NHK successfully transmits Super Hi-Vision 8K video over terrestrial TV signals

Japanese broadcaster NHK has managed to transmit an 8K video over a regular UHF TV broadcast, a feat it’s calling a world first. The transmission was sent over a distance of 4.2km (about 2.6 miles) across Tokyo, and employed multiple-channel transmission (NHK refers to it as MIMO, like modern Wi-Fi networks) to cram all the information into the stream. While terrestrial broadasts of HDTV signals are in use around the world, this is a first for UHDTV (Super Hi-Vision is an NHK brand) — with a resolution of 7680 x 4320, the picture is 16 times more detailed than regular HD signals.

There’s no word from NHK on when it hopes to bring this tech into widespread use, but it’s another milestone in bringing Super Hi-Vision to the general public and regular TV broadcasts. In February the company announced that it had engineered an 8K sensor that can shoot at 120fps, while in April it showed off its 145-inch 8K display produced in collaboration with Panasonic. If you’re interested in seeing the technology at work, it’s on display between the 24th and 27th May in NHK’s Science and Research laboratories.