Prototype binoculars from NHK show-stop CEATEC crowd

(Phys.org)—NHK is drawing interest at this week's CEATEC in Japan with its prototype 3-D binoculars. They take advantage of something called "8K" resolution so that the user can now zoom into an image without sacrificing image quality.

8K resolution means that you can zoom up to sixteen times and not have to make do with lower image quality. Ultra-high definition television now includes both 4K (2160p) and 8K (4320p) digital video formats. Broadcasts in 8K will offer a resolution sixteen times as sharp as current HD TVs with 2MP resolutions. NHK showed off the technology in London recently during the Olympics.

The CEATEC binocular display, beyond TVs, allows NHK to demonstrate the benefits of 8K.which NHK also calls Super Hi-Vision. The binoculars showed 3-D diorama images of locales in Japan that were filmed with Super Hi-Vision cameras in 4K or 8K.

The goggles have a lever for manipulation and by panning the viewer zooms in and out of the image.

Suggested application could be as viewing tools for sightseeing spots and museums.