The International Telecommunications Union's ITU-R Working party 6C has agreed technical characteristics for the the 4K and 8K UHDTV (Ultra High Definition TV) formats.

UHDTV marks a leap forward beyond the current standards for High Definition Television (HDTV).

The new formats have the option of 'constant luminance' encoding, and allow up to 120 pictures/second.

Broadcasters have been experimenting with the transmitting/receiving hardware requirements of UDTV signals, either using satellite (22GHZ) or terrestrial methods.

Japan's NHK public broadcaster of 7,680 x 4,320 video last week succesfully tested a terrestial transmission in Japan and plans to bring the technology in the following years. NHK, Panasonic, and JVC-Kenwood have also showcased large UHDTV 4K and 8K displays, along with a digital projector that can display 7,680 x 4,320 video at 120 frames per second.

In Europe, bradcasting tests of the UHDTV format will take place at the London Olympics.