LONDON—The Rio 2016 Olympic Games are to be covered in 8K, with footage also captured for Virtual Reality (VR) users.
Parts of the Games will be covered in 8K for Japan, whilst 4K versions will be created for testing and comparison purposes.
Beamed from Brazil to Japan, the 8k versions will include what has been described by Olympic Broadcasting Services (OBS) as “3D 22.2 channel audio surround sound”.
In total, around 130 hours of 8K footage will be viewed in Japan, which will include live coverage of the opening and closing ceremonies.
Coverage of 2012 Olympics in London
For the first time, VR footage will be captured at the Olympics. Using a compatible headset, viewers will be “virtually transported to the heart of the Olympic action with VR coverage including the Opening and Closing Ceremonies and one key event per day,” stated the broadcaster.
The content will also be downloadable as VoD material, allowing VR highlights to be viewable without the need for VR headsets.
OBS, which hopes to conduct experiments with Wider Colour Gamut ad High Dynamic Range technologies at the Games, will also capture footage events in 4K, which will be down-converted from the 8K signals. It is, however, unlikely that the 4K signals will be shown to consumers.
This story first appeared on Advanced Television.
