Now, Ultra HD!

Just when the U.S. and the rest of the world was finally settling into a routine with the HD transition along comes Japanese broadcaster NHK with a demonstration of Ultra High-Definition TV system at the NAB convention.

Resolution of the new system is 7,680×4,320 lines, delivering 32 million pixels, 16 times the current 1920×1080 standard that has two million pixels. While Nagamitsu Endo, NHK Enterprises America producer, co-productions, says the system isn’t expected to be ready for consumer deployment until 2025 it already has caught the eye of the industry’s leading HD proponents.

And how could it not? Displayed on a massive 20×30 foot screen with 22.2 channels of audio the jaw-dropping material included dramatic shots of dawn in New York City, crowds at soccer matches, cherry blossoms in bloom in Japan, and a killer whale jumping at an aquarium show that was so realistic attendees expected to get wet.

“In the early days of HD technology was a moving target and NHK has just raised the bar again,” says Randall P. Dark, president of HD Vision Studios in Los Angeles and one of the true early adopters of HD production gear. “And once again we’re looking at big, bulky technology that is user hostile, very expensive, and will take some time before someone like myself can go in the field and create images with.”

Endo says there are only two Ultra HD cameras in the world and he hopes to have one in the U.S. to acquire U.S.-based video. The system features a massive camera that looks like a prop out of “Good Night and Good Luck” and requires a specially built Image Processor, the VP-8400, from Astrodesign. Features of the system include real-time chromatic aberration correction (which keeps colors more realistic) and HD resolution conversion so images shot at the higher resolution can easily be downconverted to current HD standards. Transmission data rates are currently 640 Mbps.

The system also features 22.2 channels of audio, making it, eventually, ideal for theater and Imax-like movie going experiences. There are four layers of audio: a lower layer with three channels, a middle layer with10 channels and an upper level with nine channels. Two Low Frequency channels are also in place.

“It’s very expensive technology but it’s exciting because it’s a level up,” says Dark. “It’s bigger, better and brighter. I’m just upset that it isn’t American companies that are coming up with technologies like this.”