Aiming to make the technology a reality for consumers within 12 years, Japan's public broadcaster NHK along with the BBC, Cable & Wireless and Italy's RAI recently demonstrated 'Super Hi-Vision' (SHV) technology.
The SHV technology on show demonstrated images with an incredibly lifelike 7680 x 4320 resolution. Around 4000 scanning lines reveal around 16 times the detail of existing HDTV.
Equally impressive is the accompanying 22.2 three dimensional surround sound which makes even the latest high definition sound formats sound rather lacklustre.
Unfortunately, domestic use for SHV is at least ten years away, one of the main stumbling blocks being the storage requirements of the new format. Currently a super hi vision picture requires 1.5 Terabytes for just 1 minute of footage. The BBC's involvement in the project has been directed towards creating more efficient compression technologies for the new format.
Here in the UK we may get a taste of the new format sooner. The BBC are planning to erect a number of giant screens around the country to show the 2012 Olympic games in Super Hi-Vision.