4K might be the “next big thing” in TV, but that’s not enough for the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) who has criticised television manufacturers for pursuing higher resolutions at the expense of equally important technologies like audio, colour and dynamic range.
The EBU released a very stern-sounding policy statement this month, saying that the current trend of TV makers only focusing on 4K resolution as far as ultra high-definition (UHD) is concerned could undermine the success of future broadcast services.
Instead of pushing for higher resolution alone, the EBU wants manufacturers to dedicate at least some of their resources towards the development of higher image frame rate (HFR), higher image dynamic range (HDR), wider colour gamut (WCG) and enhanced audio technologies. It even argues for the development of “an enhanced 1080p” to take into account certain 4K parameters like a wider range of colours, extended dynamic range and higher frame rates, without actually embracing higher resolution.
It sounds as if the EBU doesn’t like 4K at all, although that’s not really the case. But it makes a valid point that certain broadband services, including Amazon, Netflix and YouTube are almost ready to achieve some of these parameters, while the broadcast industry lags behind. It cites the example of Dolby Vision, which is able to increase the dynamic range in encoded video. The technology has existed for some time but there are still no guidelines on how to integrate it with new broadcasting technologies.
The organisation also makes the point that Japan seems to be ignoring 4K altogether and speeding headlong towards 8K “Super Hi-Vision”, and wonders how this might affect the rest of the world when it goes operational by the end of the decade.
We’re inclined to think the EBU has made some valid points. For one thing, standard HDTV broadcasts could definitely be better than what they are, so an “enhanced 1080p” would certainly be most welcome. HDR is also something we’d like to see more of, as it really does help to make pictures look that much more realistic.
Still, it remains to be seen if anyone the consumer tech industry will actually listen to the EBU. Even if they do, it would likely take several years for them to develop and make guidelines for all these new enhancements.
The EBU has made a somewhat unusual request not to quote anything from its document directly, but a PDF file of its statement can be seen at this link.
Some sense at last. We never got to the end of PAL, let alone 1080p. I would rather see 1080p wrung dry before moving on to 2160p, but it’s not going to happen, is it? 1080p has a lot more to give…
I am very happy with the development and too much happy with the resolution madness. It was sad that manufacturers and also content creators are only favoring higher resolution and no one is talking about wider color, better refresh frame rates and smooth motion.. Today’s movies and shows are recorded in 1080p or 4k but with only 30fps… Its like driving a Ferrari with a speed limit of 50kmpl..
It does makes a lot of sense on concentrating and focusing on 120fps or 120hz refresh rates video as it will improve our experience drastically and also bring in wider color space for better viewing experience.. I am really sick of motion seen in most of the videos.. All tv today come with atleast 60fps if not 30 then still why are we stuck with 30 and 25fps?
“The EBU has made a somewhat unusual request not to quote anything from its document directly.”
Not unusual, they wanted to prevent ruthless “journalists” from altering the facts. It happens hundreds of time, every day. Yet Mike, you shamelessly quote and “interpret” multiple parts of the document anyway, in this article.
I agree with Ruzveh, I’m particularly excited to see 60 or 120fps someday in the future. And I think growing the resolution makes the circa 1920 24fps judder even more atrocious/unbearable. I think 1080p needs at least 60fps and 4K at least 120fps. Of course that makes the cost grow exponentially instead of linearly, it won’t be easy.
I’ve read the whole PDF (it’s pretty short) and I love every part of it. I never expected such an organization to be so clear about what’s being done wrong, how to do it right and urging its members to lobby for it. In particular, I loved how they ask for an improved 1080p broadcasting, which is basically the opposite of what the CE industry is doing but in line with what most of us believe: we need better gamut, better color, a higher bit-depth, a higher frame rate and better sound rather than increasing the pixel count.