March 9, 2017—In November 2016, at an ice-covered lake on Antarctica more than 100 kilometers away from the nearest station, a film crew from NHK Japan Broadcasting Corporation, together with five scientists, embarked on an extraordinary challenge. Taking three days, they bored a hole three meters across in the thick surface ice and started dives to capture the underwater world with 8K UHD cameras. In the bottom of the lake an ancient strain of bacteria is still thriving, silently producing bubbles filled with oxygen, just as they did in the primordial sea billions of years ago. They have formed a mysterious landscape of unearthly beauty. Dotted by protruding rocks studded with glittering bubbles, the lake bottom seems more like an alien planet. This unique, precious time capsule of Earth's history will be presented for the first time ever in stunningly high-resolution video images when NHK premieres the 8K film at the Future Park in the North Hall at NAB on April 22-27 in Las Vegas.

The NHK team also set their RED Helium 8K cameras—which combined portability and super-high-quality high-res images—in a gyro stabilizer mounted on an airplane, on snowmobiles traveling on the ice field, and on the summits of the mountains surrounding the lake to capture every kind of super-dynamic shot of the pristine landscapes of Antarctica. With the cutting-edge UHD photography, the clear blue gradations of the lake water and crystal luster of the icy expanse will appear on the screen with a hyper sense of reality. Filming in the frosty wilderness was a risky adventure, but NHK is grateful that they were lucky enough to accomplish it and also contribute to the science world with their 8K filming technique.

Source: NHK World