Space the final frontier for 4K filming

Ultra-hi definition vision broke free of earth when a Japanese astronaut shot the first 4K footage from space. The footage was beamed back live to earth for a special program on NHK. 

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Koichi Wakata on the International Space Station (ISS), successfully captured the comet ISON and aurora using the supersensitive ultra-high definition technology.

Wakata captured the comet using the 4K camera on 23 November 2013 about 420km above Ontario, Canada, from where he had a peerless view without atmospheric fluctuations of comet ISON rising from its tail.

“I was surprised by the beauty and clarity of views on the monitor when I was taking 4K images of the comet ISON and the aurora,” Wakata said. “From the ISS, you can see the depth of star-filled space in 3D perspective, and you can feel just how enormous space is.”

The cutting-edge 4K camera has four times more pixels than current Hi-Vision (HDTV) cameras. It also has more than eight times greater sensitivity than conventional equipment and was specially redesigned for shooting the comet.