Regular readers may remember that in 2023, we reported on a new pro-quality codec that Samsung had developed with a view to use in a future phone. Now, with the announcement of the S26 Ultra, it has a smartphone that can support that codec in 8K/30 resolution.

Digital Projection has said that it plans to show a new model in its 8K flagship projector line at the forthcoming ISE Show in Barcelona. We have reached out to the firm to get more details, although they were busy with ISE preparations at press time.

We saw an interesting article from Y.M. Cinema about an 8K class industrial sensor from Sony. The article makes it clear that the sensor is not intended for cinema use. It has high refresh with global shutter operation (avoiding rolling shutter problems) but limited dynamic range compared to cinematic sensors. Still, as the article explains, it shows that sensors are evolving to the point where HFR 8K is available with a global shutter.

MediaTek has announced its Dimensity 9500s, an enhanced version of the 9500 model in September. The new processor is a real powerhouse, with the previous low power modes dropped in favour of more power. As a result, the chip can support 8K capture at 60fps. At that resolution, it can support full-focus and real-time motion tracking.

Christie has supplied six Christie Griffyn 4K35-RGB projectors offer native 4K resolution to provide images at the National Museum of Natural Science (NMNS) in Taichung, Taiwan, to upgrade the projection system at its Space Theater. The new facility opened in November.

Although you only need four projectors to achieve 8K, the images are likely to be overlapped to make the image seamless, reducing the overall resolution

Colorlight has launched its latest Universe LED wall processor family that can support up to 32,768 pixels in width and height - that's 520 million pixels and equivalent to 16 8K displays! The processor can support 10 bit HDR and 240Hz frame rates.

In Riyadh, the MDLBEAST Soundstorm 'Big Beast' stage used a Disguise GX 3+ processor to support up to 10 UHD 4K feeds for display on a huge LED wall. That's the equivalent of 2.5 8K displays - and a lot of pixels! The LWED walls used a mixture of 4mm, 5mm and 8mm pitch LEDs.

(Image credit - Christophe Viseux Photography)

In a project promoted by the Spanish La Liga soccer organisation, more than 1,000 fans watched 'El Clásico' (between Real Madrid & Barcelona) using VVR headsets. The project used Blackmagic Design cameras and AV Magazine reported that Apple had installed 'more than 100 cameras' in the Real Madrid stadium. The intent of both projects is to develop immersive experiences for those that cannot attend a live match.

At CES, Samsung made brief mention, but with no details, of a new 8K TV line for 2026, including a 98" QN990H set. At the moment, no more details have been released, but you can be sure that we'll be looking for more.

We enjoyed a short YouTube video from the Wall Street Journal and the developer of immersive systems, COSM. In it, the company explains what its trying to do and sports fans explain why they are happy to pay up to $200 to watch a game on a screen. Multiple 8K cameras are key components of its technology.

HDR10+ Technologies LLC released the latest version of its HDR10+ specification, HDR10+ ADVANCED, with a good number of new features. The details are here, but briefly, they are

• Enhanced Overall Brightness
• Intelligent Motion Smoothing (which could be especially useful for 8K)
• Local Tone Mapping
• Genre-based Optimization
• Advanced Color Control
• Adaptive Cloud Gaming

While most of these features are not specific to 8K, we thought that those interested in 8K would also be interested in HDR!

Big news in the world of professional broadcast infrastructure was the news that Mediakind (the company that was once Ericsson Television) is acquiring Harmonic Inc, a developer of video routing, server, and storage products including compression systems. Separately, Decode TV published a Q&A with Harmonic about its compression technology and especially about how it exploits AI.

At CEDIA 2025, we heard from Warner Bros that the 'Sinners' movie released this year was shot on IMAX film (which means it will be archived in 8K or beyond - editor). There's a fascinating discussion on YouTube of the reasoning and tests conducted to come to that decision here. If cinematography and the use of film formats is your thing, it's worth the time!

Mo-Sys, the maker of camera tracking and other systems, published an interview with renowned camera operator, Bob Gorelick, a two-time winner of the "Camera Operator of the Year" (for The Dark Knight and Stranger Things).

