It may be almost impossible to imagine that the next wave of HDMI 2.1 8K video and display technology is already standing on the doorstep, just over 6 years before the first 4K displays start shipping.
Many developments in broadcasting, display, and signal transmission (seemingly incoherent) during this decade have banded together to move 8K image capture, storage, transmission, and viewing from theory to practice, despite the initial price premium. Today, it is possible to buy large consumer TVs and desktop computer monitors with 8K (7680x4320) resolution, as well as cameras and 8K live video storage.
Japan's national television network NHK has been producing and broadcasting 8K video content for nearly a decade, and NHK has been reporting on the development of 8K cameras, switchers and format converters at every Olympic Games since London 2012. The 8K specification for signal capture and transmission has now been incorporated into the Society of Film and Television Engineers SMPTE) standard.
Lcd panel makers in Asia are stepping up production of 8K "glass" in search of better products the market is expected to slowly shift from 4K to 8K over the next decade. This, in turn, also introduces some troublesome signals to the transmission, switching, distribution, and interface due to its high clock and data rates. In this article, we will take a closer look at all of these developments and the impact they may have on the environment of the commercial audiovisual market in the near future.
It's hard to figure out a single factor to drive the development of 8K, but a lot of motivation can be attributed to the display industry. Consider the timeline of 4K (Ultra HD) display technology that only came out as a mainstream consumer and commercial product in 2012, initially an 84-inch IPS LCD display with a 4xHDMI 1.3 input and a price tag of more than $20,000.
At that time, there were several major trends in display panel manufacturing. The largest display manufacturers in South Korea (Samsung and LG Displays) are building new "fabs" to produce larger monitor ULTRA HD (3840x2160) resolution LCD panels. In addition, LG displays are accelerating production and shipping of large organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display panels, also with Ultra HD resolution.
In the Chinese mainland, manufacturers including BOE, China Star optelectronics and Innolux have been affected and have also begun to build larger production lines to produce ultra-high-definition LCD panels, deciding that Full HD (1920x1080) LCD glass has almost no profit. In Japan, the only remaining LCD panel manufacturers (Panasonic, Japan Display, and Sharp) struggled in terms of profitability, with only Sharp trying to produce Ultra HD and 4K LCD panels at the world's largest gen10 factory at the time (owned by Hon Hai Industries, the current parent company of Innolux).
Post time: Apr-07-2022