Recording and archiving broadcast content is very popular in Japan and the Blu-ray Disc Association has started licensing the next-gen broadcast recordable Blu-ray format.

It is anticipated that the Ultra HD broadcasting will start in Japan around the end of 2018. The new Blu-ray disc standard will allow Japanese consumers to record 4K / 8K satellite broadcasts on BD-R and BD-RE discs.

8K satellite streams will be recorded and reproduced at up to 100Mbps, allowing consumers to maintain the original quality of the 8K broadcasts, possibly on the recently released BD-RE XL media that support 4x playback. More than two hours of 8K content (100Mbps) can be recorded on BDXL discs (128GB - quad-layer, 100GB triple-layer).

For recording 4K broadcasts, conventional BD-R/BD-RE media can be used.

The new standard supports the HEVC video codec of up to a maximum of 8K/60P as well as HDR (hybrid log gamma method). Furthermore, the MPEG4-AAC and MPEG4-ALS audio codecs are also supported.

The new 4K/8K Satellite TV recordings will be protectd by the AACS2 system.

The BDA is working closely with industry parties to develop tools and processes required to ensure the interoperability between recorders, players and software.