In the article, Gorelick comments on the importance of being able to see the details in viewfinders and on his membership of the 8K Association. Gorelick took part in a panel session with the 8K Association at Cedia 2024.

Ars Technica reported that Dell & HP have actually dropped support for the hardware decoding of HEVC/H.265 from some of their popular business notebooks, although the systems have support built-in. The site suggests that this is because of the cost of paying licence fees for the technology. Neither company denied this and acknowledged the change.

Understandably, some users feel that this is a retrograde step on systems that the site says cost $800 or more.

A French start-up company, Hummink, has raised $20 million in funding to develop a method it calls High-Precision Capillary Printing (HPCaP) that it describes as being 'like the world’s smallest fountain pen, writing at the nanoscopic level with a controlled flow of material'.  The technology is expected to be used to repair defects in displays, with its first use case in OLEDs. The firm says its technique can 'correct most of these defects'.

Why is this important for 8K? One of the challenges in making 8K OLEDs is the complexity of the backplanes, which means that a tiny level of defects can cause panels to be discarded. The low yield contributes to the high cost so anything that improves yields will help OLED to be competitive with LCDs. For LCD makers, defects can lead to more challenges in making larger displays, so the technology could also help them.

The Culver Theater in Culver City, California, is making the most of its Samsung-supplied Onyx LED displays, including (as far as we know) the only 8K theater LED in the world, by hosting the Asian World Film Festival. The festival ends on 20th November, so you'll need to be quick.

The Theater is leased and managed by Amazon studios. Unfortunately, because DCI does not have an 8K standard, the 8K display cannot usually be used for Hollywood movies.

(The editor had the privilege of seeing the 8K display when Display Week was in Los Angeles, last. It's spectacular and, as the Michelin guides say 'worth a detour'. ) 

As we saw in our report on the global TV market from the 4K HDR summit, market research company Omdia sees good growth in the large TV market. In a separate press release, the firm highlighted this by forecasting that although it expects a 2% reduction in display unit volumes (so, not just TVs) next year, it expects a 6% boost in area.

Research published by respected display industry analysts, Omdia, shows that the size of new displays sold, including TVs, continues to increase with sets over 70" particularly strong. The researcher concludes in its forecast that although unit volumes will decline 2% in 2026, the area of displays sold will increase by 6%.

Ricky Park, Senior Principal Analyst in Omdia’s Display research practice, stated, "Despite tariff policy uncertainty, area demand will maintain robust growth as display technology advances and the trend toward larger displays continues. In particular, as production cost reductions begin to take effect, we expect to see larger displays available at more attractive prices for consumers."

A couple of months ago, we reported that the Omnivision OV50X 8K sensor was starting mass production and now the firm has given more details of its smaller 1/1.3 inch version, the OV50R in particular highlighting a claim of 18 stops of dynamic range. The smaller sensor is intended for smartphones and action cameras has dual analog gain HDR in 8K and uses three channels for HDR in 4K 60P. The higher dynamic range should allow better results in extreme contrast conditions. The sensor has 50 megapixels resolution and uses a 1.2‑micron (µm) pixel design.

Mass production will start in Q1 2026, the firm said.

A study by Cambridge University and Meta looked at the limits to human visual acuity. The conclusions seem to tie in with the findings of our white paper (downloadable here). The authors provide a useful calculator and our white paper author found that, based on the calculator, displays are 'functionally perfect' for 100% of viewers at around 120ppd (that's 60 cycles per degree - around the same as 20/10 vision). Our White Paper concluded also that 120ppd should be the standard for 'near maximum super realism'.

A lot of press coverage was based on historically popular TVs in Europe, whereas the big move in the TV market is to super large sizes. We also noted that the early research by Masaoka et. al. that was used in the development of UltraHD including 8K suggested some people got a different 'sense of realism' at up to 150 cpd or 300ppd!

Just as we were going to press, we saw an interesting article highlighting an OLED display with extremely tiny pixels - which could be a real help in enabling very small displays. The article was based on research in Germany and so it's at the R&D stage at the moment. We'll be watching for more details as the technology looks as though it could be used to make an 8mm 8k display.

