There is no doubt that the buzz word at the show floor of InterBEE2018 was 4K8K. It is because the advanced satellite broadcasting is scheduled to start from 10:00 A.M. on December 1, 2018. At the booth of A-PAB (The Association for Promotion of Advanced Broadcasting Services), 14 broadcasters and their 19 channels are classified in three categories and displayed.
One group uses BS（BSAT-4a Satellite operated by Broadcasting Satellite System Corporation）and broadcasts 4K programs. These companies are NHK BS 4K, BS Asahi 4K, BS-TBS 4K, BS TV Tokyo 4K, BS Fuji 4K, BS Nippon TV 4K, Cinema 4K, Shop Channel 4K, 4K QVS, and WOWOW.
Second group uses BS and broadcasts 8K program. So far NHK is only one for this category.
Third group uses CS, (JCSAT-110A satellite operated by SKY Perfect JSAT Corp）and broadcasts 4K programs. These are J-Sports 4K, 4K Nihon-eiga + Jidaigeki (Japanese Movie Channel), Star 4K, and Sukachan 4K (SKY Perfect TV channel). J-Sports plans to provide four channels and SKY Perfect TV two channels.
Attendant at A-PAB booth said “Regretfully two broadcasters, BS Nippon TV and WOWOW, will not be ready on December 1. They plan to start broadcasting one year later on December 1 2019.”
A-PAB also unveiled seven tuner-installed 4K8K television sets. Two sets out of seven are 4K OLED television made by Toshiba and LG Electronics. Four sets are 4K LED television made by Sharp, Mitsubishi Electric, Pixela, and Hisense Japan. Sharp is only manufacture for 8K. According to A-PAB Toshiba and Mitsubishi Electric already started selling their TV sets and Sharp will follow from November 17.
In addition A-PAB introduced eight 4K tuner boxes made by Panasonic, Sony, Sharp, Toshiba, and so forth.
Under such circumstances, NHK together with JEITA (The Japan Electronics and Information Technology Industries Association) set up one of the largest booths and engaged visitors by showing several 4K8K programs. The most amazing program was Grand Prix of Figure Skating 2018 (NHK Trophy), which was held from November 9 to 11 at Hiroshima Prefecture Sports Center. NHK used Sharp’s 80 inches 8K TV for such demonstration, which is supposed to be sold in the market soon.
In addition to 4K8K video, NHK showcased 4K OB Van named SK-1, which caters to live production of 2K4K video. NHK attendant said “NHK operates one 4K and three 8K OB Vans at present. Two more 4K OB Vans will be ready for operation by March 2019.”
With a huge banner of “8K Unveils Reality,” Astrodesign fascinated visitors with state-of-the-art 8K products such as Camcoder (8C-B60A), Camera Head (AH-40801-E/4081-G), Camera Control Unit (AC-4813), SSD Recorder (HR-7518/-7518A ), Video Server (SR-8428/-8438), Cross Converter (SC-8219), 55 inch LCD Monitor (DM-3815) and so on. 8C-B60A Camcorder integrates capabilities for shooting, recording, playback, and line output. The attendant said “40 minutes continuous recording can be accomplished with 2TB SSD pack.” With regard SSD recorder, two kinds are shown. One is for 8K 60Hz and another is for 8K 120Hz.
Additionally 8K projector named Insight Laser 8K was introduced at the booth. It is a 3-chip 25,000 lumens digital projector jointly developed by Digital Projection and Astrodesign.
Besides Astrodesign, InterBEE2018 put the spotlight on other leading broadcasting equipment manufacturers such as Sony, Panasonic, Canon, Hitachi Kokusai Electric, Ikegami Tsushinki, FOR.A, and AZLAB among others at the show.
Sony exhibited Crystal LED Display System in front of their booth and unveiled UHC-8300 8K portable and HDC4800 4K slow motion camera. 440 inch Crystal LED display is 8K x 4K resolution (7,680 Pixel x 4,320 Pixel) and boasts 1,000nits. UHC-8300 can capture live 8K HDR video with maximum of 120fps.
