
8K Buzz Becomes Reality in Japan; Inter BEE 2018 Highlights 12Gbps, VR and Next-Gen Replay By Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director
Friday, December 14, 2018 - 10:55 am
Print This Story
Story Highlights
The InterBEE trade show in Japan, the Japanese equivalent of NAB, is always a unique show for those involved in the broadcast and production industry. It is squarely focused on the needs of the Japanese broadcast industry and that makes it an interesting mix of a commitment to known technologies (one of the big themes this year was 12 Gig SDI) and a commitment to the future with (another big theme was 8K which is now a reality for consumers in Japan).
The NHK booth at Inter BEE featured a countdown to the launch of NHK's 8K service.
Let's start with the big news of the official launch of 8K broadcasts (as well as 4K) via satellite. The 8K signal, called BS8K, requires 100 Mbps of bandwidth to be delivered and the broadcasts are available 12 hours a day. That 12 hours, like the early years of HD here in the U.S., will comprise a mix of original full resolution material as well as upconverted material (audio is in 22.2-channel Surround Sound). Highlights so far include an 8K broadcast of 2001: A Space Odyssey as well as a live broadcast from the Vatican on Dec. 2. NHK also continues to roll out 8K production units that can be deployed around Japan and the goal is to have five in operation by the time the 2020 Tokyo Olympics begin.
Eutelsat is a key partner in the delivery efforts, and NHK relied on DVB-S2X modulation, in 16APSK, and HEVC encoding for the Vatican live shot. The images were shot at 60 frames per second in BT2020 colour space, with 10 bits of colour depth and high dynamic range HLG (Hybrid Log Gamma), combined with 22.2 channel audio.
Sony's booth at Inter BEE featured a massive 8K video wall.
The launch garnered mixed headlines and it will be some time before it will garner large audiences. The consumer electronics industry will most likely roll out a number of 8K sets at CES (Sharp is currently selling a 70-inch set for about $12,000) and the 8K receiver tacks on an extra $2,000 to the cost. Of course, anyone suffering sticker shock at those prices should consider that 4K sets were at that level only a few years ago so prices could fall within a couple of years.
SVG has discussed the production of 8K over the years and since the 2012 London Olympics the format has made some serious strides that are worth keeping in mind. For example, in 2012 recording the events for replay required 36 Panasonic P2 decks to be slaved together. Today that, thankfully is not the case.
And yes, the camera signals each are still a massive 48 Gbps but the number of cameras involved in the production continues to grow and their features, like slow-motion replay, also continue to expand.
NHK is currently the only broadcaster on the planet to commit to 8K and it is worth remembering that when people ask why? that NHK was committed to 8K before 4K was even a legitimate format. So, the why was simple: there was (and still is) a belief that 4K did not offer enough of a difference in terms of picture quality from 1080p to make it a worthwhile step. But 8K opened up a number of new applications like live broadcast to cinema screens and also would provide a signal that could support massive screens that measure more than 120 inches diagonal.
NHK's commitment, however, is enough to have a number of manufactures on the show floor at InterBEE displaying 8K production systems. Sony, Ikegami, Astrodesign, For.A, and others rolled out various 8K capable production components. And there actually is a practical application for an 8K camera today. It could be mounted within a stadium and capture a wide shot of the entire field of play and then allow for 1080p segments to be extracted and broadcast, allowing a single camera to do the work of multiple cameras and never miss a moment. And, of course, if 4K can turn the corner as a production format there could eventually be a need for 8K cameras to serve in the role of virtual zoom cameras so that a full 4K image can be extracted (similar to the role 4K cameras in extracting full HD images for replay).
The other big story at the show was products that supported 12 Gbps transport. 12 Gbps capable products were found in a number of booths and for many Japanese production professionals the familiarity with SDI architecture makes 12 Gbps more compelling than IP.
Advances in Next-Gen Replay
One of the highlights on the Canon stand this year was a next-generation version of the company's take on the 360-degree replay systems that take video from multiple cameras mounted around a stadium, synthesize it, and then allow for a replay from virtually any angle along with the ability to zoom in and move between players and objects.
It's called Free Viewpoint and it has made some strides since last year. Canon offered a quick demo of footage from rugby matches that were captured with 100 cameras mounted around the upper level of the stadium. The latest demo was impressive as the large number of cameras gave plenty of additional picture information to enhance the quality of the view. The problem? It still takes a long time to synthesize all of the data but the Canon team hopes they cut the processing time down greatly by the time the 2020 Olympics begin. Here's a YouTube clip of last year's version for a sense of what will eventually be offered (the new version, however, is more photorealistic).
Another cool technology demonstration was courtesy of Tokyo Broadcasting Systems (TBS). It was called Virtual Grabber and was designed to bring the VR environment to the world of technical directing. An operator outfitted with VR goggles and VR pointer hand controls was able to cut a show by looking at a virtual monitor wall and pointing an
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
17/06/2026
The R&S PR300 portable receiver from Rohde & Schwarz sets new standards in spect...
17/06/2026
Elt Group and Rohde & Schwarz sign a cooperation agreement to explore commercial...
