Inter BEE Special Interview Video Section Taro Kimura & Hideichi Tamegaya [Part3]

To the question, "What does the future hold for Inter BEE?" Tamegaya answers, "We must play our role in 'broadcasting' information to the international community." He wants the conferences and forums to discuss topics that relate to this role.


Kimura:
In the past, Microsoft created Web TV. It was an interesting idea, but the phone lines were too slow and it didn't succeed. Do you think that something like this can serve as a model for the future?

Tamegaya:
Well, as everything goes digital, we get all sorts of media crossover. The media overlap and evolve, as do the ways we use them, including the Internet. What starts out on a single medium can end up on many. So it's important when thinking about what content to create and how to use the media, not to just have one idea in your head, but to realize that it can develop into many different things. On exhibit at Inter BEE are a variety of systems aimed at all aspects of the media field, so I think if you look at many different displays rather than concentrating on your own field, you may be surprised to learn what kind of things are now possible.

Kimura:
As we finally get into streaming, do you think that a large proportion of the content will be the kind of material that hasn't been broadcast up till now?

Tamegaya:
I'm not entirely sure yet, but as regards streaming or downloading, I feel the outcome will be decided once we know more about how data storage is going to be used in the home, and what is going to happen with the copyright problem. Things which are needed in real-time will be streamed, and content which is high quality can be downloaded, stored on a computer and then played back. I think it comes down to using the media for their own merits, and technically the key will be speed - of the phone lines and of the networks.

Kimura:
We can now stream at 1 gigabyte, but are consumers looking for something like that? It's very important to find out how to bridge the gap between technology and demand. Right now there's of course the popular YouTube, and although I don't really think much of the content, somehow it is attracting millions of viewers.

Tamegaya:
Technically speaking, it's about how to use the quality offered by the various media. Sometimes, if you try to put high-resolution video on the Internet, the picture breaks up. But if someone wants to deliver high-quality videos, I think the technology will evolve to make that happen. At the moment, data compression technology is improving and it has even become possible to deliver HD quality using a low bit rate. In other words, convenience is something we must think about with the developers, keeping in mind why the users need it.

Kimura:
When there was that train explosion in North Korea, a scrum of Japanese TV journalists gathered at the border with China, but they had no way of sending their footage. Only one station was able to receive video, which was very bad quality. It was encoded at 10 frames per second and sent via the Internet using a low-quality Chinese phone line. I had expected to see this sort of thing, but now there are quite a lot of cameramen who encode their footage on-site and then send it off. We've come to the point where someone can be carrying a camera and talking live while transmitting from a mobile phone. It's not an easy life for broadcasters! [laughs]

Tamegaya:
You're absolutely right. People can now do that. There are even cameras equipped with an interface for Internet connection, and it's now possible to broadcast by simply "plugging in". However, what and how things are communicated is more important than ever, and, picture quality aside, I think the focus will be more on program content.

Kimura:
It reminds me of the old press cameras. In the past, newspaper companies used a large camera called the Speed Graphic. It was during the Korean War that professionals started using consumer cameras like Canon and Nikon, and I believe that changed the profession of the cameraman. Now there are digital cameras and even cameras on mobile phones, and pictures taken with these are popping up on TV. That's the age we live in. It seems that as the hardware shifts from professional to consumer use, the nature of our job is also changing.

Tamegaya:
Now that it's normal for anyone to take photos and videos, the performance of the cameras has improved to the point where professionals can use them. In a sense, I feel this is a good development as we are learning to make the best use of each device, according to our purposes.

Kimura:
Companies selling high-end products find themselves having to create products of ever higher quality, one after another. What do you think their future is?

Tamegaya:
NHK is developing a new video technology called Super High-Vision which has ultra-high definition, 4000 scanning lines. The reason they are working on this is because the researchers are highly motivated. They're excited by the different components needed to make this possible - the basic technologies, camera sensitivity, high-resolution devices, and improvements in high-performance semiconductor circuitry. When they succeed, it will have a ripple effect, improving even the quality of consumer camcorders, as we have seen with the HDV camera. If there's no goal set, at some random point people would just shrug and say "Well, that's good enough.' Engineers and developers need to strive to reach these high goals. Then we can all think about what the technology is needed for. It serves as an inspiration for everyone.

Kimura:
I would never have thought that an HD camera with 1125 lines would become available as a consumer product. And now there might even be a camera with 4000 lines for consumers? [laughs] What will we do next? [laughs] Watching TV has been like looking at the world through a window, but if such high-definition products come on the market, we'll have all we need for creating virtual reality in the living room.

Tamegaya:
A good example is video conferencing. It was touted as the latest thing, but because of the small displays it didn't take off. Now, in the US, they are working on life-size displays using HD monitors, as this makes a video conference more like a real meeting. Teleconferencing is similarly changing, thanks to the availability of high-quality media.

Kimura:
I once researched the origins of CinemaScope. The inventor was an engineer at Kodak who found a way to project a 3D image by using multiple movie projectors, and he demonstrated it at the 1931 New York World Fair. What he next used it for was warfare. He created a sort of virtual reality using this technology, and when used for training soldiers in the use of firearms it dramatically increased their accuracy. I don't mean to promote military applications, but this made me realize that new technology has other uses apart from entertainment.

Tamegaya:
I was involved in the plan to put an HD camera on the space shuttle. In a sense, it was just an engineer's romantic dream to go into space and look at the world in high definition. The camera that was used was an ordinary HD camera for broadcasting. Although it was only an off-the-shelf model, it was fine for using in space; in other words, it was that reliable and safe. And pictures from space can sometimes lead to a new discovery. Photographic data gathered from NASA's Mars Project have been converted to HDTV, and even into 3D images. Scientists look at these and make new discoveries. It's possible to see things now which we couldn't before. This is an example where high resolution is being used effectively. HD is also being used in the medical field. Cameras with even higher resolutions are being developed using Super-HARP HD technology, and this is being applied to things like x-ray diagnostics. Putting high sensitivity and high resolution to use is not something limited to the broadcasting industry; all industries have a potential stake in this. I believe this point is important.

Kimura:
So, I'm sure Inter BEE is a hub for many new possibilities, but what do you think of its future?

Tamegaya:
As it's an international broadcasting equipment exhibition, I think it has a role in "broadcasting" information to the international community. We must continue to actively provide information, especially to the people of Asia. Whether it's at NAB in the US or at other broadcasting-related exhibitions around the world, Japanese manufacturers are at the center of things. However, I think that we are not doing enough to provide information from Japan. Also, to attract foreigners to Inter BEE, exhibits are not enough: we must hold conferences and forums, which I would like to see discuss topics that relate to this role of providing information. To draw large crowds of visitors from abroad, I believe it's most important that we now make efforts to broadcast information from Japan, so that they can get a deeper understanding of this country. [End]