OTT Key to 8K Market, Says New Group's Head at CES
LAS VEGAS -- The 8K Association (8KA) nonprofit formed to address concerns of the 8K ecosystem (see 1901090026) is banking on over-the-top video as its content source, said Executive Director Chris Chinnock at a CES news conference. “OTT will drive the adoption of 8K, so we’re going to be reaching out to those key players to see what they’re going to need to see,” said Chinnock Wednesday, “and see what we can do to encourage the development of all the components.”
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The 8K broadcasts that NHK is delivering in Japan in the ramp-up to the Summer 2020 Olympics to be broadcast in that format are delivered by satellite at about 100 Mbps, Chinnock said: “I doubt many other satellite providers will buy into that.” The future viability of satellite TV and 8K is in question, due partly to transponder limitations, he said, and a terrestrial solution doesn't seem viable now.
Chinnock downplayed any role Blu-ray might play, though noting there’s a recordable Blu-ray format in Japan. “I’m not part of Blu-ray Disc Association, but my understanding is it’s not being discussed with any rigor at this point.” The association couldn’t be reached for comment.
Absent were mentions of LG and Sony, both of which unveiled 8K TVs at CES. In Q&A, Chinnock said, “As for other companies, we are an open organization. They are welcome to join and starting to have discussions.” Chinnock emailed that 8KA is talking to Sharp, LG and Sony. The companies didn't comment.
Outside of Japan, content is an issue for 8K progression. “The value proposition for 8K is clear for some, but it’s not clear to all,” Chinnock conceded, saying distribution challenges require new codecs, compression regimes and additional bandwidth to handle the high-density signals. The association will facilitate communication among 8K ecosystem players with workshops, and form liaisons with the standards organizations and other industry groups, including developing initial requirements for technical specifications for the 8K input signals, he said. Initial definitions “are out there, but we’re going to need more,” and it needs industry players.
Content will be partly addressed by upscaling, said Chinnock. "Clearly there’s a lack of content, but that’s partly being solved by upscaling algorithms in the new 8K TVs,” said the executive, saying machine learning and artificial intelligence are enabling more sophisticated upscaling than the linear techniques used in previous formats. Algorithms can also be updated in firmware, so “even if you buy a TV today, firmware updates are going to allow the upscaling capability to improve,” he said.