Sharps new 8K camera, the 8C-B60A camcorder
-- --
Facebook
Twitter
Google
Pinterest
The broadcast team at Futuresource Consulting share some industry commentary following their visit to IBC 2018.
By Chris Evans, Broadcast & Professional Video Equipment.
-- --
The ongoing drive for ever-higher resolutions has been a familiar story in the world of video acquisition for many years. But, after IBC 2018, talking about the practical application of 8K is no longer taboo.
Japan's state broadcaster, NHK, has long been the driving force behind 8K. Manufacturers have been committed to developing an ecosystem of products that can support the 8K broadcast standard, Super Hi-Vision', in time for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. However, with many other broadcasters still occupied with upgrading their portfolio of HD channels and the limited availability of 4K content, meaningful use of 8K technology in the wider industry can seem distant.
Shortly before IBC, 8K held a notable presence at IFA 2018 in Berlin, as Samsung, Sharp, LG, TCL and Toshiba all dedicated space at the convention to showcase 8K consumer displays. Samsung and LG incorporated spectacular reveals of their 8K TV sets into their press conferences, whilst Sharp emphasised their development of an 8K ecosystem, which includes both their display and the 8C-B60A camcorder, which has already begun shipping in Japan and China. The continued focus on higher-resolutions by TV manufacturers at the show indicates that it won't be long until they begin their attempts to drive 8K into the home, as they did with 4K.
Though adoption of 4K in broadcasting has been slower than was first anticipated, 4K acquisition has been accessible for several years. 2017 was a particularly significant year for 4K adoption in the camcorder market, as it truly became mainstream. Cost effective 1 sensor camcorders brought 4K to the lower-end of the market, as sub $5,000 fixed lens camcorders have fuelled a 9 per cent point annual increase in the worldwide market share of 4K capable camcorders sold by Sony, Panasonic, Canon and JVC, to account for a total of 32 per cent of worldwide camcorder volumes.
The accessibility of 4K acquisition has allowed workflows to mature and, with this, has come a greater awareness of the benefits of over sampling (acquiring video footage at a higher resolution than is necessary for the final output). It has been proven and accepted that recording video at a higher resolution and down-sampling the footage for final delivery will result in an improvement in video quality. The flexibility of having a larger canvas of pixels to work with also enables more creative options in post-production, from digital zooms and cropping in and recomposing shots to improving the accuracy of digital stabilisation and VFX tasks.
The use of 8K in live broadcasting may be very limited for the foreseeable future on a global basis, but the benefits of 8K acquisition are already apparent due to the proven use-cases of oversampling. There is an obvious use for 8K acquisition at prestige events and in select cinematic instances to begin preparing a library of 8K content, but 8K is not just about futureproofing. The same learnings made from using 4K acquisition to create HD content can be applied with 8K, but to an even greater degree especially in the case of using 8K for HD formats. Capturing 7680 x 4320 pixels to create a 1920 x 1080 image may sound like complete overkill, but it's precisely that factor of 8K being 16 times bigger than HD that makes oversampling 8K footage a more perceptible step-up than 4K. 8K cameras will not immediately replace 4K or even HD cameras, but their enhanced capabilities for oversampling allow them to be used in a completely new way.
At IBC 2018, Panasonic demonstrated a new camera that will be available next year that uses 8K acquisition as a tool to facilitate more efficient HD capture. Panasonic are calling this technique in use, region of interest or ROI. ROI allows up to four independent HD crops to be taken from a single 8K source camera (for instance, creating wide, mid and close shots simultaneously of a scene). In a practical application, this can reduce the number of cameras needed on a production, as multiple shots can be captured by a single camera operator. Sony's UHC-8300 8K studio camera also enables a similar kind of flexibility, as it can simultaneously output 8K, 4K and HD signals. This facilitates more flexible workflows for example, live feeds in 4K and HD could be sent to a video switcher for use in live coverage, whilst the 8K signal is taken directly to a recorder for archival purposes.
