where I thought the 8K resolution was appropriate was for some sporting events. Overall that much resolution looks and feels like staring out the window. There’s absolutely nothing artistic about it.

The part of the 8K display that really made me question the future was a lack of dynamic range. The highlights were clipped, there was no detail in the blacks, and the color reproduction left a lot to be desired. I’ll withhold judgment on 8K and give it the “new technology” pass for now with the hopes that the dynamic range and color issues get sorted out by the Japanese engineers before all being sold 8K TVs at CES 2020.

But if you have the opportunity to view an 8K sports display, I’d highly recommend it. The question I left the NHK 8K demo with was: how is it ever going to be broadcast in the U.S. while we’re still currently barely able to broadcast 1080P? What are your thoughts?

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For more in-depth technical articles visit Sean’s company Across 100th Media and follow him on Twitter (@across110media)