The media environment of program production, content delivery, and viewing has been changing because of progress in broadcasting and communication technologies and other technologies like IoT, cloud computing, and artificial intelligence (AI). In December 2018, 8K and 4K UHDTV satellite broadcasting will start in Japan, which means that viewers will soon be able to enjoy 8K and 4K programs featuring a wide color gamut and high dynamic range characteristics together with 22.2 multi-channel audio at home. Meanwhile, distribution services for sending content to PCs and smartphones through the Internet have rapidly been spreading and the introduction of the next generation of mobile networks (5G) will accelerate their spread. The coming of such advanced broadcast and broadband technologies and consequent changes in lifestyle will provide broadcasters with a great opportunity for a new stage of development. At NHK Science & Technology Research Laboratories (NHK STRL), we are pursuing a wide range of research with the aim of creating new broadcast services that can provide viewing experiences never before imagined and user experiences more attuned to daily life. To enhance the convenience of television and the value of TV programming, we are developing technology for connecting the TV experience with various activities in everyday life. Extensions to "Hybridcast Connect" will drive applications that link TVs, smartphones, and IoT. They will enable spontaneous consumption of content during everyday activities through various devices around the user. Establishing a new program production workflow with AI, which we call "Smart Production", is one of our most important research topics. We are developing speech and face recognition technologies for making closed captions and metadata efficiently, as well as technologies for automatically converting content into computer-generated sign language, audio descriptions, and simplified Japanese. This presentation introduces these research achievements targeting 2020 and beyond, as well as other broadcasting technology trends including 4K8K UHDTV broadcasting in Japan, 3D imaging, and VR/AR.

Research and development of ultrahigh-definition imaging systems that go beyond high-definition television (HDTV) have converged in the field of “4K” and “8K” imaging systems. The 4K imaging systems are used for digital cinema, while the 8K systems have been developed for use in next-generation TV broadcasting systems. The latter at 60 frames/s represents the highest pixel count and frame rate of any system, which includes their transmission design. In this paper, we will present an overview of two “8K” camera systems. One achieves a full resolution of 8K using three 33-Mpixel image sensors. The other is a more compact and practical camera system that uses four 8-Mpixel image sensors. We will also describe the camera functions, evaluation results, and views for future developments.

The authors discuss practical problems, focusing, and accuracy of lens arrays involved in constructing integral imaging systems. In general, it is recommended to set the focusing for the object during capture to infinity. The positional error of the elemental lens arrangement significantly affects the image quality when the image is reconstructed near the observer. An experimental system in consideration of the practical problems that uses an extremely high resolution video system is described. Some pictures obtained by the system show the specific characteristics of this spatial imaging type of system.