SKY PerfecTV! to begin world’s first 4K HDR broadcast in October

SKY PerfecTV! Dedicated 4K Channel Adopted the Hybrid Log-Gamma (HLG) standard

SKY Perfect JSAT Corporation (Head Office: Minato-ku, Tokyo; Representative Director, President & Chief Executive Officer: Shinji Takada) will commence the world’s first 4K HDR (High Dynamic Range) broadcast on October 4, 2016, during timeslots on its dedicated 4K channel “SKY PerfecTV! 4K Experience” (launched on May 1, 2016). This channel can be enjoyed free of charge by anyone with the necessary environment for receiving the SKY PerfecTV! Premium Service or SKY PerfecTV! Premium HIKARI Service.

In commemoration of the commencement of 4K HDR broadcasts, a program jointly produced with the Imagica Robot Group will air in 4K HDR along with all five episodes of the BS SKY PerfecTV! Original drama “Kera (Yakubyo-gami Series)” (starring Kazuki Kitamura and Gaku Hamada).

4K HDR broadcasts have a wider dynamic range, particularly in the expression of the contrast between light and dark imagery, and enable even more true-to-life depictions. For its 4K HDR broadcasts, SKY Perfect JSAT adopted the Hybrid Log-Gamma (HLG) standard, which was co-developed by the public broadcasters NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation) and BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation). Moreover, while there is a variety of HDR techniques, HLG was developed as the most suitable format for broadcasting and HLG became an international standard in July this year. In response to the October commencement of 4K HDR broadcasts, a software update for Toshiba’s 4K Regza Z20X series is scheduled to become available for download from late August. The products of other companies are also scheduled to sequentially become 4K HDR-capable from this autumn.

SKY Perfect JSAT will proactively engage in 4K HDR technology so that it may deliver even finer and more dynamic contents to many viewers.