Inter BEE 2014 - NHK Media Technology to Hold 30th Anniversary Tech Exhibition. Showcasing World’s First Live-Action Film in 8K3D, Medical Application for 4K3D, 4K Digital Signage, and More

NHK Media Technology is exhibiting at Inter BEE 2014 at Chiba's Makuhari Messe for three days, from Wednesday, November 19th to Friday, November 21st. In addition to showcasing products at their Inter BEE 2014 booth (Booth 6405), they will hold a 30th anniversary technology exhibition in Convention Hall A on the second floor of the International Conference Hall.
　With the booth and the anniversary exhibition combined, the company will be demonstrating more than 30 products. Mr. Koei Kezuka, an executive at NHK Media Technology’s division of management and planning, says, “NHK Media Technology has been broadening the range of solutions we offer in the field of content production for broadcasting, as well as in IT in terms of server and network usage. For this momentous 30th anniversary, we will be showcasing a whole array of technologies that will take us another step toward the future.”
　At their 30th anniversary technology exhibition, they will show an 8K 3D live-action film for the first time in the world. Furthermore, they will give demos in conjunction with an introduction of solutions that are nearing practical use, including a 4K3D surgical imaging system, a 4K digital signage system, and cloud-based television production support.

■The Future of 3D on Display With 200-Inch 8K3D Video and 22.2-Channel Audio
　NHK MT has touted the world’s first 8K 3D live-action film screening as their main event. They have installed a 200-inch 8K screen with a 22.2 multichannel surround sound system in the convention hall. The film screened will be “WISH”, a four-minute 3D fantasy about a girl and a clown in a mysterious world.
　Mr. Kezuka says, “When you hear ‘8K and 3D’ you likely envision a screen that is jumping out like it’s going to attack you, but this screening is going to offer a truly natural 3D feeling. In combination with the 22.2-channel sound system, the audience is sure to have a natural 3D experience.” Employing a twin-lens stereoscopic filming system using two Astrodesign 8K cameras, they worked to create a 3D video without losing any of the appeal of super high-definition video.
　Their biggest challenge was that the viewing environment was only available at the convention hall, where they would set up the theater. They ran into a lot of difficulties because they could not view the video during the production process in the 8K 3D format it would be shown in. Kezuka explains, “We had to check the resolution and focus after downsampling the video to 4K, and then check the 3D after downsampling to 2K. There were many challenges in order to approve a video that we hadn’t even seen.”
　The “8K3D Theater” will show four minutes of content, letting in a new group every ten minutes. About 50 attendees will be able to experience this new world of 3D video and stereophonic sound at a time.

■Practical Application of Realistic 4K3D Images of Surgical Procedures
　Also on display will be an imaging system for surgery that brings us closer to realizing practical solutions with 4K3D technology. This 4K3D imaging system that uses a 4K camera to record neurosurgical procedures was developed in collaboration with JVC Kenwood and Carl Zeiss Meditec.
　Surgical procedures until now have generally been conducted with a surgeon and assistant who view a three-dimensional image through a microscope, while the procedure is watched by additional team members on a low-visibility 2K display. The introduction of the 4K3D system enables those team members to monitor the procedure with a very realistic high-definition 3D image. Additionally, by recording the 3D surgical video, realistic 3D footage of procedures can be archived to be used for a wide variety of educational purposes.

■4K Digital Signage for HTML5 and PC Browsers
　A perhaps more familiar 4K solution, “4K digital signage production, management, and delivery system,” will also be showcased. NHK MT plans to demonstrate HTML5-based content using a 4K display on a PC web browser. Existing digital signage typically uses a dedicated set-top box and also requires a dedicated system for content production and management.
　The result, according to Mr. Kezuka, is that “We can now create 4K high-def digital signage using only standard web technologies—HTML5 and a browser—along with a general-purpose CMS and general-purpose desktop and display. We can reproduce extremely vivid images, as well as display the signage as is on a website.
　The demo will be displayed on a 4K portrait display. A portrait-oriented 4K video will also be shown, but since the process of blowing up a landscape-oriented 4K video causes image quality deterioration, NHK Media Technology used their expertise to produce a portrait video with full 4K image quality by converting it down from an 8K image.
　
■Developing a Content Production Model That Leverages the Benefits of the Cloud
　The company will also showcase solutions that take advantage of the benefits of both IT and broadcasting. The Coll@Board cloud-based television production support tool uses a public cloud service and tears down the physical barriers to program production.
　Specifically, using Microsoft Azure's public cloud service, proxy data of accumulated raw video is transmitted and saved to the cloud. Material in the cloud can then be easily reviewed and edited from a computer or tablet, increasing the degree of freedom in the production workflow.
　“We are now in an era when video and audio can be shared as data in the cloud,” says Mr. Kezuka. “We are trying to expand the ‘collaborative society’ model that cuts through the constraints of time and location, as widely and inexpensively as possible. We want to add more cloud functions to include features such as progress management and document sharing, thereby proposing the next generation of video production styles.”

■Broadcast and Communications Technologies Together on One Stage
　On the 30th anniversary technology exhibition stage, the company will give presentations and a talk show to showcase broadcasting technologies for fusing 3D and high-definition, along with their latest experiments in the IT field, including new web expression technologies and a Hybridcast development support library.
　An 8K system will be constructed on the stage, which will transmit a live 8K broadcast to the NHK Media Technology booth at the Inter BEE venue over an IP network. The Inter BEE booth will also feature the making of 8K3D content and an app for creating composite photographs with the NHK mascot.


NHK Media Technology
Headquarters: Kamiyama-cho 4-14, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 150-0047, Japan
URL: http://www.nhk-mt.co.jp/
Video and Broadcast Equipment Category/Hall 6/6405