Analysts Futuresource and Omdia have released reports about IBC that are free to download. The Futuresource one looks at products in some detail while Omdia's is about the media environment. Both look like useful resources from respected companies. You'll need to register (no charge) to access them.

The NCS blog published an article bringing the views of a roundtable of executives from Blackmagic Design, Canon, Grass Valley and Panasonic to discuss trends in the development of cameras for live broadcast. The article highlights the change from the fixed resolution SDI-based systems to IP-based systems, including NDI, SRT and ST 2110 with JPEG XS.

Film grain synthesis (FGS) is a topic that we have covered several times, as its use should enable a more 'film-like' look for the viewer, while offering better encoding efficiency for the content provider. We were interested to see a LinkedIn post from a specialist in the field that reported that Netflix may be gaining a 30% bit rate advantage by using the technology while also avoiding a '“synthetic” and plasticky' look that it had previously had using the AV1 codec.

At IBC recently, Qualcomm and Interdigital showed FGS using the VVC codec. VVC allows FGS, while AV1 mandates the technology. However, competitors point out that the FGS in AV1 is very basic and not as sophisticated as the options in VVC. AV1 has only a simple, 4x4 block for synthesis while the system from Interdigital and the Fraunhofer HHI allows more options. Given that AOpen, which develops the AV1 codec, has published a specification for improved FGS and is also releasing the AV2 specification shortly, we should see some new developments.

The 8K Association has a YouTube channel that includes 15* videos with 8K and other highlights from the recent CEDIA 2025 event in Denver, Colorado.

*With more to come!

The Alliance for Open Media (AOMedia) announced that it plans to release the next version of its codec, AV2, at the end of 2025. The organization said that it would offer:

• 'significantly better' compression performance than AV1
• enhanced support for AR/VR applications
• split-screen delivery of multiple programs
• improved handling of screen content
• an ability to operate over a wider visual quality range

AOMedia said that a survey of its members showed that 88% of members ranked AV1 as either “extremely critical” or “important” to their current or future product roadmaps. Looking ahead, 53% of AOMedia members surveyed plan to adopt AV2 within 12 months upon its finalization later this year, with 88% expecting to implement it within the next two years.

Editor's Comment

The development of the next generation of codecs including AV2 and VVC (H.266) are important steps towards the wider adoption of 8K as the technology allows smaller file sizes and bit rates for a given quality level. We'll have a more detailed look at AV2 when the specification is published. Consultant and codec specialist Jan Ozer published an outline forecast of the time scale for AV2 adoption and also published a round-up of rumours and industry rumblings as well as looking at the barriers to quick adoption. 

SOC developer Mediatek has announced a new version of its Dimensity 9500 chipset for flagship smartphones. The company highlighted video features including 4K 60 'cinematic' mode and 4K120 capture with Dolby Vision support. Although not mentioned in its press release, we confirmed that the chip includes support for 8K60P video capture.

On the playback side, the firm highlighted the Arm Mali-G1 Ultra GPU with doubled ray tracing hardware and a claimed 42% better power efficiency at peak performance. 120fps ray traced playback is said to be supported. AI performance is also boosted and includes 4K image generation.

You can download a pdf version of the graphic here

The Fraunhofer IIS and intoPIX were awarded an Engineering, Science & Technology Emmy award for the development of JPEG XS, while SMPTE, the EBU and Video Services Forum were awarded another for the development of the SMPTE ST 2110 Suite of Standards.

Both technologies have a role to play in the development of the 8K ecosystem.

• JPEG XS is a 'visually lossless' low latency codec that is optimised for content production. It was described by the Television Academy as being "a fundamental game changer for real-time transmission of video for a wide variety of applications in media and studio technology as well as making real-time video processing in data centers practical".
• ST 2110 is a suite of standards for transmitting uncompressed (or compressed with JPEG XS) video, audio, and data over digital Internet Protocol (IP) networks in professional media environments. It emerged as a replacement for traditional Serial Digital Interface (SDI) infrastructure, offering greater flexibility and scalability. ST 2110 gets away from the fixed resolution and multiple cable requirements of SDI.

