Issue #90 | March 2, 2023

A Change in Emphasis

As part of the changes at the 8K Association recently, you’re going to see change in the balance of activities. The Association has always understood that for 8K to thrive, you need the content, the means to deliver that content and the displays to show it. The technologies that are needed to capture, deliver and display 8K are now available. As NHK recently reported, 8K content creation has become no more difficult than 4K or FullHD.

Now is the time to ensure that the creative community understands that 8K is available to deliver more immersiveness and a more compelling experience than ever before. 

8k enables the creative community to enhance the art of storytelling and build a more emotional connection with their followers.

A wide range of software tools have become available to enable this. The hardware is now available to edit 8K content efficiently and economically. 8K is no longer an exotic option.

As part of this shift in emphasis, Mike Fidler, the newly-appointed Executive Director of the Association will be attending the DEG EnTech Fest 2023 on March 29th in Los Angeles and will be moderating a panel looking at the way that 8K can expand the creator’s palette. He will be joined by executives from Amazon Studios, IMAX and others. Last year, more than 500 executives attended the inaugural event.



There will also be demonstrations of 8K encoding technology at 2023 NAB Show in Las Vegas April 15th-19th, where the Association will have a booth along with a number of members and partners.

Hope to see you there!

Spin Digital Makes Live VVC Encoding Breakthrough



Spin Digital announced that it has released Spin Enc. Live v2.0, which is said to be a breakthrough in encoding live video using the VVC codec. The technology has achieved bitrate savings of 27% for 8K video compared to the earlier HEVC codec technology. The encoder enables, on a single dual-socket server, live encoding and streaming of 4Kp60 and 8Kp30 video. 8Kp60 is coming soon. Read article here.

So Where Did the Idea of 8K Come From?



At IFA in 2022, the author was asked by a big consumer electronics company to give briefings to journalists on the topic of 8K. He was surprised that almost none of them knew where the idea of 8K came from. Most just assumed that 8K was a simple extension of 2K (FullHD) and 4K (UltraHD) to another level to reflect improving technology.



However, that is not how the idea came about. More than a decade ago, there was a decision to work on a next generation of video technology that would come to readiness in time for the Tokyo Olympics in 2020. Read More...

Achtung Baby! 16K Comes to Vegas.



A new attraction will come to Las Vegas in the Fall of 2023 when the MSG Sphere at the Venetian goes live with a series of concerts by Irish rock band U2. The Sphere will use a 16K LED display and 170,000 beamforming speakers to create an immersive experience. As well as using LEDs on the inside, the outside of the Sphere will be covered with LEDs and covers 55,700 m². The tiles are from Montreal-based Saco and the building will be the largest spherical structure in the world.

Fox Sports Uses an 8K Camera at Super Bowl LVII



Fox Sports broadcast the Super Bowl LVII in UltraHD/4K but it was mainly captured and produced in FullHD 1080P. Fox created the UltraHD output by upscaling. Overall, there were 94 cameras (44 for in-game coverage, 18 for pre-game and 16 robotic as well as two SkyCams and 13 pylon cameras). The capture was in 1080p60, but several 4K cameras were use on the goal and end lines to deliver extra clarity. An 8K 120fps camera captured the highest level of detail at the reverse 50 yard line. Sound was delivered in 5.1 surround format.

F1 Centralizes and Looks Ahead to 8K

During lockdown, the production of video of F1 racing moved to a centralised system based in the UK rather than using a complete on-site production facility. As Autosport reports, this presented a challenge as all the content from up to 100 camera and 250 audio feeds has to be transported reliably in real time from the race to the production center. This avoids the need to ship the production center around the world, helping F1 move towards its green goals by reducing the shipping weight by 70 tons -34% of the previous shipping weight. F1 technology partner, Tata Communications has already seen the benefits of UltraHD in providing more detail and is looking at how to implement 8K in the future.

The Explorers: Artemis Ascending Nominated for PGA Innovation Award

“The Explorers, Artemis Ascending” has been nominated for a prestigious 2023 Innovation Award by the Producers Guild of America (PGA). The title used the MeetMo.io streaming technology to support 8K. It was also recently used to capture 8K live and stream it to VR headsets during the Super Bowl LVII. Watch for more on that topic from the 8K Association.

Circle Optics Enables High End 8K 360° VR Capture

Circle Optics has a new 360° camera, the Hydra II with ‘zero parallax distortion’ and requiring no post-stitching. The camera uses Sony image sensors and is aimed at studios that want to shoot 360° video but don’t want to get involved with complex stitching. The camera provides 60fps images with 12 bit color and global shutters to minimize rolling shutter issues.

The camera is available for rental at $12,000 per week and the firm is working on smaller devices that could be used in drones.

Apple Confirms Boost in Video Encoding in M2



Apple has confirmed to Macworld that its M2 series chips Max processors have the dual ProRes encode and decode engines that were in the original M1 Max chips, after the website specification originally listed just one. The Pro versions of the M2 have single engines.

Samsung Electronics tops global TV market for 17 straight years in 2022

Sony Receivers have HDMI 2.1 for 8K

DJI is preparing a new drone – with a full-frame camera and support for 8K video recording

Marantz Wows with Flagship 8K Preamp Power Amp Combo

'Rare' Footage of Titanic Shipwreck Released for First Time...

CAN'T BELIEVE WHAT I'M SEEING! Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra (8K FOOTAGE)

Vanco International Releases 8K HDMI Switching Splitter

Samsung Announces Global Launch of the Galaxy S23 Series

New Samsung 8K Projector Scales Up With Mega-Screen Abilities

8K TVs That Are Actually Worth The Money

LG shows a 272" 8K microLED MAGNIT TV, plus a nice installation video...

How to connect an 8K display to your Mac