Ultra High Resolution 4K/8K Real-time CG System
and Its Application
Masaki Hayashi Akihiko Iguchi, Satoshi Machida
Masayuki Nakajima, Steven Bachelder Astrodesign, Inc.
Department of Game Design Tokyo, Japan
Gotland University E-mail: aiguchi@astrodesign.co.jp
Visby, Sweden
E-mail: hayashi.masaki@hgo.se
Abstract— We propose an 'Ultra-CG project' which promotes an a start, we have developed a real-time CG system with a 4K
extreme high-definition real-time computer graphics system with resolution by assembling commercially available video
a resolution of 4K and 8K (Super Hi-Vision) which is more than components. We have also produced a content consisting of a
the conventional HDTV. It is important for the project to study "Virtual Museum" built on the 4K system in order to make the
not only hardware and software requirements but also content best of the systems extreme high-resolution. The system has
creation methodology with which the content is displayed on been exhibited several times in several shows and has obtained
extreme high-resolution display. We have first developed a a good reputation.
functioning test system, which exhibits 'Virtual Museum' in 4K
resolution to assess validity of our approach and clarify the tasks In this paper, we overview the current extreme high-
toward the further application development. The system consists resolution video industry, describe our new project named
of a PC with high-speed graphics cards and a 4K monitor. The "Ultra-CG". We then introduce our functioning 4K real-time
real-time 3DCG software and all the CG models are built on CG system and the content "Virtual Museum", and conclude
Unity, which is a 3DCG game engine, used worldwide. We are with future plans.
now considering various feasible applications built on the system
such as exhibition, entertainment, medical use and more. This
paper describes the test system, discusses the future applications
and collaboration of content creators and system engineers. II. EXTREME HIGH-RESOLUTION IMAGING SYSTEM AND
REAL-TIME CG
Keywords—Ultra-high resolution video; 4K; Real-time CG;
Super Hi-Vision; Virtual museum
First we will take a look at the current circumstances of the
existing extreme high-resolution video system. Here, we target
I. INTRODUCTION only the systems to ensure a single image not a video with a so-
called "multi-screen" tiled distribution. Currently, extreme
high-resolution video systems are primarily referred to so-
Since the HDTV digital television has become broadcast called "4K" with a resolution of 3840 × 2160 and the Super Hi-
standard, ultra-high resolution imaging system has been Vision (often called as "8K", hereafter referred to as 8K) whose
developed over the years to achieve high presence visual resolution is 7680 × 4320. HDTV, which has a resolution of
experiences. The next generation of visual media such as 4K 1920 × 1080, is not usually referred to as extreme high-
resolution (3840 × 2160) which is 4 times larger than resolution because HDTV is already a digital broadcasting
conventional HDTV or the Super Hi-Vision (7680 × 4320) format regarded as standard television. However, the video
developed by NHK STRL (Science and Technology Research system in smartphones and tablet computers other than TV
Laboratories) [1] producing a resolution 4 times larger than the have various resolutions, such as the case with the video game
4K, has been developed for years and been attracting attention with real-time CG discussed in this paper. HDTV should often
from media industry. These extreme high-resolution imaging be referred to as high-definition video.
systems, however, have often proceeded in a hardware priority A. Extreme high-resolution imaging system
whereas the content put in the system has been at a lower level.
Although the advanced video technology has already become In the video equipment industry, a series of technical
established, development of the market itself becomes difficult developments of the 4K video system has already been
because of the lack of content. completed. Development of a set of camera, recorder, editing
machine, transmission equipment and display monitor is almost
We have started the "Ultra-CG" project to promote extreme available at the consumer level already. On the other hand, the
high-resolution real-time CG (Computer Graphics) owing to absolute amount of 4K content is very little as the 4K broadcast
the remarkable progress of CG technology. It aims to figure out is not scheduled, thus the main use of 4K video for consumers
solution of the lack of contents in the 4K/8K video industry. As is to provide a 4K video upconverted from HDTV video
sources. Other than broadcast applications, the movement to The recent development of computer graphics is
deploy in a 4K digital cinema standard using 4K cameras remarkable in terms of both hardware and software. In recent
named "RED" manufactured by Red.com Inc.[2] is thriving years, CG technique has become an essential means of
especially in the United States. However, there is little demand expression in many areas such as TV production, cinema
placed on this technology in the film industry having limited production, interactive game, simulator, and event content. The
applications such as event applications, medical applications, power of CG expression has already reached at high level and
design reviews etc. it is often said that no further advancement is needed for CG
techniques. Also in content creation, many creators are
Next, speaking of 8K (equivalent to Super Hi-Vision), the working worldwide and they keep on showing the
technology has been driven by NHK STRL, which is unprecedented enhancement of CG content creation.
