Immersive! 8K service makes the Beijing Winter Olympics more exciting

◎ Science and Technology Daily reporter Hualing

The tip of the mandarin duck's beak hangs crystalline beads of water, the lark claws hook the apricots on the branches, and the egret bends its long black legs into its wings to rest... On January 7, a reporter from Science and Technology Daily walked into the TV program production center of the 8K Ultra HD Experimental Channel of the Winter Olympics of Beijing Radio and Television Station, and a clearly visible and immersive 8K documentary was being played on a large colorful screen.

Photo by Fu Ding, a reporter from Beijing Youth Daily

Not long ago, Chen Jining, mayor of Beijing, pointed out that "8K ultra-high definition is the biggest technical highlight of this science and technology Winter Olympics." "So, compared with traditional high-definition TV channels, what is the advantage of 8K; how can we make the broadcast program ultra-high-definition; and how will it feel to watch the Winter Olympic games through 8K?"

On December 31, 2021, the country's first TV channel that provides 8K services to a wide range of audiences, the Beijing Radio and Television Station Winter Olympics Documentary 8K Ultra HD Test Channel, was officially launched, which will provide technical support for the all-round documentary coverage of the Beijing Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games.

According to industry insiders, the field of view of the image that we can capture with the naked eye is about 100 °, and through scientific calculations, when the height of the screen is about 0.75 times, it can approach the maximum image field of view. This requires 8K resolution to see more clearly, that is, 8K is by far the closest ultra-high-definition video technology to the real vision of the human eye.

Chen Xiang, member of the party group and deputy director of Beijing Radio and Television Station, introduced that compared with traditional high-definition TV channels, 8K TV programs will greatly enhance the viewing experience of the audience, reaching a 50 frame rate in the picture frame rate, with a resolution of 4 times that of 4K and 16 times the ultra-high-definition resolution of 7680 ×4320 in hd, which can form the best viewing distance and immersive viewing angle.

"The 8K picture is very clear from the center to the edge, and different people look at the same picture, but the viewpoint is different. When watching high-definition pictures before, everyone stared at one viewpoint, and 8K had no way to control the audience, and it was difficult to guide its line of sight, which gave the audience 8K multi-viewpoint viewing pleasure. In the production of the pre-shooting program, we fully retained all the viewable details in the picture, so that the audience could selectively watch it independently and find the highlights to feel the fun. Because the viewing characteristics of the human eye are bright, bright and real focus pictures, and the 8K picture has a large number of detailed viewing points that meet the above characteristics. Guo Haojun, technical director of the TV program production center, introduced.

It is understood that the establishment of the 8K ultra-high-definition test channel system includes pre-shooting, post-editing, special effects production, audio production, transmission link, integrated broadcast control, terminal display and other links. Among them, the color grading link in post-production is especially necessary and important to control the quality of 8K images.

In the ultra-high-definition studio, Guo Haojun pointed to the comparison between the original material and the finished color grading, saying: "In post-production, it is necessary to highlight the theme of the original picture and adjust some details and imperfections, such as the powder particles on the face of the program host, skin imperfections, etc., to bring a more beautiful feeling to the audience." Through the 8K review color grading system, the technicians perform color science matching, exposure and color temperature adjustment, black level adjustment, facial fill and softening, picture enhancement, subject light enhancement, hand skin tone adjustment, picture edge processing, stylized color grading including detail enhancement, etc. through the 8K review color grading system. ”

In response to the strategic concept of the state and Beijing Municipality on the development of the ultra-high-definition video industry, in April 2021, Beijing Radio and Television Station set up a special class for 8K projects, self-financing, and fully promoted the preparation of the Winter Olympics Documentary 8K Ultra-high-definition Experimental Channel. After nearly a year of efforts, Beijing Radio and Television Station has completed the three main tasks of core system construction, content production reserves and 8KApp research and development of the 8K project, formed more than 20 domestic independent knowledge achievements, produced more than 50 hours of 8K boutique programs, accumulated more than 100 hours of 8K materials, and successfully completed the preparation and broadcasting of the pilot channel. Especially in the case of the epidemic affecting live viewing, the high standards of the channel's opening meeting meet the requirements of the audience to watch the game online, better drive people's attention and integration into the Winter Olympics, and fully highlight the style of the "City of The Two Olympics".

Bi Jiang, director of the technical management department of Beijing Radio and Television Station, said that the future channel will take the broadcast of ultra-high-definition events of the Winter Olympics as an opportunity to continue to carry out research and application of ultra-high-definition and high-tech video technologies, and link urban outdoor large screens, demonstration community medium screens and personal terminal small screens to achieve cross-screen integrated communication in different scenarios. Promote the construction of 8K ultra-high-definition centralized control platform, urban outdoor 8K large screen, 8K demonstration community, and promote 13 service ice and snow events such as 5G cloud broadcast backpacks, AVS3 video reception technology, and multi-location real-time connection system, so as to achieve multi-terminal user experience and cross-screen integration and dissemination.

Source: Science and Technology Daily

Editor: Wang Yu

Review: Julie

Final Judge: Liu Haiying