History
The SMPTE first released Standard 2036 for UHDTV in 2007. UHDTV was defined as having two levels called UHDTV1 (3840 × 2160 or 4K UHDTV) and UHDTV2 (7680 × 4320 or 8K UHDTV). Before 2011, UHDTV allowed for frame rates of 24, 25, 50, and 60 frames per second. In an ITU-R meeting during 2011, an additional frame rate was added to UHDTV of 120 frames per second.
Originally, NHK researchers had to build their own UHDTV prototype from scratch. With the system demonstrated in September 2003, they used an array of 16 HDTV recorders to capture the 30-minute-long test footage. The camera itself was built with four 2.5 inch (64 mm) CCDs, each with a resolution of only 3840 × 2048. Using two CCDs for green and one each for red and blue, they then used a spatial pixel offset method to bring it to 7680 × 4320. The system was demonstrated at Expo 2005, Aichi, Japan, the NAB 2006 and NAB 2007 conferences, Las Vegas, at IBC 2006 and IBC 2008, Amsterdam, Netherlands, and CES 2009. A review of the NAB 2006 demo was published in a Broadcast Engineering e-newsletter. The final goal is for UHDTV to be available in domestic homes, though the timeframe for this happening varies between 2015 to 2020 but Japan and China may get it in the 2013-2014 time frame.
In November 2005, NHK demonstrated a live relay of a UHDTV program over a distance of 260 km by a fibre optic network. Using dense wavelength division multiplex (DWDM), 24 Gbit/s speed was achieved with a total of 16 different wavelength signals.
On December 31, 2006, NHK demonstrated a live relay of their annual Kōhaku Uta Gassen over IP from Tokyo to a 450 in (11.4 m) screen in Osaka. Utilizing a codec developed by NHK, the video was compressed from 24 Gbit/s to 180–600 Mbit/s and the audio was compressed from 28 Mbit/s to 7–28 Mbit/s. Uncompressed, a 20 minute broadcast would require roughly 4 TB of storage. In another indoor demonstration at the NHK Open House, the UHDTV signal was compressed to a 250 Mbit/s MPEG2 stream. This was later input to a 300 MHz wide band modulator and broadcast using a 500 MHz QPSK modulation. This "on the air" transmission had a very limited range (less than 2 m), but shows the feasibility of a satellite transmission in the 36,000 km orbit.
In 2008, Aptina Imaging announced the introduction of a new CMOS Image sensor specifically designed for the NHK UHDTV project. During IBC 2008 Japan's NHK, Italy's RAI, BSkyB, Sony, Samsung, Panasonic Corporation, Sharp Corporation, and Toshiba (with various partners) demonstrated the first ever public live transmission of UHDTV, from London to the conference site in Amsterdam.
On September 29, 2010, the NHK partnered up and recorded The Charlatans live in the UK in the UHDTV format, before broadcasting over the internet to Japan.
On May 19, 2011, SHARP in collaboration with NHK demonstrated a direct-view 85 inches (220 cm) LCD display capable of 7680 × 4320 pixels at 10 bits per pixel. It was the first direct view Super Hi-Vision compatible display to be released.
On February 23, 2012, NHK announced that with Shizuoka University, they had developed an 8K sensor that can shoot video at 120 frames per second (fps).
In April 2012, NHK (in collaboration with Panasonic) announced a 145 in (370 cm) display (7680 × 4320 at 60 fps), which has 33.2 million 0.417 mm square pixels.
In April 2012, the four major Korean terrestrial broadcasters (KBS, MBC, SBS, and EBS) announced that in the future, they would begin test broadcasts of UHDTV on channel 66 in Seoul. At the time of the announcement, the UHDTV technical details had not yet been decided. LG Electronics and Samsung will also be involved in the test broadcasts of UHDTV.
In May 2012, NHK showed the world's first ultra high-definition shoulder-mount camera. By reducing the size and weight of the camera, the portability had been improved, making it more maneuverable than previous prototypes, so it can be used in a wide variety of shooting situations. The single-chip sensor uses a Bayer color filter array, where only one color component is acquired per pixel. Researchers at NHK have also developed a high quality up-converter, which estimates the other two color components to convert the output into full resolution video.
