The Ultra HD Forum has issued a statement on the buzz surrounding 8K TV. It says that while 8K resolution is undoubtedly an exciting technology, the association is squarely focussed on 4K for now.
The Forum is a global organisation that defines industry best practices for the introduction of technologies to facilitate UHD viewing. Its message? Hold your horses on 8K, for now at least.
"8K specifies only a resolution, so as far as the UHD Forum is concerned, it is just another value for the resolution parameter of UHD – just like Frame Rate, which, for example, can be 50, 60, 100 or 120," it says. "Furthermore, 8K is already clearly defined within ITU-R’s UHD-2 specification."
It acknowledges 8K TV as "a promising future technology" and plans to include it in its future guidelines (which help industry peeps navigate the choppy UHD waters). It made no mention of the tech when it revised its guidelines last week.
The Forum was prompted to issue the statement following the hype already building around 8K. Japanese broadcaster NHK started commercially transmitting an 8K channel at the end of last year. It will also air next year's Tokyo Olympics will be in 8K.
