Quality of 8K Ultra-High-Definition Television Viewing Experience in Practical Viewing Conditions

In this study, we examine the psychological effects of 8K ultra-high-definition television (UHDTV) under daily TV viewing conditions. The design of 8K-UHDTV targets the realization of the “ultimate 2D image.” 8K-UHDTV is already being used practically and the audience have reported experiencing a feeling of reality and presence. However, the benefits offered by 8K for daily TV viewing and the degree to which the design goals have been achieved have not been sufficiently verified. Hence, in this study, we verify them by investigating the popular impressions evoked by familiar images and their modulation with the viewing distance through subjective evaluation experiments and statistical analysis. The obtained results indicate that the impressions are enhanced by increasing the resolution from 4K to 8K, even at viewing distances beyond the design viewing distance, which are conventionally considered less effective. Thus, they confirm that 8K provides strong impressions over a wide viewing range. Furthermore, the relationship between higher-order impressions, such as “being-there” and “reality,” and lower-order impressions is derived through multiple regression analysis. This provides insight into the enhancement of higher-order impressions in production and post-processing.