Beyond hd demos

1 July 2008

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NHK of Japan, RAI of Italy and BBC of UK will collaborate on a unique demonstration in Amsterdam in September: live demonstrations with international links of Super Hi-Vision, the system which combines 7680 x 4320 pixel images with 22.2 channel immersive audio.
The demonstration is being actively supported by Siemens, the BBC’s technology partner, Cable&Wireless, which will provide fibre connectivity from London to Amsterdam, and Eutelsat, which will provide a satellite link from Torino to Amsterdam.

In the series of demonstrations - which will run throughout the IBC 2008 convention and are open to all visitors - content shot in Japan will be mixed with live pictures from a camera located in central London, operated by SIS Outside Broadcasts (previously BBC Outside Broadcasts). The live feed from London will be compressed using MPEG-2 and delivered over an ultra-broadband fibre, provided by Cable&Wireless. Content will also be played into the demonstration from a server in Torino, Italy, delivered over two full satellite transponders provided by Eutelsat.

As well as being shown in the NHK theatre using an 8k x 4k projector, some of the content
will also be shown on the EBU Village stand (10.D21) in the exhibition. The EBU Village will house the satellite downlink, and will show the content down-converted for a 3840 x 2160 pixel LCD display, alongside a similar display with a second demonstration showing Super Hi-Vision content coded using the Dirac algorithm. Super Hi-Vision can also be viewed on the Eutelsat stand (1.D59).

“We have undertaken a huge challenge with our plans for IBC,” said Dr Kenkichi Tanioka, director general of the Science & Technical Research Laboratories of NHK. “It is a tribute to the alliance of forward-looking companies working on this project that we are confident all will be well. In particular, I know that my colleagues at the BBC and RAI would like to thank our industry partners who are investing heavily in broadband and satellite capacity over an extended period to make this work.”
“I am really excited by the prospect of this demonstration,” added Phil White, director of technology and events for IBC.
“At IBC we have a strong reputation for leading the world in the way we debate and demonstrate technology and its applications, and we have long been the most important event worldwide in developments for the big screen.”

“We first brought the NHK
Ultra High Definition Television system to IBC in 2006. This year, through the live links to the UK and Italy - not once but many times a day – the partners involved in this project will be showing absolute leading edge technology with real practical applications: just what our visitors expect from IBC.”
IBC, the leading international event for everyone involved in the creation, management and delivery of electronic content, takes place at the Rai Centre in Amsterdam, 11-16 September 2008. About Super Hi-Vision
Super Hi-Vision was developed initially by NHK. It is now one of the activities of the Broadcast Technology Futures group (BTF), an alliance of leading broadcast research and development facilities and bodies including the European Broadcast Union. Practical applications of this ultra high definition system include displays for large collective audiences such as town centre screens for major sporting and cultural events. It is also at the foundation of vital research into the relationship between technical parameters - such as spatial and temporal resolution - and perceived quality for viewers.

As well as the demonstrations which will be regularly repeated in the NHK theatre, there will be an IBC conference session at which some of the technologies behind the systems will be discussed, and the future for ultra high definition television like Super Hi-Vision will be debated. The conference session is at 14.00 on 15 September 2008.