Ultra High Definition

Introduction

Ultra high definition technology has become a standard within the last few years, explored not only within the broadcast trade but also, more recently within the education and research industry. There has been an emerging interest, with its role yet to be defined within the education and research community.

Ultra high definition technologies such as ‘4K’ and more recently ‘8K’ have superior pixel resolution than standard high definition. 4K is approximately 4,096 x 2,160 pixel resolution (for digital cinema) compared to 1,920 x 1,080, which is the highest resolution display currently available for standard high definition.

As a result of researching into emerging technologies, JANET(UK) has discovered and joined the CineGrid organisation, a non-profit membership organisation, which was created to promote research, development and deployment of high quality audio and visual over advanced networks throughout the world.

JANET(UK) intends to research into the technolongy with an aim to discover more about the ultra high definition, including how it best suits the needs of the JANET community. We aim to explore and understand the technology, equipment and how it works on JANET.

The ultimate intention is to understand the next steps, bringing knowledge gained from this project, to allow JANET to use the technology to help the community. We also anticipate using the project to demonstrate ultra high definition technology.

Ultra High Definition Video Project

The Ultra High Definition Video Project will be used to explore ultra high bandwidth video, graphics and audio over the high capacity Lightpath infrastructure.

A Call for Interest was released earlier this year, which resulted in successful applicants being invited to a workshop to discuss ultra high definition technology and to discover other potential UK universities involvement in the area. The workshop proved to be very successful and useful to all those involved.

JANET(UK) have set up the Ultra High Definition Special Interest Group (UHDSIG), which consists of representatives from across the community, who are using or interested in using ultra high definition technology. This group is helping JANET(UK) towards better understanding of how this technology could be used across the sectors.

For more information, please contact Emma Smith.