How 8K Technology is Redefining Consumer Engagement
Juan Reyes of the 8K Association gave an update to the 4K HDR Summit on the Presidents’ Day. His topic was the ‘Super-realism of 8K: How the technology is redefining consumer engagement’.
He started by explaining the role of the Association which is building advocacy among enthusiasts as well as broadening the outreach. He acknowledged the challenge of limited 8K content from studios and from the EU power requirements. However there are also opportunities as consumers buy new sets after last buying them around Covid. There are more ways to capture 8K and there is lots of build-out in products in the 8K ecosystem. AI upscaling can fix the gap in 8K content and the VVC codec is now capable of transmitting 8K at lower bitrates.
Reyes looked at the latest state of the 8K ecosystem, where there are many options in every stage from creation, editing, encoding, transmission, decoding and display.
Looking at cameras, there are many big companies involved. Reyes highlighted the number of cameras that are at 8K and above, which allows the creation of better 8K content. Sony has been working with Intel to make sure that 8K content can be easily encoded. Skyworth now has an 8K set-top box (and since Reyes created his talk, Korea Telecom has also announced an 8K STB – ed.). 8K STBs allow content to be viewed in the home.
This Year in 8K
At CES at the beginning of this year, Samsung highlighted its 8K developments including a new projector with a UST optical system allowing images of up to 150″. Hisense is also developing its 8K laser projectors which the company says can produce up to 2,000 cd/m2 of brightness. Projectors are really developing the capability of supporting 8K HDR.
In 8K broadcast, the 2024 Paris Olympics were a big event for 8K 60 live HDR streamed around the world. The Association collaborated with Intel and Spin Digital in showing this content – and many were surprised at the low bitrates achieved despite the high quality. There was lots of great feedback. Globo in Brazil also worked with the Olympic Broadcast Services to show 8K.
CE Pro identified 8K as one of the top five trends for 2024 and that’s important for custom installers who want customers to be 8K ready. To support and engage with those installers, the 8K Association exhibited at Cedia in the US along with Intel, Samsung and Hisense. Earlier in the year, the Assocation was at NAB with support from those companies.
Immersiveness Key in 2024
One of the advantages of the large screens with such fine detail is the level of immersion and immersiveness has been a big topic this year whether you are talking about the Sphere – an amazing experience, Reyes confirmed as he has had the chance to see the display there – or the XR capabilities of the Apple Vision Pro headset. Although each eye of the headset is only 4K, much more resolution is needed to allow the viewer to move their viewpoint around the scene.
To highlight the combination of this immersiveness and the super-realism it brings, the 8K Association created and published a White Paper that digs into the detail. Customers looking at very large sets with 8K see a real sense of looking at reality.
Analysts including the CTA and DIsplay Supply Chain Consultants have forecast significant growth in the 8K TV set market. Industry players in the 8K space such as Red Digital and IMAX Corp have highlighted in the White Paper, their confidence that 8K will continue to develop and ‘become pervasive within a few years’.
In conclusion, Reyes summarized these points in a slide. He also highlighted that content is being created and archived in 8K so that even if it is only being distributed at lower formats for now, in the future it can be re-purposed to exploit the high quality.
The 8K Association is looking to continue to gert the message out about 8K but also work with the industry to develop full 8K workflows and the ecosystem.
In questions, Reyes confirmed that the 8K Association has members worldwide. He also confirmed that although the first 8K content was available just by satellite from NHK, live streaming has been demonstrated as has 8K broadcast by Globo. He also confirmed that 8K sets sold in the EU can meet the power requirements for TVs because their set-up has been optimized to meet the regulations. Finally, Reyes responded to a key topic for the Forum, the topic of AI. He highlighted the great impact that good AI can have on upscaling from 4K content and said that it really makes a visible difference to the image quality.
