Japan Showcases 'Super Hi-Vision'

Washington, D.C. (May 29, 2007) -- Man's search for a better TV picture did not end with the introduction of High-Definition TV. Japanese engineers last week unveiled a new picture technology that promises a resolution four times clearer than current HD images.

That's according to the web site, Digital Arts Online.

Engineers at NHK's Science and Technical Research Laboratories showcased the technology they are calling "Super Hi-Vision" for reporters. They said SHV's picture consists of 4,320 horizontal lines and 7,680 vertical lines. (NHK is the public broadcasting company in Japan.)

Digital Arts reports that NHK has created an image sensor for TV cameras that can shoot an entire screen in SHV. Previously, the company's prototype SHV camera could only shoot in half the resolution of the ultra-clear image.

Is it a bird? A plane? No, it's Super HD!

The web site says the prototype camera was set up about three feet from a newspaper. With the SHV camera, all of the newspaper text could be read on the screen.

While high-def viewers may yearn for an even better picture, NHK officials said the technology still faces several obstacles before it reaches market.

For starters, the SHV signal has a bit rate of 24Gbps, which is considered too large for today's bandwidth-strapped broadcasting systems. Additionally, there are issues of encoding and decoding the signal.

But NHK and Fujitsu say they can solve the bandwidth problem; SHV now takes up roughly six times the amount of space as a high-def transmission.

The coding issue may be more difficult to conquer, however. The current encoder system is almost six feet tall and NHK engineers will have to determine how to reduce it to a few chips that can be placed in a set, Digital Arts writes.

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Phillip Swann is president and publisher of TVPredictions.com. He has been quoted in dozens of publications and broadcast outlets, including CNN, Fox News, Inside Edition, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Chicago Tribune, The Financial Times, The Associated Press and The Hollywood Reporter. He can be reached at swann@tvpredictions.com or at 703-505-3064.

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