Astrodesign of Japan said that it plans to demonstrate its new 8K real-time ROI extractor at the forthcoming IBC 2025 show. ROI in this context means ‘region of interest’. The equipment will allow areas of lower resolution to be automatically selected and framed and distributed as separate signals. The idea is to allow single 8K cameras to capture scenes, while up to four lower resolution frames are automatically created from areas of the picture. This is a topic that is of great interest in outside broadcast applications as it can allow multiple views from single fixed cameras and is a topic that we are planning an article on in the near future.

The firm also said it would show the 8K X 8K Camera for VR applications that it has been developing with NHK.

Brazil has now officially adopted ATSC 3.0 technology for its new TV system with a Presidential Decree. ATSC 3.0 technology is used in Brazilian DTV+ format’s core Physical and Transport layers, as well as the Video, Audio, Captioning and Emergency Warning systems. 80% of viewers in Brazil use DTV so the technology in use has greater significance than in some other countries.

As was pointed out to us by an engineer at last year’s NAB, the use of ATSC 3.0 does allow for 8K broadcasts and Brazil has said that it can use the LCEVC codec to add an enhancement layer for higher resolution content

AVInteractive reported that the rendering of a huge immersive 18K content item was rendered using a network of GPUs, reducing rendering times for the content from months to weeks. The content will be shown at the Artechouse in New York from 19th September. This seamless 100-megapixel canvas was created with the installation of 18 Barco UDX 4K32 projectors and UST lenses in 2019. There’s a short ‘teaser’ here.

Pandaily of China reports that "Window to the Blue Planet", China’s first 8K live-action space film, inspired by the Shenzhou-13 mission, is due for a China-wide release on September 5th. The film was captured with locally-developed 8K 50fps cameras that were used in the testing space environment.

The blog reports that "Window to the Blue Planet will be released in multiple formats, including CINITY 4K 50fps, CINITY LED, IMAX, CGS China Giant Screen, and 4DX, ensuring audiences feel the “Chinese altitude” with stunning clarity and romance".

Although the DCI specification for Digital Cinema in the West does not support 8K at present, there has been a substantial project called '1,000 screens, 100 Cities' to install large 8K LED walls in many of China's cities.

High resolution maven and camera developer, Pawel Achtel, has posted on LinkedIn that the latest version of content shown at the 'This is Holland' immersive video experience in Amsterdam was shot entirely on his 9x7 camera which features resolution up to 18K x 14K.

There was a lot of interest in the new 8K 360-degree camera from DJI that is intended to compete with the well regarded Insta360XS. DJI says the Osmo 360 can continuously record at 8K/30fps for up to 100 minutes on a full charge. It supports 10 bit video for those that like to correct their footage. It won't be available in the US initially, according to reports, but will sell around the world at Euros 480 or equivalent.

rench high end content creators, The Explorers, have said that they are creating content for the Apple Vision Pro headset and French high end content creators, The Explorers, have said that they are creating content for the Apple Vision Pro headset and testing the Blackmagic URSA Cine Immersive camera designed for that purpose.

Last year, we were pleased to meet with DFT, the specialist in film scanners at IBC. So, we were pleased to hear that the company would be back this year and would be highlighting a project in China where an application for the scanner in Beijing has enabled the Central News Film Group to serve as a model for the application of 8K digitization across the industry.  Look out for them in Hall 6, Stand Number:  6.A16 

We reported on Netflix's increased use of film grain synthesis (FGS) in the AV1 codec last week. Now the DVB standards body has published its report on the use of the technique in DVB environments and has concluded that there is not evidence that "a complete value chain would be in place for the use of Film Grain Synthesis techniques in DVB environments". Although FGS can be supported in MPEG codecs, as the Fraunhofer HHI has demonstrated, it is not mandatory in those codecs, while support is mandatory in AV1.

As we have reported, the AV1 codec mandates the support of film grain synthesis. We wrote about it after we saw an interesting demo by the Fraunhofer HHI at IBC last year. Now, in a technology blog article, Netflix said that it is scaling up its use of the technique after only enablingb it for a limited number of titles during its initial launch of the AV1 codec in 2021.

