TV turning SMART

 Much attention is currently on high-definition television standards, with 4K (full high-definition) and 8K (Super Hi-Vision). High-definition models are also on display at CREATEC and InterBEE, standing matchless together with SMART TV.

 I have been focusing on Smart TV. While the 4K and 8K technology is a technology to make things look beautiful, the Smart TV is a technology for convenience. Beauty or convenience? While it is ideal to achieve both, there are restrictions on available resources. 

 Terrestrial Digital Broadcasting has achieved a beautiful and convenient television. It is high-definition and it can be used like a computer. The next question however is, “4K or Smart?”. There are people who are convinced that 4K will be a trump card for struggling Japanese manufacturers in the industry. The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications is also probably holding high expectation for this. On the contrary, I personally believe that SMART TV is the destination we should go for. 

 In any case, television has become much prettier with Terrestrial Digital Broadcasting. Many families have bought new television receivers to replace their old ones. Do they need more beautiful images on the TV screen now?
 Hearing from some cable distributor companies, it seems that high-definition HD transmission has not yet exceeded 25%, and that there is still a lot of room for improvements for past SD images. But do we really need more high-definition pictures? 
 On the other hand, Terrestrial Digital Broadcasting has not been able to achieve the point on convenience. Interesting services only available in digital has not yet been developed. Instead, this part has been surmised well by smartphones and tablets.  The fusion of TV and smartphone can create new rich services, and created new businesses beside traditional TV advertisements. We are able to see new needs and market from here. 

 At the same time however, there are still much more that can be expected from 4K and 8K as they play a driving force for open data and digital signage. I think this is promising considering that businesses might consider the commercial use. 4K business might appear faster than Smart TV broadcast. 
  A more compelling need however, might be the big data utilization of videos. If we are able to obtain fine images by extracting, processing and analyzing data taken from surveillance cameras as a mechanical system instead of the traditional visual approach, the potential usages would widen.  Hence, I feel that the applicability of ultra-high-definition quality of 8K would align more for machines rather than humans.