NHK tests 8K wireless device at snow festival

Visitors to this year’s annual Sapporo Snow Festival in Japan also get the chance to see live public screenings of wireless-delivered 8K broadcasts.

Japan’s public broadcaster NHK is hosting at its facilities in Hokkaido free 8K public viewings of the 66th Sapporo Snow Festival and special footage including the Sochi Winter Olympics.

The Sapporo Snow Festival is one of the biggest winter events in Japan, when two million visitors flock to the city to see more than two hundred snow and ice sculptures in the park along the main street.

Works of ice art lining the Odori Site will be shown on an 8K experimental live relay utilising a wireless 8K transmission device developed by NHK and scheduled for test broadcasting in 2016.

The Sapporo Snow Festival viewing will be on an 85-inch (216cm) display while the Special Contents Screening – including the Sochi Olympics and NHK programs – will be on a 135-inch (343cm) display.