The New York Yankees remain on the cutting edge of whatever they do ... or at least they try to be.
The Yankees' July 17 home game against the Mariners will mark the first time in Major League Baseball history that a game is shot using 8K ultra-high def technology. According to Forbes, Japanese broadcaster NHK will strategically place six 8K cameras throughout Yankee Stadium to record the first-ever baseball game using such ultra-high definition.
Although the game won't be broadcast in that format for fans to see, members of the media will get an opportunity to view the game in a special 8K-outfitted suite in Yankee Stadium during the game (and the media complains about not getting enough exclusives).
An ultra-high def television offers viewers a 16-times higher resolution than current HDTV. According to Forbes, NHK is working diligently to develop 8K technology to the point that it has given itself a deadline of delivering it by the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.
The envelope is being pushed so hard that there's even a chance of 8K jumping over 4K altogether. Imagine that.
"It took two decades to take hi-def from the lab to public demos," said Dr. Keiichi Kubota, NHK's Executive DG of Engineering, in another report about the technology. "We've made the same progress with Super Hi-Vision in half the time. Our experts have set a target date of 2020 for experimental broadcasts, but there's the possibility of bringing this forward. We want to begin as soon as possible."
The ultra-high definition format boasts about viewers experiencing rather than simply watching. Let's see what no-nonsense New York media thinks about that, while watching, err, experiencing the Yankees and Mariners in 8K.
