Just before lunch we were invited to a demo of Super Hi Vision over at the Television Centre here at the BBC. Somehow I’d managed not to pay attention to this new format. Now I’ll never forget it. It was absolutely amazing.
Super Hi Vision is a digital video format which delivers pictures that are of 16 times higher quality than normal HD TV. It’s currently being experimented with by NHK (leading it) and organisations like the BBC who are planning on using it for next years Olympics.
The demo we went to started out by showing us an image as we would have seen it on a standard definition TV (SD). Then showed us the same image in high definition TV (HD) to then reveal the image in Super High Vision (SHV or UHD). The difference is remarkable and the image at the start of this post gives an idea of how much higher the SHV resolution is.
Image from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultra_High_Definition_Television
When will it be available?
The BBC will be showing the Olympics next year on Super Hi Vision in three locations across the UK, but unfortunately it looks like Super Hi TVs in our homes won’t be available until 2022.
What will it mean?
A completely different viewing experience.
The demo we went to was just a short one but each one of use came out absolutely stunned by the clarity and detail in the image. We did not want to leave. The first footage was of the area around TVC on a grey and gloomy day. The second footage was of the last launch of Endavour on 16 May this year in Florida. The final footage were from football games in South America. What the three of them had in common was that with each one it felt like we were there.
The friendly man talking us through the demo told us of how Super Hi is filmed differently than normal HD TV. The focus is on the broader picture rather than zooming in, resulting in that the way you watch resembles that of being there in person. During the football clips our eyes didn’t stay on the ball and the players but wondered over into the audience, the edge of and the landscape behind the stadium. Just as they would have had we been there in person at the actual game.
And that is my take on Super Hi. The experience is immersive and it feels real. You’re no longer watching TV. You’re there and with the sound systems that were in place at the demo the only thing that was missing was the smells. But who knows, by the time it’s out perhaps we’ve figured out a way of bringing them into the picture as well.