Panasonic has been aggressively selling 8K video recorders to NHK and other users, but so far no sign of 8K camera. This year for the first time they exhibited prototype 8K multi-purpose camera at their booth. Unique feature is that OLED image sensor is installed to attain higher dynamic range. It is a good sign that Panasonic brand 8K camera will be in the market in 2019.
Canon set up a special 8K solution corner at their booth and introduced 8K camera and 55 inch 8K HDR display. They already tried to capture some Rugby matches and showed high resolution and high dynamic range video. As to 4K product they highlighted EOS C700FF and XF-705 camera this year.
Hitachi Kokusai Electric proudly showed 8K SK-UHD8060B camera in addition to 4K SK-UHD4000 and 4K SK-HD1500 high speed camera. 8K camera has been jointly developed with NHK.
Ikegami Tsushinki also exhibited both 4K/HD studio camera UHK-435 and 8K camera SHK-810.
FOR.A has been spearheaded live sports coverage with their next generation high speed camera. With this FT-ONE-SS4K camera, you can shoot 4K images up to 1,000fps. The attendant said “8K variable frame rate camera is under development but it would be maximum 500 fps.”
To visitors’ amazement AZLAB showcased the world’s first 16K 120p display. It was non-compressed video of 120fps based on BT2020.
Other companies that are proud of Made-in-Japan lineage were Fujifilm, NTT Group, and NEC.
As expected, Fujifilm exhibited four kinds of 8K lenses at their booth and attracted visitors’ attention.
NTT Group showed prototype real time 8K 120p HEVC encoder. However the encoder shown is still consisting of four 4K 120p HEVC encoders and it is a must to integrated as one unit.
NEC exhibited latest version of 4K HEVC encoder and decoder based on ASI or IP. New feature added is ARQ function in case of IP transmission.
In the satellite communications and broadcasting equipment sector, SKY Perfect JSAT did not show up this year but three leading players such as AT Communications, Moubic, Kato Denki/Tokyo Keiki exhibited their latest products and services.
AT Communications unveiled curious SNG vehicle equipped with storable SOTM (antenna diameter 75cm) and 55W SSPA. Unique feature is, whenever you need SOTM, it will be hydraulically elevated from storage position to the roof of the vehicle by oil pressed cylinder. “It is designed to elevate about 1.6 meter. With this up-and-down system, the driver can move around more safely under the bridge and tunnel” said Makio Komatsubara, President of AT Communications. He added “the world first storable SOTM system has been designed by AT Communications and built by EM Solutions in Australia. In Japan such SOTM is needed due to many lower bridges, small tunnels, and hanging electric wire cables.”
Other notable products at AT Communications booth were portable Ku-band flat antenna made by SATCUBE in Sweden and 4K encoder by Socionext in Japan. Surprisingly enough it was found out 4K video can be transmitted by combining these two systems. SATCUBE flat antenna is as small as 445mm x 280mm x 58mm and weighs only 6kg.
Moubic is an operator of SNG vehicle and is very active in video contribution services. They are involved in up-linking Formula One Japanese Gran Prix 2018 at Suzzuka and MotoGP Japan 2018 race at Motegi. Besides contribution business, Moubic sells video-related products from such companies as Vislink, Media Kind, and Newtec. At this year’s InterBEE2018, they introduced Vislink’s Mantis MSAT with DVE6100/IRD6200, and Media Kind’s contribution encoder AVP2000.
Kato Denki and Tokyo Keiki jointly offered 1.2 meter parabolic antenna on-the-move and tried to sell to broadcasters for SNG operation.
As was described above 54th InterBEE2018 was successfully held at Makuhari Messe Convention Center in Chiba City from 14 to 16 November. JEITA said a record number of 1,152 companies and organizations including 646 from 34 countries and regions overseas and the total attendees marked a record breaking 40,839.
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Naoakira Kamiya is Managing Director, Satellite System Research Institute and Director of the Japan Satellite Business Association based in Tokyo, Japan. He is a frequent contributor to various satellite and broadcasting trade publications. He can be reached at: ZUM05241@nifty.ne.jp
