Research on Human Factors in Ultrahigh-Definition Television (UHDTV) to Determine its Specifications

High-definition television (HDTV) has now completely entered the practical stage in many countries throughout the world. We can envision the future of broadcasting by looking back on the long history of HDTV from when it was first proposed to when it was deployed. Ultra high-definition television (UHDTV) is now being studied in Japan as the most promising candidate for next-generation television beyond HDTV. UHDTV consists of extremely high-resolution imagery and multichannel three-dimensional (3-D) sound to give viewers a stronger sensation of presence. Various aspects should be taken into account when determining UHDTV specifications. Of these, the authors believe that human factors, such as how we feel when viewing a video, are some of the most important aspects to be considered so that the system achieves the intended psychological effects. Several research projects have been carried out at NHK's (Japan Broadcasting Corp.) laboratory, in accordance with this idea. They include dependence of sensation of presence on visual angle, both subjective and objective; required angular resolution based on resolution discrimination threshold and sense of realness; negative effects of widescreen video (e.g., motion sickness); and dynamic visual acuity when viewing a wide-angle video. This paper describes the studies conducted on the human factors of UHDTV.