Written on June 20, 2008 – 8:10 am | by Bogdan Alex |
While 1080p content still comes in small doses and the Blu-ray standard is getting adopted pretty slowly, the Japanese happily continue to improve the resolutions. You must know by now that, as far as video clarity is concerned, the next logical step is to adopt the 4K (3,840 x 2,160 pixels) standard which will be followed by the 8K (7,680 x 4,320 pixels) Super Hi-Vision format. These two standards are developed by NHK in Japan. There were rumors that there won’t be any displays to support these fabulous resolutions, and instead the Asian panel manufacturers will facilitate the display of higher resolutions through advanced DLP projectors, but nobody was really counting on this thing Now, NHK seems to be proving the rumors right, as they have recently presented a system able to display 16 times more details (32 MPixels) than any consumer panel.

NHK presented their advancements at CommunicAsia, using a theatre hall that housed two LCoS projectors with a combined 8,000 lumens brightness and a towering 6.6m x 3.7m (300-inch) projection screen which is quite average in its size. However, the detail provided by the Super Hi-Vision resolution is tremendous. On top of that the audience got to experience the cool sound stage comprising a triple-tier 22.2-channel cinema sound system. That would be dual subwoofers (front and rear), and an array of speakers positioned at the bottom, screen level and overhead.

In order to capture the impressive detail provided by the Super Hi-Vision standard, NHK has also developed a matching 8K studio camera, hard drive recorder and a high-bandwidth optical transmission system via IP networking. In case you manage to get to Japan this year, make sure you visit the Kyushu National Museum with its Theater 4000, which already houses the impressive Super Hi-Vision system.