5 exciting new technologies on display at NHK research lab’s open house

NHK (an acronym for Nippon Hoso Kyokai, or Japan Broadcasting Corporation in English) will open the doors of its Science and Technology Research Labs (STRL) to the general public tomorrow. The annual open house allows Japanese citizens, who fund the national broadcaster through subscription fees, to catch a glimpse of the future of domestic broadcast television.

Tech in Asia was given a preview tour of the laboratory, located on the outskirts of Tokyo, yesterday. Here are some of the most exciting things that NHK is working on.

1. 8K Super Hi-Vision Cameras

8K video was the overlying theme of NHK’s event. If you’re thinking, “8K? Aren’t we just now seeing semi-affordable 4K TVs?,” you’re right. So what exactly sets 8K apart?

When HDTVs first hit the market, they offered 720p, that is to say 720 vertical lines of resolution. Then came 1080p “True HD” and 2K (which both offer 1080 vertical lines of resolution, but with 2K offering slightly more horizontal lines). More recently, 4K televisions have upped the ante, offering 2160 vertical lines of resolution. The more lines, the clearer and sharper the image becomes.

If all those lines currently offered don’t provide a realistic enough image for you, enter 8K – with 4320 vertical lines.

In 1964, the broadcaster became the first to show its domestic audience portions of the Olympics in color. With the 2020 Tokyo Olympics just six years away, NHK wants to be the first to offer a mind-bogglingly realistic 8K SHV broadcast. But before that can happen, they need to design cameras that can shoot 8K video.

The first one encountered on the tour was a Fujifilm-branded 8K theater camera.

NHK’s 8K theater camera uses a large 2.5-inch image sensor that allows it to shoot clearly in a dark setting. It also uses a pixel addition method that eliminates video noise (the background fuzz that is especially visible in video with a lot of black areas).

Last September, the broadcaster filmed Teatro alla Scalla’s Rigoletto performance at NHK Hall with the 8K SHV theater camera, which was screened at STRL yesterday. The video and sound quality were impressive to say the least, and the image remained incredibly sharp even during the opera’s darkest scenes. It was as close as I’ve ever felt to being at a live performance without actually being there.

Next up was NHK’S compact 8K SHV camera.

Measuring only 15.1×12.5×13.5cm and weighing a mere 2 kg (previous iterations weigh between 5 and 32 kg), the tiny camera offers nearly limitless mounting possibilities – cranes, remote-controlled platforms, and perhaps even drones. When connected to an optical transmission unit, the camera head can be operated using the same fiber-optic cable as conventional HDTV cameras.

2. 133 megapixel image sensor for 8K SHV cameras

3. 8K Hybridcast

4. TV navigation based on facial recognition

5. Haptic presentation technology for the blind