On May 29th, 2014, part of the Shirai-lab visited the NHK exhibition in NHK research lab in Tokyo.  It also turns out that Shirai-sensei used to work on the fifth floor of the research lab.  The guests are only able to visit the first floor and basement (they converted the parking lot into exhibition space) of the building.

The exhibition shows the lists of researches NHK branches and related companies are working on.  The topics exhibited in the exhibition include new types of cameras, TV screens, audio system, cable system, underwater signal transition system, TV program navigation system, and animation/audio synthesis system.  One such research named “Underwater Visible Light Wireless IP Transmission Technology” allows the live broadcast of visual image from cameras held by scuba divers to receivers on the surface using visible light signals.  I was also able to see the evolution of live broadcasting cameras from 2002 to 2014 and how 32 kg bulky 2002 era cameras evolved into 2kg cameras in 2014.  The 8k Super Hi-Vision televisions is another high-light of the show, which shows great improvements definition wise especially when compared to the 2k HD televisions commonly seem nowadays.  These 8k Super Hi-Vision televisions can even show snow particles and scratches on ice surface during ice-skating competitions clearly.