Information Technology Reference
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and High Profile which employs 8x8 transform and individual quantization matrix
for HDTV was recommended in 2005. High Profile has been adopted and de-
ployed in home AV equipments including Blu-ray disc players and recorders. In
2007, some additional coding tools to support high quality video coding were
added, including the support for coding of video in 4:4:4 format and high defini-
tion levels, according to the proposals from Mitsubishi, etc. [9].
In response to this progress in video coding technology, television broadcast-
ing, which is the most familiar video media to the public, has started shifting from
SDTV to HDTV in a digital form. Video recorders for home use and small hand-
held camcorders are also operated with HDTV quality; such devices realize not
only a small size but a low price as well.
Thus, while HD video is becoming the norm, the development of UHD video
technology such as 4K with 4 times the resolution of HD is progressing steadily.
Visual equipments with 4K resolution are now being exhibited at shows. Several
cameras corresponding to 4K resolution have already been announced, and LCD,
PDP and projectors which can display 4K image can be seen. Moreover, the or-
ganic EL equipped with thinness, power saving and high resolution is also promis-
ing as a display of UHD video. With respect to practical use, digital cinemas with
4K resolution have been specified and their use for digital cinema including distri-
bution to theaters has already started [10]. Furthermore, NHK is planning for
advanced television broadcasting with 8K resolution from the year of 2025, and
already has developed a 33 million pixel camera with 8K resolution and a projec-
tor with 8192x4320 resolution. Video standardization of 4K and 8K resolutions is
being progressed by ITU-R (Radiocommunications sector) and SMPTE (Society
of Motion Picture and Television Engineers) which is responsible for production
standards used by the cinema and television industries. Next-generation video
coding standards, including UHD video as a target, are also in the process of start-
ing in response to these environmental conditions and expectations.
In 2009, MPEG invited the public to submit evidence of new video coding
technologies that fulfill the conditions for UHD video, and evaluated the tech-
nologies considering the emerging application requirements [11]. As a result of
this study, sufficient evidence was obtained and MPEG is now planning a new
standardization initiative to meet these goals. The current schedule is to collect
proposals in 2010, and to recommend an international standard in 2012-2013.
MPEG and VCEG are likely to cooperate on this activity.
Thus, information projected on a screen will be diversified in the future when
UHD video technology for 4K and 8K resolutions is realized. For example, we
will be able to enjoy realistic and immersive video on a large screen TV that is
over 100 inches diagonal, and display web browsers simultaneously with UHD
video contents on the screen. We may also use a photogravure TV of A3 size like
an album of photographs.
