NAB2006: Super Hi-Vision to Dazzle in Central Hall

NHK plans to demo its Super Hi-Vision (SHV) system at NAB2006 in a specially constructed theater in the Central Hall of the LVCC. Now under development by NHK Science and Technical Research Laboratories in Japan, SHV reportedly holds four times the vertical and horizontal resolution of 1080i or 720p and more than twice the resolution of 70mm film. According to NAB engineers, while SHV was originally announced as a research project, it has now moved out of the laboratory stage.

SHV allows a viewing distance from the screen of less than one picture height, and has a viewing angle of 100 degrees. The format encompasses 4,320 lines, 7,680 pixels per line, and FPS of 59.94 (progressive). The aspect ratio remains 16:9. SHV was recently demonstrated at the World Exposition in Aichi, Japan -- with an accompanying 22.2 multi-channel audio system.

In an NAB2006 session on "Emerging Technologies for Television" on April 26 at the Broadcast Engineering Conference, NHK will present a paper on future initiatives to transform SHV into a usable broadcast system. NHK eventually hopes to launch SHV as a standard for consumers, although there will be a wait: As of today, the planned launch year is 2025.

This demo is not to be confused with another planned NHK demo featuring 3-D Hi-Vision using plain old 1080i, to be held elsewhere on the exhibit floor.