NHK plans for ultra-thin 8K displays

Japanese public broadcaster NHK has unveiled plans to develop a new ‘ultra-thin’ OLED-based 8K display technology at IBC.
NHK is showing a 1mm-thick lightweight OLED display on its stand which it said would ultimately be developed as a plastic rollable screen designed for consumers to pull down and watch 8K images in the home.

An NHK spokeswoman described large, ultra-thin lightweight displays as “the key to 8K in the home” with plans to offer the public pull-down 8K OLEDs, which differ from regular screens by being based on emissive organic light-emitting diode technology with light created by electrical current.

The plastic OLED technology is still in development, with the broadcaster showing 8K footage of this year’s Rio OIympics on a 130-inch display composed of 4×65-inch 4K ultra-thin glass OLED panels.

NHK has also fast-forwarded its plans for 8K broadcasting to 2018 with the PSB currently trialling 8K broadcasts via satellite between 10:00 and 17:00, available in NHK local bureaux, which are open to the public.