17/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
17/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
17/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
17/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
17/06/2026
The Immersive Supervisor Emerges as Hollywood's Next Production Role
Brie Clayton June 17, 2026
0 Comments
Above image: On set live immersive revi...
17/06/2026
Vertical Musical Playback Shot with Blackmagic PYXIS 6K
Brie Clayton June 17, 2026
0 Comments
Large format sensor and DaVinci Resolve workflow used fo...
17/06/2026
DAZ 3D Launches New Game-Ready Character Assets Built for Modern Engines and Pro...
17/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
17/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
17/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
17/06/2026
Montr al, Quebec, June 11, 2026 Kiloview, a leading provider of AV-over-IP and NDI -based video transmission solutions, today announced a distribution partner...
17/06/2026
Changsha, China, June 15, 2026 Kiloview officially announced the launch of U4 IP Video Dock, a compact IP video decoder and output dock designed to bring prof...
17/06/2026
Visibility builds credibility - the tools you use every day, now visible on your LinkedIn profile Published on Jun 17, 2026 Categories: Company News, Product ...
17/06/2026
Transaction Positions Harmonic as a Pure-Play Broadband Company SAN JOSE, Calif. - June 17, 2026 - Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ: HLIT), the worldwide leader in virtual...
17/06/2026
FOX Advertising To Launch Industry's First End-to-End Agentic Advertising Pl...
17/06/2026
How SGN is future-proofing critical national infrastructure with Arqiva Managed Connectivity.
When disruption becomes the norm As Storm Eunice tore across the ...
17/06/2026
The RT Concert Orchestra will bring the timeless music of The Beach Boys to aud...
17/06/2026
Calibr-Skaggs awarded $5.1M by NIH to develop long-acting hepatitis B virus therapy A new program aims to replace a daily HBV drug with once-monthly or even qua...
16/06/2026
Thomson's highly regarded expert-led online learning courses are now easier to access on the go via our new App.
Available now on Google Play Store, the J...
16/06/2026
Neumann.Berlin has released firmware version 2.0 for the MT 48 audio interface, adding plugin compatibility, expanded Dante networking options, broadcast encode...
16/06/2026
TVNewsCheck has announced that nominations are now open for its 2027 Women in Technology Awards, to be presented at NAB Show 2027 on Tuesday, April 6 in the Med...
16/06/2026
Clear-Com has announced Avalon, a 1RU IP intercom platform for broadcast, live events, and production environments. Designed for IP-only workflows, Avalon suppo...
16/06/2026
SNS has published a guide to remote video editing workflows using its EVO shared storage platform and companion tools, covering use cases ranging from home edit...
16/06/2026
Grass Valley has announced that the Richmond Flying Squirrels, a Minor League Baseball affiliate of the San Francisco Giants, have deployed five Grass Valley LD...
16/06/2026
The Alliance for IP Media Solutions (AIMS) has announced the launch of the Official IPMX Training Series, a free online program covering the design, configurati...
16/06/2026
Swerve TV has announced distribution agreements with Fubo, Plex, Amazon Fire TV,...
16/06/2026
ATP and TikTok have announced an expansion of their global content partnership, extending the ATP's TikTok hub powered by TikTok GamePlan to cover all nine ...
16/06/2026
Network's LA facility serves as the heart of a sprawling operation built to ...
16/06/2026
At Pico, the network's media-management team is supporting a flood of HBS fe...
16/06/2026
The NHL will no longer air on CBC after the pulic broadcasters and national rights-holder Rogers Sportsnet were unable to come to agreement.
After a successfu...
16/06/2026
As live sports broadcasters continue to seek new ways to make complex action mor...
16/06/2026
Built with the 2026 FIFA World Cup in mind, these small but mighty IP-based tran...
16/06/2026
Boasts individual synths for each band
UVI's latest synth takes an interesting approach to synthesis, offering a trio of synth engines that each operate...
16/06/2026
New intelligent auto-fader plug-in unveiled
PSPaudioware's latest release offers automatic level adjustment and provides more detailed control than many...
16/06/2026
New performance-focused library announced
Crystal Pads is the latest addition to The Crow Hill Company's ever-growing product range, and according to th...
16/06/2026
Developed in partnership with Sequential
In recent years, GForce Software have branched into official emulations of classic hardware synths, delivering a ha...
16/06/2026
Designed specifically for live performance monitoring
beyerdynamic's latest announcement sees the company introduce an affordable in-ear monitoring syst...
16/06/2026
Official emulation celebrates iconic synth's 40th anniversary
Cherry Audio have just introduced Ensoniq ESQ-1, an official recreation of the 1986 polyph...
16/06/2026
Australians place growing trust in SBS News
16 June, 2026
Media releases
SBS has been recognised as one of Australia's most trusted news providers, ran...
16/06/2026
Rohde & Schwarz achieves highest number of GCF validated 3GPP NR NTN test cases ...
16/06/2026
Bydgoszcz to Become a Local Centre of Excellence for Advanced Rail Technologies....
16/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
16/06/2026
87 Percent of Creators Who Use Creative AI Say It Is Growing Their Business and ...
16/06/2026
Historic Zhuque-3 Reusable Rocket Test Mission Captured with URSA Cine Immersive
Brie Clayton June 16, 2026
0 Comments
Apple Immersive Video puts view...