Japan Demonstrates Next-Gen TV Broadcast

TOKYO — Aiming at next-generation broadcasting, Japan Broadcast Corporation (NHK) has demonstrated a live relay of a 4x x 8k resolution Super Hi-Vision program connecting a 260-km distance by a fiberoptic network.

NHK's next-generation broadcasting system can convey the sensation of reality to viewers. Super Hi-Vision is the provisional format for that purpose, achieving 7680 x 4320 pixels.

It already demonstrated the images of Super Hi-Vision at the 2005 World Exposition, Aichi, Japan, held from March to September in Aichi this year using a preliminary prepared video footage.

NHK developed a Super Hi-Vision camera equipped with 8 megapixel CCD image sensors that can take 4k x 8k images. In the field test, it sent the two cameras to a sea park and sent baseband signals without image compression using an fiberoptic network formed by multiple network companies.

The signal of the total 24 gigabits per second was divided into 161.5 Gbps HD-SDI signals to sent using the DWDM (dense wavelength division multiplex) method."Super Hi-Vision has huge information and was difficult to transmit. Using 16 waves on optic fiber, we succeeded a live relay over a long distance. This means that Super Hi-Vision proved the possibility of being a future TV broadcasting technology," said Mikio Maeda, senior research engineer of the laboratory.