As the adoption of the 4K UHD formats grows, there will be a greater need for 8K where instances of oversampling for 4K content is necessary. The reason that 8K will gain ground in acquisition in the immediate future is due to the new possibilities that it creates in production. 8K cameras will begin to see growth primarily through their use in mixed resolution production environments, deployed among an array of HD and/or 4K cameras.
IBC marked a significant step forward in the eventual adoption of 8K. Though its use as a broadcast format will remain niche, the potential it has to enable new techniques in acquisition are abundant. With NHK set to start broadcasting their 8K content in December this year, the acceptance of 8K is already well under way.
Facebook
Twitter
Google
Pinterest
-- --
Most recent headlines
11/12/2025
Dalet, a leading provider of cloud-native, end-to-end media workflow solutions, ...
06/12/2025
In a live broadcast from the Reagan National Defense Forum, L3Harris Chair and CEO Christopher Kubasik joined Morgan Brennan on CNBCs Closing Bell: Overtime. Ku...
06/12/2025
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. A new survey from Pixitmedia by Datacore revealed a major shift in the Media & Entertainment industry in media archiving, with 85% of resp...
06/12/2025
HACKENSACK, N.J. LiveU has announced that the national public broadcaster Czech Television has completed one of the largest LiveU live production deployments fo...
06/12/2025
NEW YORK The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) presented the Excellence in Production Technology Emmy Award to NASA+ and Dr. Tom Leight...
05/12/2025
2025 Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame: Curt Gowdy Jr. - Master Storyteller, Nati...
05/12/2025
SVG Sit-Down: Veritone's Sean King on the Power of Mining Video, Audio DataThe company's Data Refinery offers users total control and governance over da...
05/12/2025
Platinum White Paper: Inside the Nashville Predators' Unified, Flexible, Sca...
05/12/2025
Netflix Reaches Agreement To Acquire Warner Bros. Following Planned WBD SplitThe deal does not include WBDs sports assets like TNT Sports (US, UK, LatAm), Euros...
05/12/2025
FOX Sports Returns to Indianapolis for Primetime Broadcast of Big Ten Championsh...
05/12/2025
SVG Summit 2025 Preview: Digital Engagement & Monetization Workshop Tackles the ...
05/12/2025
Atlanta United Lights Up New Emory Healthcare Studio With First Live Broadcast f...
05/12/2025
As Messi Takes the Pitch, MLS, Apple, NEP Roll Out Largest MLS Cup Production Ev...
05/12/2025
ESPN Enters College Football's Most Intense Month With Elevated Workflows fo...
05/12/2025
It's about that time! Awards season is in full swing, and the Film Independe...
05/12/2025
Every year, Spotify Wrapped offers a personalized look back at the audio that defined your year. It's a snapshot of your listening habits, designed to tell ...
05/12/2025
In 2025, Spotify's EQUAL, GLOW, and RADAR programs celebrated women, LGBTQIA , and emerging artists who turned moments into milestones. From breaking record...
05/12/2025
In our latest blog, we explain how Wi-Fi 7 rollouts can drive consumer loyalty with value-add services such as consumer cybersecurity. We also explore how this ...
05/12/2025
LOS ANGELES Netflix announced it has entered into an agreement to acquire the assets of Warner Bros. for $82.7 billion....
05/12/2025
NEW YORK Nielsens Gracenote has launched Gracenote Content Connect, a new ad platform that provides agencies, brands, supply-side platforms (SSPs) and demand-si...
05/12/2025
NEW YORK In an most important update to the workings of deal-based programmatic advertising, IAB Tech Lab has released version 1.0 of its Deals API for public c...
05/12/2025
NEW YORK Pass the turkey. Pass the stuffing. Pass the cranberry sauce. All are common requests of Americans celebrating Thanksgiving Day with family and f...
05/12/2025
NEW YORK Iris, the new cloud-connected camera control platform, has officially launched with features that turn virtually any PTZ camera into a software-connect...
