Japanese TV station launches Olympic Games 8k channel

The Japanese television station NHK will show test broadcasts at six different locations in Japan of some parts of the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro in ‘Super Hi-Vision’, the name of the channel for 8k broadcasts.

The pilot satellite channel will show a mix of 8k and 4k broadcasts. The aim is to fully master the broadcasting technique for live images at the Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2020. The special channel has a limited offer and has been live since 1 August.

On the days of the special broadcasts, it is therefore possible to watch a limited number of sports in special locations that have been opened by NHK in the period from 6 to 22 August between 10 a.m. and 8 p.m. The opening and closing ceremonies can also be viewed live in 8k. In total, this concerns 130 hours of television.

The 8k image consists of 7680×4320 pixels, a resolution that is sixteen times higher than a full-HD version and four times higher than 4k. Like 4k, 8k is referred to as ‘uhdtv’, except in Japan where 4k is called Hi-Vision and 8k is called Ultra Hi-Vision. The 8k recordings can provide 100Gbit/s of data traffic uncompressed. It then has to be compressed before it can be broadcast live. This results in a signal of tens of megabits per second, which also has to be decoded by the user. Audio is forwarded in ‘3d 22.2-channel surround sound’.

NHK hopes to be able to send 8k directly to users’ homes in 2018 so that it can broadcast the 2020 Tokyo Olympics entirely in 8k.

Announcing 8k broadcast of footage from the opening of the 2012 Olympics in the United Kingdom