Japan, Britain test Super Hi-Vision TV

TOKYO, March 11 (UPI) -- Japan's public broadcaster said it is testing Super Hi-Vision TV, but consumers who splurged on HDTV need not worry -- the new system requires a 60-inch screen.

Japenese public broadcaster NHK is currently testing the system, which boasts picture quality up to 33 times better than the top-end HDTV systems, and the BBC announced it plans to use Super Hi-Vision technology to broadcast the 2012 Olympics to large TV sets placed in public areas across Britain, The Telegraph reported Tuesday.

Vincent Letang, a senior television analyst at Screen Digest, said that despite the quality of the new system, HDTV customers need not fret about their set becoming obsolete.

"It's for big-screen public broadcasts of concerts and sporting events. It's definitely not for the consumer market" he said.

"The improved quality won't be noticeable on a regular-sized TV sets so people who have just bought high-definition sets really don't need to worry."

Masuru Kanazawa, a research engineer at NHK's Science and Technical Research Laboratory, said Super Hi-Vision requires at least a 60-inch screen.