Kimio Hamasaki: Development of Ultra High Definition Television

ABSTRACT:
NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation) has been developing Ultra High Definition Television (UHDTV) for the future broadcasting system. UHDTV consists of Ultra High Definition Video, which has spatial resolution of 7680 pixels (Horizontal) x 4320 pixels (Vertical), and 22.2 multichannel sound. NHK had already demonstrated UHDTV at several international conventions such as NAB 2006 and IBC 2006, and carried out live transmission and contribution of UHDTV over optical fibre network and 1G-IP. Standardization of UHDTV is also in progress by several international organizations such as ITU and SMPTE.
 
This lecture introduces the basic concept of UHDTV and examples of its application. The 22.2 multichannel sound system, especially, is explained in detail and some subjective evaluation experiments regarding the spatial attributes are discussed. Practical recording techniques of 22.2 multichannel sound are another interesting topic to be discussed in this lecture.