05/12/2025
HOLLYWOOD, Calif. Netflix announced today that it has entered into an agreement to acquire the assets of Warner Bros. for $82.7 billion....
05/12/2025
NEW YORK Iris, the new cloud-connected camera control platform, has officially launched with features that turn virtually any PTZ camera into a software-connect...
05/12/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission has approved AT&T's $1.02 billion acquisition of spectrum from UScellular in a decision that was issued sho...
05/12/2025
The Best Coldplay Songs: 21 Tracks That Shoot for the Stars From Yellow to Viva La Vida, Fix You to Paradise, this playlist goes back to the start.
December ...
05/12/2025
Zafris Lecture Series Brings Nabil Ayers to Berklee The 32nd annual James G. Zafris Distinguished Lecture series was held on Thursday, November 13, with guest...
05/12/2025
Back to All News
Netflix Unveils the First Look for Land of Sin' - Premier...
05/12/2025
Introducing New Perks to Help You Get Even More from LinkedIn Premium Published on Dec 5, 2025 Categories: Company News, Product News
LinkedIn Corporate Co...
05/12/2025
Friday 5 December 2025
A new Game of Thrones Tale: Official trailer for Sky Exc...
05/12/2025
Back to All News
Don Lee, Lee Jin-uk, and Lalisa Manobal to Star in Netflix Act...
05/12/2025
Tis the season of giving once again and this year we've taken our Give Back Fridays' concept and turned it on its head.
In the autumn we were approach...
05/12/2025
Brayden Gogis doesn't remember a time when he wasn't completely fixated on games in all forms. In preschool, when they asked us to dress up as what we ...
05/12/2025
The Grinch steals the spotlight as the theme for The Late Late Toy Show 2025
Tune in tonight at 9:35pm on RT One and worldwide on RT Player
#LateLateToyShow...
05/12/2025
RT Announces New Presenters of Flagship News Programmes
New RT Six One News co-presenter Tommy Meskill
Sarah McInerney & Justin McCarthy join Morning Ir...
04/12/2025
ToolsOnAir Blackmagic Design HyperDeck Event Presets for just:in mac pro 2025 & ...
04/12/2025
ToolsOnAir AJA Ki Pro Event Presets for just:in mac pro 2025 & just:in linux
More Details:Starting with version 5.5, both just:in mac pro and just:in linux sol...
04/12/2025
Wangu Kanuri from Kenya and Godwin Asediba from Ghana are two of this years finalists for Thomsons Young Journalist of the Year Award. The pair are runners-up i...
04/12/2025
SVG Sit-Down: ProximaVision's Claudio Lisman on Why Tethered Drones Could Be...
04/12/2025
SVG Campus Shot Callers: Imry Halevi, Senior Associate Director of Athletics, Co...
04/12/2025
Platinum White Paper: LiveU Lightweight Sports Production: A Step Change in Spor...
04/12/2025
London to Riyadh: DAZN brings the boxing glamour to new production levels for Be...
04/12/2025
Analysis: Paramount bets on the battering ram' with Champions League play By Callum McCarthy, Editor-at-Large
Tuesday, December 2, 2025 - 10:12
Print ...
04/12/2025
Space City Home Network Launches SCHN DTC App for Astros and RocketsThe Rockets and Astros were previously the lone NBA and MLB teams without a DTC appBy Jason...
04/12/2025
SVG Summit 2025 Preview: Content Workflows Workshop Spotlights Evolution of Spor...
04/12/2025
New Sponsor Spotlight: Geotech's Patrick Wambold On the Unreal Engine Revolu...
04/12/2025
Curt Gowdy Jr. - Master Storyteller, Nationally and RegionallyBy Jason Dachman, Editorial Director, U.S.
Thursday, December 4, 2025 - 1:52 pm
Print This Sto...
04/12/2025
(L-R) Rebecca Lichtenfeld, Mohammadreza Eyni, Sara Khaki, and Judith Helfand att...
Sharps new 8K camera, the 8C-B60A camcorder
