HiSilicon Partners with CCTV to Pilot 8K UHD Live Broadcasting

[Shenzhen, China, February 1, 2021] The Spring Festival Gala has become a time-honored tradition in China, and this year's program, which marks the Year of the Ox, will be aired via 8K ultra HD (UHD) live broadcasting technology. With the unveiling today of an 8K UHD TV channel by China Media Group (CMG), the broadcast will be supported by technology provided by HiSilicon (Shanghai), Peng Cheng Laboratory, and the Guangdong Bohua UHD Innovation Center, among other partners. As the industry's first-ever 8K UHD video capture, production, transmission, and live TV broadcast for the public, this year's Spring Festival program represents a milestone in the history of the UHD video industry.

8K UHD video is the latest technological paradigm, following in the footsteps of digital and HD video. HiSilicon's technology has enabled the CMG to establish an end-to-end 8K UHD pilot live broadcast system.

The 8K live broadcast is the first to use the AVS3 encoding standard to implement real-time encoding, transmission, decoding, and rendering. In a number of Chinese cities, including Shanghai, Shenzhen, Hangzhou, Chengdu, Qingdao, and Haikou, people will be able to watch the 8K Spring Festival Gala on large outdoor screens.

The HiSilicon exhibition hall, located in National Exhibition and Convention Center (Shanghai) is one of the three designated viewing areas in Shanghai. The 110-inch 8K TV at the entrance of the exhibition hall has been integrated with the latest HiSilicon TV decoding chip, and supports a maximum of 7680 x 4320 video resolution, with a refresh rate of 120 fps. During the pilot broadcast, 8K UHD programs are televised around the clock, which enables the audience to watch from their preferred angle and distance. HiSilicon will also continue to work with industry partners to explore a greater range of applications based on CMG's quality 8K media.

HiSilicon is a chip solutions provider with nearly 10 years of accumulated experience in R&D and manufacturing, spanning the entire UHD chip field. With its cutting-edge decoding technologies and highly-evolved system architecture, HiSilicon has been able to streamline the processing of 8K@120 fps ultra-high bandwidth data on an end-to-end basis, facilitating smooth 8K video playback on screens larger than 75 inches. The pilot broadcast utilizes the HiSilicon flagship 8K decoding chip, which supports 8K@120 fps AVS3 decoding, multi-core CPU, efficient GPU, and NPU with up to 9 TOPS computing power.

AVS3, for improved decoding efficiency by 30%
HiSilicon has taken the lead in implementing the SoC-based AVS3 decoding algorithm, which enhances compression efficiency by approximately 30%, equivalent to saving 30% of network bandwidth and 30% of storage space on behalf of users.

Uber-intelligent NPU, with 9 TOPS power
The HiSilicon-developed NPU has inspired groundbreaking innovations with regard to user operations, content display and user-oriented recommendations, as well as intelligent identification, greatly enhancing user experience across the board.

PQ technology, for immersive images
HiSilicon's proprietary PQ technology utilizes AI and big data training to change low-resolution images into high-resolution images, by applying newly-enhanced detail and colors to them.

CUVA HDR, reproducing human vision
HiSilicon is the first provider to release SoC solutions based on CUVA HDR. This technology provides for richer colors and layering than traditional solutions, and increases image luminance by nearly 40x so that it is friendly to human vision. In addition, a scene-based luminance and color mapping algorithm has proven capable of rendering lifelike color and detail across both the bright and dark regions on screen.

The 8K UHD Spring Festival Gala 2021 represents a new beginning for the industry, and is sure to inspire a wave of trailblazing innovations. HiSilicon will continue to work closely with partners around the world to promote a dynamic and innovative UHD video industry ecosystem.