・Live Production and Transmission of Large-scale Musical TV Program Using 22.2 Multichannel Sound with Ultra High Definition Video [IBC2007]
In 2006, the world's first production and transmission of a live Ultra High Definition Television program was carried out. The program was a live musical variety TV show that is broadcasted every New Year’s Eve from the NHK hall in Tokyo. Ultra High Definition video together with 22.2 multichannel sound was transmitted over a 1-Gbps IP network to the NHK Osaka station, 500 km west of Tokyo. This transmission included the uncompressed 22.2 sound signal (28 Mbps) multiplexed with a compressed Ultra High Definition video signal (600 Mbps), whose uncompressed transmission rate is 24 Gbps.
・Research on Human Factors in Ultra High Definition TV to Determine Its Specifications [SMPTE2007]
Ultra High Definition Television (UHDTV), the most promising candidate for next-generation television beyond HDTV, consists of extremely high-resolution imagery and multi-channel 3D sound to give viewers a stronger sensation of presence. We have to take into account various aspects to determine UHDTV specifications. We believe that human factors, such as how we feel when viewing a video, are one of the most important aspects to be considered so that the system achieves the intended psychological effects. In view of our research findings and compatibility with existing formats, we believe that the resolution of UHDTV should be an integral multiple of 1920 x 1080, up to a maximum resolution of 7680 x 4320 pixels.
・Technical Development Towards Implementation Of Extremely High Resolution Imagery System With More Than 4000 Scanning Lines [IBC2006]
Developed by NHK, Ultra High Definition Television(UHDTV) is an extremely high resolution video system with 4000 scanning lines. Among the UHDTV transmission systems developed by NHK are an optical transmission system with dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) technology for contribution and a codec system based on MPEG-2 for program distribution. The live transmission of uncompressed material with a 260-km single-mode fiber was successfully carried out. For program distribution, experiments were conducted at bitrates of 200 to 640 Mbps via experimental satellite transponders and IP networks. These transmission experiments demonstrated the feasibility of future broadcasting using UHDTV.
・22.2 Multichannel Sound System for Ultra High Definition TV [SMPTE2007]
The 22.2 multichannel sound system developed for an Ultra High Definition TV (UHDTV) system consists of three layers of loudspeakers: an upper layer with nine channels, a middle layer with ten channels, and a lower layer with three channels and two channels for LFE (Low Frequency Effects). Our subjective evaluations demonstrate that viewers have better impressions of various spatial attributes in a wider listening area with the 22.2 multichannel sound system than with other sound systems.
・An Ultra High Definition Color Video Camera With 1.25-inch Optics and 8k x 4k Pixels [SMPTE2004]
Developed by NHK, this ultra high definition color video camera uses new 1.25-inch 8M-pixel CMOS digital imagers and diagonal pixel shifting in a 4-pickup system. The camera head weighs less than 40 kg. NHK also developed a 5x zoom lens and a signal processing system incorporating a function for real-time lateral chromatic aberration correction. This function makes it possible to suppress optically generated color shifts across the entire zooming range. Moreover, NHK developed optical-multiplexing transmission equipment and a camera control unit. This camera has a limiting resolution of more than 3200 TV lines. The SN ratio in HDTV video was about 45 dB, while the sensitivity was 2000 Lux at F2.8 with a dynamic range of 200%.
