Japanese successfully transmit 8k broadcasts over 27 kilometers

Technicians from the Japanese public broadcaster NHK have successfully transmitted Super Hi-Vision 8k images over the air over a distance of 27 kilometers. The milestone is another step towards the broadcaster’s goal of broadcasting the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in 8k.

The Nippon Hoso Kyokai Science & Technology Research Laboratories managed to transmit images with a resolution of 7680 x 4320 pixels and receive the video 27 kilometers away via a single UHF channel. The technicians used ofdm, or dmt, and mimo techniques to bridge the distance while preserving the signal, writes the Nippon Hoso Kyokai.

When compressing 8k video, NHK has opted for the h265 codec, it was previously announced. In previous tests, the compressed video was bundled into one stream with a bitrate of about 85Mbit/s. It is unclear whether that has happened here.

The Japanese Ministry of the Interior wants the NHK to bring the first 8k broadcasts to Japanese viewers by 2020. In that year, the Summer Olympics are held in Tokyo. In the summer of this year it is planned that the NHK will broadcast the World Cup final in Brazil in 4k. TV manufacturers have announced a large number of UHD TVs this year, which can display the 4k resolution. For the time being, these are high-end models.