Japanese electronics company Panasonic has said it will use the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo to trial 8K broadcasts.
Panasonic’s Korean rival Samsung has demonstrated 8K technology with specially shot footage, but the Japanese company’s senior vice-president Shiro Nishiguchi believes its relationship with Japanese public-service broadcaster NHK can facilitate a 2020 roll-out at the summer Olympics.
The picture quality of 8K is four times the definition of ultra-high definition, or 4K, which is once again four times superior to HD standard.
Nishiguchi said: “Japanese broadcaster NHK is really committed to introducing 8K, we are working very closely with them. The difficulty rather than shooting in 8K is distributing, especially when it comes to broadcast.
“But the fact is that we have been working on 8K with NHK for years already and every year we are reducing the size of the equipment and reducing the cost. So that’s why 2020, with the speed of technology improvement, at least experimental broadcasts are going to be possible. And it could be available (more widely).”
Nishiguchi was speaking at the Panasonic European Convention in Amsterdam, where the company unveiled its new European Viera 4K Ultra HD flagship television series.
Panasonic in February became the first top-tier partner of the International Olympic Committee to extend its sponsorship deal through to the 2024 summer Olympic Games.