Asia-Pacific Broadcasting (APB) November 2017 Volume 34, Issue 9 | Page 13

NEWS & VIEWS November 2017 Inter BEE 2017 will return to the Makuhari Messe convention centre in Chiba, Japan, from November 15- 17, promising to be “bigger and better” than last year’s edition. With 2020 Tokyo Olympics in sight, Inter BEE 2017 expands in scale TOKYO – The Japan Electronics and Information Technology Industries Association (JEITA) will be holding the 53rd International Broadcast Equipment Exhibition (Inter BEE) at the Makuhari Messe conven- tion centre in Chiba, Japan, from November 15-17. This year's show will mark the “biggest” Inter BEE since its first edition in 1964, as the event will take place across eight exhibition halls in Makuhari Messe’s main building. More than 1,000 companies exhibited at Inter BEE last year, drawing a total attendance of more than 38,000 attendees. This year, according to Inter BEE, 1,799 booths have already been taken up by the exhibitors to date. Yoshinori Ishizaki, project man- ager for Inter BEE, Japan Electronics Show Association (JESA), said: “In the midst of the revolution we call the ‘digital transformation’, instead of the one-way transmission of in- formation from sender to receiver, a greater emphasis is being placed on bidirectional approaches that focus on enhancing user experi- ence (UX) in the media industry. Building on trends like this, we are positioning the core competencies of the media industry as content. “We want Inter BEE to cover a broader range of fields, such as how we create our content, what sort of transmission paths we use to send content, what sort of devices are used to receive content, as well as how we can create content in a way that keeps up with the evolv- ing viewing experience.” And with the Summer Olympics taking place in Tokyo in 2020, Inter BEE aims to establish itself as a “comprehensive media event”, con- veying the new possibilities offered by media, such as developments on 4K/Ultra HD (UHD) and 8K. Last year, NHK began the world’s first regular TV satellite broadcasts in 8K, and the Japanese public broad- caster is gearing up to broadcast the Tokyo Olympics in “Super Hi- Vision”, NHK’s term for 8K. Visitors can expect the latest developments in not only 4K/UHD and 8K filming and editing technol- ogies, but also in video and sound production, compression, trans- mission and display technologies, including high dynamic range (HDR) and high frame rate (HFR). In addition, there will be an emphasis on IP transmission, cloud and 5G. Along with an IP Showcase that will demonstrate IP live trans- mission, keynote speeches during Inter BEE 2017 will also focus on 5G. To support a new content experience, artificial intelligence (AI) is set to be a new buzz word at this year ’s conference pro- gramme. There will be a range of sessions looking at AI application and collaboration from a variety of perspectives. Specifically, these sessions will look at the application of AI in improving efficiency of TV 13 Expect 8K to be a key draw on the exhibition floors of Inter BEE 2017, as Japan gears up for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, which public broadcaster NHK will be transmitting in 8K. programme