Broadcast Technology No.62, Autumn 2015 ● C NHK STRL Overview of NHK STRL The role of NHK Science and Technology Research Laboratories (STRL) is to help build a richer broad- casting culture from a research and development viewpoint, both as Japan’s only research organization dedicated to broadcasting technology, and as part of Japan’s public broadcaster. To this end, NHK STRL is conducting a wide range of R&D, from basic technologies to practical applications, on next-generation broadcast media, universal broadcasting services, advanced program production technology, and devices and materials for use in broadcast- ing. We are using these technologies to enrich programming and are actively working on standardization, which is essential for successful implementation of new services. Research Activities Research into services using the complementary features of broadcasting and communications With the growth of broadband and the increasing speed and capacity of wireless infrastructure, we are working in development of enhanced broadcasting services using telecommunications. Hybridcast We are researching and developing a platform called Hybridcast that features new ways for viewers to enjoy TV. Hybridcast realizes new service, which combines broadcast that can send information to a large number of people at once and broadband that can interactively and individually send information. Hybridcast will be able to provide services with synchronization of broadcast and broadband, linkage with terminals such as tablets, and social media. 8K Super Hi-Vision We are researching a next-generation TV system called 8K Super Hi-Vision (8K) that conveys a sense of presence and reality to scenes in a very lifelike way. An 8K system combines an extremely high resolution 33-megapixel images (7,680×4,320) with three-dimensional sound provided by a 22.2 multichannel sound system. At NHK, we are researching and developing not only 8K cameras, production equipment, and transmission and display devices, but also video/audio coding devices, error correction methods, and modulation schemes to enable 8K to be delivered to the home by satellite or terrestrial broadcasting. Technology for the use of “big data for broadcast- ing” Hybridcast provides diverse information and services relating to TV broadcasts over the Internet. It provides services that give viewers in-depth information during TV programs and lets them have fun sharing information with their acquaintances. We are researching and developing database utilization techniques and service models that use program-related information and large-scale data sources, such as social networking services (SNS), as “big data for broadcasting”. Automatic metadata generation technology We are researching and developing a “Video Bank” that facilitates comprehensive searches and flexible usage of video assets for video production. It brings together a mechanism that collects useful meta- data when video assets are first acquired and a technique that automatically generates metadata by analyzing the stored footage. Imaging technology We are researching and developing various 8K cameras, including a high-sensitivity camera that can operate even at the low brightness levels inside a theater, a com- pact cube-shaped single-chip 8K camera with head weighing just 2 kg, and three- chip 8K imaging equipment that uses 8K image sensors compatible with a high frame rate of 120 fps. We are also researching stacked organic imaging devices with the aim of producing cameras that are both smaller and higher in picture quality. Display technology We are researching and developing liquid crystal and plasma displays that can show extremely high resolution imagery (approximately 33 megapixels). We are also conducting research aimed at making projec- tors that are compatible with the color gamut of 8K and lightweight flexible sheet-type displays that can be rolled up and carried around. Compact cube-shaped single-chip 8K camera Sound technology We are working on the development and standardiza- tion of a 22.2 multichannel sound system (upper layer with nine channels, middle layer with ten channels, lower layer with three channels, and two low frequency effects channels), and we are researching transmission and playback technologies that can be used in the home. Transmission technology To deliver 8K signals to the home, we are studying satel- lite broadcasting in the 12-GHz and 21-GHz bands, as well as terrestrial broadcasting and cable distribution. We are also researching and developing technologies such as wavelength division multiplexing for the deliv- ery of video contributions to the studio by cable and uncompressed wireless transmission in the 120-GHz band. Recording technology To make a single-chip 8K camera with a built-in record- ing device, we are developing a parallel solid-state memory, and for archiving purposes, we are research- ing holographic recording technologies characterized by high-density multiplexed recording and the ability to record and play back in “data page” units of around 1 Mbit. Hybridcast service example Compression and coding techniques We are researching efficient compression methods based on the HEVC (High Efficiency Video Coding), video compression standard and we are developing coding techniques for the efficient delivery of 8K signals to households, including a new coding method called im- age restoration video coding that makes use of super-resolution techniques. 22