Japan To Being 4K TV Broadcast Services In 2014

Japan has been at the forefront of technological innovation for many years, but in the past few years we are seeing the one time technology leader losing its edge to others, specially to the United States. Japanese tech giants such as Sony, Panasonic and Sharp, which at one point of time had their name attached to almost every new gadget that entered the global market are now slowly losing their touch. Meanwhile, companies like Google, Amazon, Apple from the U.S increasingly see themselves at the top of the ladder in terms of popularity among consumers.

However, we cannot totally rule out the technological might of the Japanese and their willingness to adopt newer technologies. Japan still remains one of the few countries where the majority of its population has access to the latest technology. This is in a large part due to the Japanese government itself, which has always stood beside the country’s tech majors, always willing to extend a helping hand to make sure they achieve success.

This very attitude is reflected clearly in the latest decision taken up by the Japanese Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications. The latest trend to hit the field of television display technology is 4K, an image resolution jump from the 1080p full HD, which offers twice the resolution. At the forefront of this technology are the some of Japan’s largest tech companies, Sony and Panasonic, which have recently launched a tide of 4K resolution products, including television sets, home theater projectors, 4K video players and set-top boxes and even a tablet!

The only thing stopping these products from gaining popularity is the acute lack of 4K content. While Sony has the unique capability to use its money to develop 4K content through its Sony Pictures division, for a 4K TV to gain widespread acceptance what it needs is regular 4K content.
This is where the Japanese govt comes in. The govt had earlier decided to begin 4K TV broadcast service by 2016, initially through communications satellites and eventually through satellite broadcasting and ground digital broadcasting. It has now been reported that the plan has actually been preponed – by almost two years. 4K TV services are said to now begin from July 2014, in time for the 2014 FIFA world cup final match.
And by 2016 the plan at present is to launch test broadcast of 8K TV content, which will run on super high-definition 8K TVs which are under development in Japan.

Source studentnewsie.com