8K Association flags up EU threat to 8K sales

Chris Chinnock, executive director of the 8K Association, has warned that new EU regulations could threaten the commercial rollout of new 8K TV sets in Europe.

Chris Chinnock

Speaking ahead of the 4KHDR Summit in Malaga (November 14-15), he said new energy saving measures could have the effect of prohibiting the sale of 8K sets within the Union. Setting out his stall, Chinnock said: “We are working to influence the EU commission on energy regulations harmful to the 8K ecosystem.”

Under new EU rules, TV sets of 4K and above will need to have an Energy Efficiency Index of 0.9 or below from March 1, 2023. However 8K TV sets look likely to breach that limit because they have four times more pixels than 4K TV sets. Barring a technological breakthrough in the next few months, they will fail the EU test.

The 8K Association (8KA), which has around 30 members, was set up to educate and promote on the rapidly evolving 8K ecosystem. From content creation and production to distribution and consumer consumption, its mission is to help accelerate industry-wide adoption of 8K content, products, and services. Board members include Asian and US tech firms such as Panasonic, Samsung, Tencent and Xperi. Aside from addressing the energy issue, Chinnock will use the Summit to provide an update on the main activities of the organisations’ working groups, and plans for the future work.

Advances in 8K will be a key theme at the event, with NHK and Olympic Broadcasting Services both sharing their experiences of working in the new high-end format.