The article said that a follow up article will cover the encoding pipeline, so we'll be watching for that.

We spoke with Village Island at the recent NAB 2025 event and the company showed us its AI 100 ST-2110 Analyzer which supports 8K. Now the company has posted a short video describing the features and uses of the device.

Video technologist, Dirk Hildebrandt, has made a call on LinkedIn for collaborators interested in his work on film grain. As we have often reported, the treatment of film grain is a significant issue both for codec developers and for content creatives.

In an article in What Hi-fi, the author explains why he really likes the higher quality that he can get from UltraHD Blu-Rays. If you have an 8K TV with upscaling or an upscaling processor, it has long been the case that the best source for upscaling content to 8K is an UltraHD Blu-Ray. While streaming platforms often restrict the bandwidth of content because of the cost of distribution, the UltraHD Blu-Ray specification allows up to 144 Mbps of bandwidth, so allowing creators to get as close as possible to the original content quality.

A post on LinkedIn from video encoder developer, Two Orioles, has suggested that AV1 can now be decoded as quickly as H.264. The firm said that the open source Dav1d decoder, collaborated on by Two Orioles, VideoLabs and MultiCoreWare, is markedly faster than other open-source AV1 decoders.

We spotted the news on LinkedIn that the IEC has standardized the concept of Gamut Rings, a way of presenting the performance of a display in a more useful way than traditional chromaticity diagrams. The technique had already been adopted in the International Display Measurement Standard, but is now standardized for laser projectors in IEC 62906-6-1

While the gamut ring concept is not directly related to 8K, we thought readers of our website and newsletters would be interested. There is a good explanation of the topic here.

In a vlog on YouTube, HDMI showed a Samsung TV running at 8K with 120Hz refresh rate, using HDMI 2.1 at the recent Computex event in Taipei. The 8K Association showed a similar set at the recent NAB 2025 event, although this was with a live gaming PC. Although we often see reports that HDMI cannot yet support this, HDMI 2.1b with DSC compression can support the format. HDMI also said in the video that HDMI 2.2 should be here later this year.

The recent drama "Adolescence" on Netflix was a dramatic tour de force, but it was also an incredible achievement as highlighted in an article on FStoppers. The four one hour episodes were each created as one single take.

We wondered about the camera used and were interested to capture the image in this article that shows that the camera used was the 8K-capable Ronin 4D (although we have seen no references as to whether any of the content was shot in 8K). We assumed it was chosen because of the integral gimbal head which will have helped a lot in the many 'hand offs' in the programme including the attachment to a drone and this was confirmed in an article on RedShark. Cook SP3 prime lenses with a Tilta Mirage variable ND were used. If you have 20 minutes, the 'making of' video is worth a watch.

We spotted a report from Futuresource Consulting that highlighted a demonstration of a new 204" microLED with 8K support that was shown by Taiwan-based diplay maker Innolux at the recent Touch Taiwan exhibition. Innolux posted a short video that includes the display on YouTube.

Innolux is on the list of exhibitors at next week's Display Week in San Jose so we are hoping that they were able to get the unit shipped over in time for a demo there!

IndieWire reports that the "Sinners" movie will get a special release in the 70mm IMAX film format in nine IMAX theaters across North America from Thursday, May 15 to Wednesday, May 21.

At the recent NAB event in Las Vegas, IMAX spoke about the advantages in resolution and quality of its 70mm format and encouraged delegates to get to see the 70mm presentations if possible. You can see our report here.

BroadcastTech reported that the Twickenham Film Studios in West London in the UK will have a new 24 x 4.5m (78.6 x 14.85 ft) virtual production LED wall installed. The LED display will come from Samsung and has a 2.1mm pitch, so we calculated that the horizontal resolution will be around 11 megapixels, although the height will mean a vertical resolution of around 2K allowing 4K UltraHD format capture. There will be a 105 sq m (1130 sq ft) LED ceiling plus LED mobile totem walls along with a permanent turntable and motion control crane.

TVTechnology reported on the panel organized by the 8K Association at the recent NAB Show. We will publish our own report shortly, but here is a link to that article.