Move Over 1080p: Super Hi-Vision Packs 16 x As Many Pixels

You didn’t think 1080p was going to be the top of the heap for long, did you? After all, 1080 is a pretty low number when you really think about the infinite possibilities of 1-and-0 combinations. And us lazy, fattening Americans like us some sharp, crisp televisions to watch our Judge Judy and Monday night football on.

We’ve heard some early whispers about things like 4K x 2K, but here’s an even more densely constructed technology that recently got off the ground: Super Hi-Vision. Yeah, it’s not really as catchy as high definition, but it’s packing a lot more of pupil-tickling power: 7,680 x 4,320 pixels–16 x the tame 1,920 x 1,080 pixels offered by today’s “full” HD standard. The technology is sometimes called ultra high definition.

BBC and NHK just finished up a first U.K.-to-Japan test run for SHV, filming British rock band The Charlatans in the format. Of course, no televisions actually support  that many pixels, so those looking for their first taste of SHV would need a massive computer monitor with that many pixels. They’d also need a lightning-fast Internet connection supporting the 24 Gbps that the special was broadcast in.

NHK hopes to get Super Hi-Vision off the ground in time to be broadcast on large, public screens for the 2012 Olympics. The company hopes to get it  more mainstream by 2020. [via BBC and Dvice]