NHK defends at the 4K HDR Summit that producing in 8K is easier than ever

The Japanese broadcaster NHK, always at the forefront of UHD, has returned to the 4K HDR Summit 2022 para trasladar sus últimos desarrollos en materia 8K de la mano de Takeshi Shibasaki, Chief 8K Programming & Distribution Center.

In parallel to the news that seems to indicate the limitation of the sale of 8K televisions in the European Union, Japan lives a parallel universe hand in hand with NHK. Japanese television, the only broadcaster worldwide with a continuous channel of content in 8K, has arrived at the 4K HDR Summit with a message: 8K production, today, is viable.

Shibasaki has supported its position on several pillars. Among them is the proliferation of 8K cameras, which are already available at a minimum price of $4,500 from brands such as RED, Sony, Blackmagic, Fuji o Nikon, and that they offer “wonderful resolution at a low price”; the lightening of post-production processes, since NHK is now capable of editing directly in 8K with a Macbook Pro M1 MAX and the software DaVinci Resolve 18; the versatility of codecs RED RAW, Blackmagic RAW y Nikon RAW, which allow simple exports and dumps that are currently located within 30 minutes per hour of content, and the proliferation of 8K screens and players at a moderate price of just over 1300 dollars.

Alternative display windows

Even with everything, and despite having numerous experiences of work in 8K, NHK is finding a marketing and dissemination route of the content they prepare in these resolutions in the Dome Theaters. These types of cinemas have Japan great popularity. For example, a button: while throughout the country they have 400 of these spacesEurope, as a whole, only has 500. USA Yes, it surpasses the old continent with 1,500 cinemas. The content, as Shibasaki has conveyed to the viewers of this fourth day of the 4K HDR Summit, is especially interesting with cultural applications such as documentaries.

In the same way, NHK is working to bring 8K to the exhibition halls. One of his last initiatives was filming in 20K from a mosaic from the ruins of Pompeii. From this raw material, a 8K content which was displayed on a screen 6×3 metros with a projector. Finally, Shibasaki and his team are also carrying out several 8K object scanning tests through the project 8K 3DCG.

In parallel to all this, there is the television production. NHKOnce the pandemic is over, he plans to travel around the world again shooting content in 8K. Time will tell if the rest of the broadcasters are willing to jump into this project.