ultimately aimed as a broadcast standard. According to the Furthermore, as advances in hardware and Graphic Processing
NHK STRL, the Super Hi-Vision broadcasting is planned to Units (GPUs) now perform extreme high-speed graphics
start from 2030. Currently, development of 8K camera, computation, dramatically faster, even a general PC equipped
recorder and displays have been made however, it is very with a GPU renders real-time CG with no stress.
limited as it is in the early stages. 8K is now mainly used in
large-scale event application since there are many years yet to On the other hand, extreme high-resolution CG works of
launch broadcasting 8K. 4K/8K is still an unexplored field. This can be said in regards
to the work of live-action footage as well. We have to seek out
As mentioned above, the lack of content will become a content utilizing the characteristic of extreme high-resolution
significant problem in the 4K and 8K. As this industry instead of producing content with previous approaches, within
traditionally is technology driven not content driven. So far, HDTV methods and standards. Nevertheless from the side of
there is little 4K content available other than 4K cinem, and the creators, it is an inexperienced area that offers a substantial
even less content available in 8K. Because of this the market is challenge.
not yet developed.
Based on the above background, the objective of the Ultra-
B. Extreme high-resolution CG CG project is to promote the production of new content built
Video systems using real-time CG have been in use for for the extreme high-resolution system, to balance
many years such as in game, events, simulators etc. Resolution advancements in technology with corresponding developments
of HDTV, which is 2K, is even treated as high-resolution in in content and facilitate an expansion of the 4K and 8K market
real-time CG. itself.
As for the HDTV, real-time HDTV CG for virtual studio is
being used on a daily basis because HDTV digital television IV. REQUIREMENTS OF ULTRA-CG
has already broadcast. Other real-time HDTV CG applications
such as those used in events use ordinary technology. However,
if you see the game industry, HDTV-compatible video games In Ultra CG, it is important to organize hardware, software
are available but few games support full HDTV. This is due to and content in a balanced way. Figure 1 illustrates optimal
the increase in cost for creating high-resolution texture images. functionality. The details of this are explained below.
Real-time CG of 4K is very much limited, although there A. Hardware
are some in games and applications of large-scale events. It is Firstly, high-speed machines capable of performing
considered that the CG technology itself seems to be sufficient complex real-time CG calculation are required. Recent graphic
to withstand the demands of the 4K quality, however, a 4K chip manufacturers such as, AMD (Advanced Micro Devices,
game is yet to be released. Furthermore, real-time 8K CG does Inc. [3]) and Nvidia [4] are inexpensive but super high-speed
not exist at all. We can see only an 8K CG artwork, which is graphic cards for consumers. We believe that this technology is
made by off-line rendering. sufficient and that we should not require special hardware and
Although extreme high-resolution real-time CG is software in order to provide more content creators the
technically possible, this is still an area of future work. In opportunity to contribute to the system. Next, the establishment
particular, you can postulate that the real-time CG of 8K is a of an integrated system assembling the PC with the graphic
complete unknown area of research and development. card video out-put signal connected to a video display, recorder
Content Ultra high definition modeling
III. PROPOSAL OF ULTRA-CG Optimization to ultra high-definition
Software CG environment adopted to 4K/8K
In accordance with the circumstance of extreme high- High accurate rendering and control
resolution video system and the real-time CG which is
described in the previous section, we have launched a research Hardware High performance CG machine
and development project named "Ultra-CG" to further develop 4K/8K video system integration
production capabilities of extreme high-resolution real-time
CG.
Figure 1. Requirements of Ultra-CG
and so on. This will be done in accordance to 4K/8K Hardware 56” 4K Monitor
requirements of a high-speed video signal rates and potentially
the ability to incorporate real-time video capturing hardware of
PC
HDTV or 4K so that we can import movies into the 3DCG Quad Core
space. Windows 7 Display Port
×4
B. Software GPU
Firstly, the system requires a software environment that can V7900 (AMD)
render 4K/8K extreme high-resolution CG in real-time. It is
desirable to use commonly used real-time CG platforms to Software
facilitate easy adaption for content creators. An optimal Unity Mouse
strategy would be to prepare a general-purpose OS such as
Microsoft Windows machine as rendering hardware. In Figure 2. System configuration
addition, a software environment capable of using ultra-high-
resolution texture images in addition to necessary output video
resolution is required. assets to the Unity 3D space. We then create a walkthrough
program on Unity to allow users the ability to walk around and
C. Content explore the space and examine the art works freely. The texture
Finally, the CG content built on the hardware and software images used to model the museum are more than 20 pieces of
as described is required to withstand extreme high-definition of 4096 × 4096 images. There are also 15 light sources including
4K/8K. As mentioned in the previous chapter, not only high- nine point lights illuminating each work of art. The art works in
resolution video production but also novel ideas, designs and the museum space are seven images of woodblock print (4096
expressions created to meet the demands of the improved × 4096 per piece). These are digitized with a scanner and an
capabilities of this new and unique form of 4K/8K extreme image of a big folding screen of large landscape (using two
high-resolution video, will be needed. In particular, there are 4096 × 4096) digitized photographic images. Other elements
two viewing experiences in common use. One is the standard such as picture frames, dated captions etc. are also created as
viewing distance in which the display size is often quite large. 3D CG data.