Also in May 2012, NHK showed the ultra high-definition imaging system it has developed in conjunction with Shizuoka University, which outputs 33.2 megapixel video at 120 fps with a color depth of 12 bits. As Ultra high-definition broadcasts at full resolution are designed for large, wall sized displays, there is a possibility that fast moving subjects may not be clear when shot at 60 fps, so the option of 120 fps has been standardized for these situations. To handle the sensor output of approximately 4 billion pixels per second with a data rate as high as 51.2 Gbit/s, a faster analog-to-digital converter has been developed to process the data from the pixels, and then a high-speed output circuit distributes the resulting digital signals into 96 parallel channels. This 1.5 in (38 mm) CMOS sensor is smaller and uses less power when compared to conventional ultra high-definition sensors, and it is also the world's first to support the full specifications of the ultra high-definition standard.
During the 2012 Summer Olympics in Great Britain, the format was publicly showcased by the world's largest broadcaster, the BBC, which set up 15 meter wide screens in London, Glasgow, and Bradford to allow viewers to see the Games in ultra high-definition.
On May 31, 2012, Sony released the VPL-VW1000ES 4K 3D Projector, the world's first consumer-prosumer projector using the 4K UHDTV system, with the shutter glasses stereoscopic 3D technology priced at US$24,999.99.
On August 22, 2012, LG announced the world's first 3D UHDTV using the 4K system.
On August 23, 2012, UHDTV was officially approved as a standard by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), standardizing both 4K and 8K resolutions for the format in ITU-R Recommendation BT.2020 (Rec. 2020).
On September 15, 2012, David Wood, Deputy Director of the EBU Technology and Development Department (who chairs the ITU working group that created Rec. 2020), told The Hollywood Reporter that Korea plans to begin test broadcasts of 4K UHDTV next year. Wood also said that many broadcasters have the opinion that going from HDTV to 8K UHDTV is too much of a leap and that it would be better to start with 4K UHDTV. In the same article Masakazu Iwaki, NHK Research senior manager, said that the NHK plan to go with 8K UHDTV is for economic reasons since directly going to 8K UHDTV would avoid an additional transition from 4K UHDTV to 8K UHDTV.
On October 18, 2012, the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) announced that it had been unanimously agreed on by a vote of the CEA’s Board of Industry Leaders that the term "Ultra High-Definition", or “Ultra HD", would be used for displays that have a resolution of at least 8 megapixels with a vertical resolution of at least 2,160 pixels and a horizontal resolution of at least 3,840 pixels. The Ultra HD label also requires the display to have an aspect ratio of at least 16x9 and to have at least one digital input that can carry and present a native video signal of 3840 × 2160 without having to rely on a video scaler. Sony announced that their 4K products will be marketed as "4K Ultra High-Definition (4K UHD)".
On October 23, 2012, Ortus Technology Co., Ltd announced the development of the world's smallest 3840 × 2160 pixel LCD panel with a size of 9.6 in (24 cm) and a pixel density of 458ppi. The LCD panel is designed for medical equipment and professional video equipment.
On October 25, 2012, LG Electronics began selling the first flat panel Ultra HD display in the United States with a resolution of 3840 × 2160. The LG 84LM9600 is a 84 in (210 cm) flat panel LED-backlit LCD display with a price of US$19,999 though the retail store was selling it for US$16,999.
On October 26, 2012, AU Optronics announced that it had developed a 65 in (170 cm) Ultra HD IGZO TV panel with a resolution of 3840 × 2160.
On November 28, 2012, Sharp Corporation announced the PN-K321 which is a professional 32 in (81 cm) LCD Monitor that uses a IGZO panel and edge-lit LED backlighting. The PN-K321 will have a resolution of 3840×2160 pixels and will support 60 fps with the DisplayPort connection, 60 fps using two HDMI connections, or 30 fps using a single HDMI connection. The PN-K321 will be released in Japan on February 15, 2013.
On November 29, 2012, Sony announced the 4K Ultra HD Video Player which is a hard disc server preloaded with ten 4K movies and several 4K video clips that will be included with the Sony XBR-84X900. The preloaded 4K movies will be The Amazing Spiderman, Total Recall (2012), The Karate Kid (2010), Salt, Battle: Los Angeles, The Other Guys, Bad Teacher, That’s My Boy, Taxi Driver, and The Bridge on the River Kwai. Additional 4K movies and 4K video clips will be offered for the 4K Ultra HD Video Player in the future .
As of December 2012 Red Digital Cinema is taking pre-orders for the REDRAY 4K Cinema Player which is capable of outputting 4K resolution to a single 4K display or to four 1080p displays arranged in a square and connected using four HDMI cables. The REDRAY includes a 1TB hard drive and supports 12 bit 4-2-2 precision colour at 4K resolution as well as 7.1 channel audio. 4K content will be distributed via download. External storage can be connected using eSata, ethernet, USB or SD. The price is $1,450 US.
Read more about this topic: Ultra High Definition Television
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