Beyond 4K: Can We Actually Tell Stories in Motion Pictures and Television in 8K?

Although the full-scale implementation of 4K (ultrahigh-definition) is not yet achieved, demos showcasing 8K (Super Hi-Vision) have already been introduced at major industry conferences and trade shows. While it is a part of the strategic plan of some public and private parties, and already standardized (ITU-R BT.2020, SMPTE ST 2036–1, ARIB STD-B56), the question of the value of 8K (or, more precisely, 7680 pixels) as a storytelling tool deserves further consideration. In this paper, we analyze the relative worth of achieving such a resolution through the lens (pardon the pun) of the cinematic language, as it has been defined over the past 120 years. From a technical perspective, the resolving capacity of the human eye, proxemics (the science of interpersonal distances) and dynamic resolution (motion) are applied to cinematic conventions to determine whether this increase in spatial resolution yields an improvement in viewer experience. The paper demonstrates that there are very few cinematic shots that actually benefit from 8K. In most cases, framing conventions would need to be drastically widened, and motion reduced to almost nothing, defeating the purpose of motion pictures. In the opinion of the writer, progress in sensor technology, bandwidth, and compression would be more effectively leveraged in the delivery of better pixels, instead of more pixels. The author describes several avenues that could be explored using this philosophy, i.e., the use of ultrahigh frame rates (240 Hz), lesser compression, higher dynamic range, and more immersive media.