The adoption of 8K in the media industry could be under threat from stricter energy requirements within the European Union.

From March, the EU is setting new energy consumption regulations which could mean leading 8K TV manufacturers would face serious restrictions on any new TV sets.

The 8K Association warned the new law could have a “very chilling effect on all players working to develop the 8K ecosystem”. The European Union’s energy efficiency index (EEI) is calculated based on the screen area and power consumption of a TV set.

In March 2019, the EEI for 8K (more than UHD) resolution and microLED-based displays was defined, setting a March 1, 2023 date for compliance. These devices will be required to consume the same power as UHD (4K) resolution devices.

“We have confirmed that no current 8K TVs can meet this level of power efficiency and will therefore be banned from selling into the EU market,” said the association.

The 8K Association is calling for the EU to review its specifications in order to allow for data based on products currently in the market as well as how technology is likely to address the reduction of power going forward.

“No 8K TVs can pass this EEI level and so will be banned for sale in the EU,” added the association. “This will impact TV makers and their supply partners as well as integrators in the EU’s professional and consumer markets.

“The inability to sell new technology products in a substantial part of the global market also disrupts the typical development cycle,” it added. “New technology needs to be introduced at higher prices to recoup the investment to achieve these improved results and continue development (including reducing power consumption) and lower overall costs. This cycle means these improvements eventually spread down the product line and become standard features over time. This regulation is not helpful to this cycle.”

More details of the 8K Association’s thoughts on the regulations are available here.

This article originally appeared on TVBEurope.

LiveU has increased its collaboration with leading European partners on 5G Infrastructure Public Private Partnership (PPP) projects, testing and validating content contribution and media production use cases over advanced 5G Release 16 testbeds. The projects’ goals are to provide the broadcast community and other verticals with insights into 5G performance in real-world scenarios. The projects are funded by Horizon 2020, the biggest EU Research and Innovation program.

LiveU is a technology and use case partner in 5G Tours and in 5G Solutions, where it also serves as the leader of the Leaving Lab project media working group. Both projects test and analyze 5G performance KPIs, including media use cases related to LiveU 5G bonding technology. Participants include some of the largest cellular operators and cellular equipment manufacturers, broadcasters, non-media verticals partners, as well as AI and other technology partners and researchers and academics.

The core 5G technologies being validated include network slicing, New Radio (NR), low latency, edge/cloud computing, SDN/VNF, service orchestration and more, bringing the 5G vision closer to realization. As part of these tests, LiveU’s field units are being used in live events, for example, the Turin festival where orchestral music in auditorium will be synchronized live with street players (5G-Tours) and the Patras festival where multiple cameras will be transmitted from a crowded street (5G-Solutions).

Baruch Altman, AVP Technologies and Projects, LiveU, said, “We’re delighted to be collaborating with some of the leading players in the European cellular and media ecosystem in these important 5G projects, contributing our industry-leading technology and real-world cellular and broadcast experience. Emerging 5G networks offer exciting opportunities for smart cellular bonding. The lessons learned from these 5G validation trials will be used in our products and bring immediate advantages to our customers. There’s no doubt that cellular bonding will continue to play an important role in live broadcasts as the wider deployment of 5G networks results in greater commercial use.”

The 5G-Solutions ICT-19 RIA project “5G Solutions for European Citizens” aims to prove and validate that 5G provides prominent industry verticals with ubiquitous access to a wide range of forward-looking services with orders of magnitude of improvement over 4G, thus bringing the 5G vision closer to realization. The project provides validation of more than 140 KPIs for 20 innovative and heterogeneous use cases that require 5G performance capabilities and that are expected to have a high future commercialization potential. (EU’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program grant no. 856691).

The 5G-Tours ICT-19 RIA project “SmarT mObility, media and e-health for toURists and citizenS” involves advanced 5G validation trials across multiple vertical industries, deploying full end-to-end trials to bring 5G to real users for thirteen representative use cases. The project will provide efficient and reliable close-to-commercial services for tourists, citizens and patients in three different types of cities: Rennes, Turin and Athens. (EU’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program grant no. 856950).

LiveU was previously involved in the 5G-XCast project, completed last year. The two-year collaborative project focused on devising, assessing and demonstrating a conceptually novel and forward-looking 5G network architecture for large scale immersive media delivery. LiveU’s wireless high-speed mobile broadband technology, Databridge, was used to enable the convergence of fixed and cellular networks. (EU Horizon 2020 research and innovation program grant no 761498).

LUXEMBOURG—In a move that was similar to what happened between U.S. broadcasters and Aereo, the Court of Justice of the European Union ruled on Wednesday, Nov. 29, that copies of off-air broadcasts stored in the cloud for later online access by subscribers are public performances and require the permission of the copyright holders.

To find out more, read the full story on TVT’s sister publication B&C.