Attendees at this year’s CEDIA Expo no doubt noticed the expanded presence of the 8K Association. While the association’s panel on Wednesday primarily dealt with the effect the emergence of 8K has on custom integration sector, Thursday’s panel was a discussion on the format’s content pipeline. “Understanding 8K Content and How It Influences the Viewing Experience” featured award-winning cameraman Bob Gorelick, BZBGEAR’s Eilbron Khoshabeh, and Ravi Velhal, director for global content strategy at Intel. The discussion was guided by Juan Reyes, director of operations at the 8K Association.
According to Khoshabeh, the format’s emergence has seen BZBGEAR pivot to providing transport solutions that support 8K. “Our goal is to by the end of this year have a 16×16 matrix switch that can be used in residential, commercial, broadcast, all distributing 8K content,” he said.
Emerging Technologies Aid Push for 8K Adoption
Velhal pointed his recent involvement with the broadcast of the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, which was broadcast in 8K to multiple countries for the first time. “We did the entire Olympics broadcast in 8K with very minimum latency,” said Velhal. “Live sports is the holy grail of 8K. Our whole job is to get the ecosystem ready so more content producers and system integrators can take this mission forward.”
Gorelick, who has worked behind the camera for smash films such as Pulp Fiction and The Dark Knight, expressed his excitement for what 8K can provide content creators. “On the end-user’s perspective, aside from all the great technical things that 8K gives us as creators, it presents content that is much more immersive to the viewer,” he explained. “We believe it leaves the viewer with a more lasting impression.”
The 8K Association has also unveiled an 18-page white paper that takes a closer look at the technology, science, content, and business strategies behind the 8K viewing experience. The 8K Association will be making the paper available, free of charge, to representatives across the industry.
