Ultra High Definition Television may be the next generation of television, and will come in two stages. The first, UHDTV1, will have four times the detail of the best HDTV today. The second, UHDTV2, will have 16 times the resolution. You need these ever larger jumps in resolution to make an impact on quality, because a ‘square law’ applies to resolution and quality.
Though this year a planned demonstration at NAB of UHDTV2 from Japan’s broadcaster NHK was cancelled because of events in Japan, the technology sessions on UHDTV was standing room only. The baton of technology frontier may be passing from 3DTV to UHDTV.
The issues that remain
The resolution for HDTV seems to be largely settled, but many technical issues do remain. The first is what ‘picture rate’ the UHDTV systems should have. Today’s TV systems use a range from 24, to 50, and 60’. For UHDTV, though this remains to be agreed in the standards bodies, a summary of the NAB mood would probably be ‘this time it should be higher - and more than 100Hz’. 120Hz is probably the most popular number.
UHDTV will also be the chance to improve the colour quality of the TV images. The elements involved, the ‘colour primaries’, colour equations’ and ‘bit depth’ will all be improved, and many laboratories are analysing what would be the best values.
The time for standards
Overall, the two UHDTV ‘levels’ are gaining momentum. Examples of productions made in the UHDTV1 forms looked very real, and have almost a 3DTV appearance, given the right ‘programme production grammar’. The question many are asking is not if it will come, but whether this year or next will be the year when worldwide standards for UHDTV are agreed by the ITU.