The dramatic on-field action at the Emirates Stadium which a last-minute winner for Olympiacos in the round of 32 Europa League match against Arsenal heralded a new dawn for UK sports TV in the form of the UK’s first public live 8K sports broadcast.
The football production was a collaboration between BT Sport which had an outside IP-based broadcast set up, delivered to Samsung QLED 8K TVs. Samsung said that the showcase offered a glimpse into the future of entertainment technology, providing an unprecedented viewing experience. The coverage provided resolution that is four times that of 4K, with a total of 33 million pixels supported by the HDR10+ standard.
Additional partners who supported the live 8K trial included Fujinon (8K lenses (HP7.5x8.5 & HP11x22.5) and BT Sport preferred 4K lens partner); Socionext (s8-c21 Quad HDMI 2.0 to HDMI 2.1a converter); BlackMagic Design (Quad 12GB SDI to HDMI converter); Leader (Leader 8K LV5900 waveform monitor); Beamr (Beamr 5 8K HEVC encoder); Telegenic (BT Sport OB partner).
“For 50 years Samsung has pioneered the TV category; from the launch of the World’s first digital colour TV in 1998, the world's thinnest TV in 2002, the first double-sided LCD screen in 2006 and then one of our biggest advancements to date; the first company to bring 8K TVs to the UK in 2018,” said Dan Hastings, director of TV and AV at Samsung UK. “We have shown that we never rest when it comes to pursuing meaningful innovations that could supercharge the way people consume content. It is great that we can add showing the first 8K broadcast to that list with BT Sport in 2020.”
Added BT Sport chief operating officer Jamie Hindhaugh: “BT Sport has a rich history of leading the industry with broadcast innovation to provide our customers the best viewing experience in the UK. Whether it’s last season’s launch of the world’s first regular high dynamic range service, BT Sport Ultimate, or, our world-leading remote production activity we’re constantly working to provide the best possible experience. Today’s broadcast in partnership with Samsung continues BT’s mission to take our viewers to the heart of sport and serve them the ultimate viewing experience.”
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