The Ongoing Evolution of Broadcast Technology

The media environment of program production, content delivery, and viewing has been changing because of progress in broadcasting and communication technologies and other technologies like IoT, cloud computing, and artificial intelligence (AI). In December 2018, 8K and 4K UHDTV satellite broadcasting will start in Japan, which means that viewers will soon be able to enjoy 8K and 4K programs featuring a wide color gamut and high dynamic range characteristics together with 22.2 multi-channel audio at home. Meanwhile, distribution services for sending content to PCs and smartphones through the Internet have rapidly been spreading and the introduction of the next generation of mobile networks (5G) will accelerate their spread. The coming of such advanced broadcast and broadband technologies and consequent changes in lifestyle will provide broadcasters with a great opportunity for a new stage of development. At NHK Science & Technology Research Laboratories (NHK STRL), we are pursuing a wide range of research with the aim of creating new broadcast services that can provide viewing experiences never before imagined and user experiences more attuned to daily life. To enhance the convenience of television and the value of TV programming, we are developing technology for connecting the TV experience with various activities in everyday life. Extensions to "Hybridcast Connect" will drive applications that link TVs, smartphones, and IoT. They will enable spontaneous consumption of content during everyday activities through various devices around the user. Establishing a new program production workflow with AI, which we call "Smart Production", is one of our most important research topics. We are developing speech and face recognition technologies for making closed captions and metadata efficiently, as well as technologies for automatically converting content into computer-generated sign language, audio descriptions, and simplified Japanese. This presentation introduces these research achievements targeting 2020 and beyond, as well as other broadcasting technology trends including 4K8K UHDTV broadcasting in Japan, 3D imaging, and VR/AR.