HDMI 2.1 specification was released late last year with the main benefit being the support of 8K videos at up to 120 Hz, and a small downside with the requirement for new 48G cables. Samsung Q900R is one of the first 8K TV on the market, but according to the product page HDMI 2.1 is not supported just yet:
Will provide complimentary upgrade for HDMI 2.1 support when available. Please contact customer support for more details
So it looks like the Quantum Processor 8K processor found in the TV will be firmware upgradable to support HDMI 2.1. Anyway for 8K video equipment to be useful we’ll need video equipment to support HDMI 2.1 Tx & Rx, and SocioNext has launched what it claims are the first HDMI 2.1 compliant video processor ICs with their HV5 series.
The processor family comes with HDMI Tx and Rx with two main series:
- Interface Bridge Chip SC1H05AC Series
This family includes two processor that enable transmission of 8K video with built-in HDMI 2.1 Tx:
- SC1H05AC01 with 4x HDMI 2.0 inputs
- SC1H05AC02 with 4x V-by-One inputs.
The bridge chips allow 8K output over HDMI 2.1 using multiple inputs from legacy interfaces like HDMI 2.0 and V-by-One. In other words they take four 4K video inputs and output the result to 8K over a single HDMI 2.1 (48G) cable.
- 8K TV Video Processing Chip SC1H05AT1
SC1H05AT1 is optimized for the use in 8K TVs with support for the Advanced BS 8K Broadcasting scheduled to start in Japan later this year. It is equipped with HDMI 2.1 Rx ports to play 8K video content from external sources.
The processors’s up-scaler functionality and Socionext’s proprietary high picture quality technology enable the playback of Full HD (2K) or 4K video content on 8K panels with optimal quality.
SC1H05AT1 key features:
- Input Interface – 5x V-By-One HS 4 Lane; 1x HDMI 2.1 / HDCP 2.3
- Output Interface – 8x V-By-One HS 8 Lane
- Image Processing – 8K Up-Scaler, Super-resolution (8K PLUS), HDR, MEMC frame rate exchange, Local Dimming Control
- Memory I/F – 3x ch 32-bit DDR4-2400/2667MHz
Socionext is currently showcasing HV5 series at CEATEC Japan 2018, and shipping for HV5 video processing chips is slated for March 2019.
Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011.
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It is okay coming out with 8K displays but how long till there is a big market.? America is only just rolling out 4K over Aerial.
So are we talking sat or cable, fibre broadband. Many markets are not even 4K yet.
I guess DVB is dead above 1080p anything higher is VoIP, V in this case standing for video… Or was it called IPTV?
It’ll be DVB-T/C/S3 or something like that next using HEVC or some similar codec. That’s why we’re getting more and more advanced codecs, so we can push higher resolution down the same bandwidth pipes as we’ve used for previous generation of resolutions.
“It’ll be DVB-T/C/S3” From what I understood, DVB-{C,S,T}2 was so close to the Shannon limit that a significantly more efficient modulation technique is not possible. The encoding method (codec) MPEG-2 -> MPEG-4 -> HEVC -> ???next??? is where the gain for carrying more data for higher resolution can still be made but obviously requires increasingly more powerful (and faster to be usuable for “live” material) processors in the encoding device as well as in the decoding device. The other possibility of course is increased bandwidth usage which for over-the-air requires more of the increasingly scarce frequency spectrum for which there… Read more »
NHK’s broadcasts will be satellite only right now and limited to one channel, but they’re working on OTA (they’ve had working prototypes since 2012). Standards for UHDTV can be found here, NHK is using HEVC (H.265). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultra-high-definition_television#Status_of_standardization_of_UHDTV Specific details of NHK’s implementation are here (Japanese only): https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%82%B9%E3%83%BC%E3%83%91%E3%83%BC%E3%83%8F%E3%82%A4%E3%83%93%E3%82%B8%E3%83%A7%E3%83%B3 What makes it even more impressive (and expensive) is the standard calls for a 120Hz refresh rate because flicker is noticeable on 8K even at 60Hz. The Sharp 80V 8K has been on display for a while and it’s _gorgeous_ (until you realize you can buy a decent used car for the same… Read more »
AV1 is next, an open codec, royalty-free. But no hardware implementation yet.
Japan is going to broadcast the Olympics next year in 8K, so better get that new shiny TV to get in on the action…
I will stick with my 1080p set for the time being, as I can barely get live 1080 content where I live.
I count myself lucky when I get 720p so understand.
The difference between 4k and 8k is only noticable to the human eye if you have a large display (or if you are standing quite close, but then you can’t see the whole screen).
Here’s a good article on viewing distance:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/kevinmurnane/2017/10/26/upgrading-to-4k-hdr-tv-how-far-you-sit-from-the-screen-is-critical/#165ae5ea1801
I don’t really agree with this. Different people have different eyesight and see things differently. Obviously I can’t say with regards to 8K, as I haven’t seen any 8K screens, but I use a 4K screen for my computer and it makes huge sense to me for that, but not for a TV, not because I wouldn’t like to have a higher resolution TV, but simply because the content we get today is being upscaled, which makes it looks like a turd.
Arc-resolution limits of human vision is a fact, though. While one might find 4K displays suitable for monitors, very few people watch TV from the same distance they watch desktop monitors.
Mobile devices are most susceptible of linear res (aka PPI), as they are watched from the most advantageous conditions to human vision.
Conversely, 46″ 4K TV at a 4m view distance is already as close to human arc-resolution limits as most would care to get. That considering that human vision can be extremely sensitive — rods can detect as little as individual photons.. in complete darkness ; )
Please Jean-Luc HELP ME! help me to fight stupidity, there are no such thing as 8K… Is 16K, if you dont belive me, I got the numbers for YOU! 1.- “8K”(16K) is 7680 × 4320 1.1.- So you multiply vertical by horizontal resolution: 7680 × 4320 = 33177600 2.- And you divide that number by the number 16: 33177600 / 16 = 2073600 3.- Then you divide again this number by 1080: 2073600 / 1080 = 1920 3.1.- Or you mutiply 1920 by 1080 and: 1920 × 1080 = 2073600 Meaning that 1080p is a sixteenth of “8K” so is… Read more »
Contrary to cameras where they use the actual pixel numbers (e.g. 12 MP), for display / image resolution naming they’ve been using the horizontal resolution 3840 / 4096 pixels = 4K, 7680 / 8192 pixels = 8K. That’s a recent change as in the past they used vertical resolution like 480i/576p, 720p, 1080p, and sometimes we still see 2160p.
You see the original 1080 is 1k because it was going to be the first to have a vertical resolution larger than 1000 pixels, that is the reason 4k was called well… 4k, four times the resolution of 1080.