The other is a very close distance from relatively small
Figure 3 shows the output of the virtual museum prototype.
monitors. In this case, the viewer can observe extreme detail in
Due to the simple geometry of this particular museum space
the image very clearly. We think that the former one is primary
including pictures, the number of polygons required is only
as part of the conventional video production, however, the
about 5000. However, due to the large amount of textures and
latter one has not yet been fully pursued. Thus we need to
the required resolution as described above. The walkthrough
explore the latter more to further investigate possibilities and
program runs well when the option of best rendering quality
potential difficulties. A video system satisfying requirements
("fantastic”) is selected in the 3840 × 2160 resolution. The
for both viewing distances may require additional special
walkthrough operation is very smooth where it obtains more
technology, and hardware.
than 60 fps with a wide margin. Because of the ultra-high
We have described three issues as shown in Figure 1. Our resolution texture images used for each work of art, the surface
priority is to develop these three areas in a cooperative balance. of the paper with its subtle texture, stain or dirt can be clearly
observed when viewers approach the works of art as shown in
figure 3.
V. PROTOTYPE OF "VIRTUAL MUSEUM"
We have demonstrated the virtual museum at the exhibition
several times the responses have been overwhelmingly positive
We have created a prototype for 4K real-time CG content impressing many viewers. It was recognized as one of the
built in accordance with 4K hardware, software and Ultra-CG promising ways of using 4K content effectively, which is in
requirements as described in the previous chapter. The first need of content. We think it might also be good to have chosen
model case of our project is a "Virtual Museum of Ukiyo-e subjects of Ukiyo-e: Japanese woodblock prints as the art work
(Japanese woodblock prints)" exhibited on the 4K monitor. in the virtual museum. Ukiyo-e is usually exhibited only in dim
light to avoid fading. In addition, due to the small size of the
Figure 2 shows the system configuration. We use a generic works of art (usually the size of B4 or B5) viewers can barely
PC "Quad-CORE" equipped with a graphics card "V7900" observe any of the interesting and beautiful details. In contrast
manufactured by AMD with a Microsoft Windows7 OS. The to an inconvenient way of seeing in the real Ukiyo-e museum,
four Display-Port outputs from the card are converted to four viewers can enjoy all of the details at a very close distance with
DVIs, which are connected to a 56-inch professional-use 4K bright illumination and off site.
monitor; the "DM-3410-A" manufactured by Astrodesign Inc.
[5] The software, we use is "Unity" by Unity Technologies [6]
which is a platform for creating 3DCG games that is widely
VI. CONCLUSION AND FUTURE OF ULTRA-CG
used throughout the world today and has been for several years.
First, we model the museum 3D space with several art
works and export the CG data (using 3ds) and import these
In this paper, we describe an Ultra-CG project to promote 4K/8K. Therefore, we will widely recruit personnel responsible
the extreme high-resolution 4K/8K real-time CG. As a first for the content creation such as CG creators, designers and
step in this project, we introduce the prototype of 4K real-time artists, while advancing collaboration with art universities. In
virtual museum system. The content creation platform of particular, because we use Unity which is popular worldwide
4K/8K, which exceeds conventional HDTV, may require new as a game making tool, we would like to develop new content
technique not yet implemented in terms of both technology and by providing our Ultra-CG platform worldwide to
content. Our ambition is to examine the possibilities of the organizations and human resources who are involved in
above technique and explore future content in this project. making 3DCG games. Also, we think that the output of Ultra-
CG should not only be limited to 4K displays but should also
We conclude with our plan for future development. First, be displayed by big projectors using for example, projection
we will expand the prototype 4K real-time CG system with a mapping techniques in large-scale events.
single graphic card to 8K resolutions by using four graphic
cards. There are various problems with synchronous operation
of a number of cards, needed to cope with 8K resolution in
Unity and the high-resolution textures and models. In addition, REFERENCES
for both 4K and 8K, we will realize a capability of [1] Sugawara, Masayuki. "Super hi-vision—research on a future ultra-hdtv
accommodating running movies in the 3D CG space together system." European Broadcasting Union, Tech. Rep (2008)
with 3D sound effects. Tests will be conducted with [2] http://www.red.com/
commercial graphics cards, to measure performance in advance [3] http://www.amd.com/
in order to detect the maximum number of polygons, the [4] http://www.nvidia.com/
amount of textures and number of light sources. [5] http://www.astrodesign.co.jp/
The contents of this project and the creation of this virtual [6] http://unity3d.com/
museum is just one of the many possible examples and
applications for the future. We would like to develop a variety
of content that makes the best use of ultra-high resolution
Figure 3. Output images of virtual museum prototype
