Compact 8K × 8K Camera; Imaging the Immersive Era

Kodai Kikuchi, Akira Honji, Kohei Tomioka, Tetsuya Hayashida, Takenobu Usui, Toshie Hiroshima, Kazuya Kitamura, Takayuki Yamashita, Hiroshi Shimamoto

The demand for wide-field-of-view immersive video production is increasing. To address this, this work develops a compact 8K × 8K camera system. The camera incorporates a square-format image sensor with a compact 5/6-type footprint and ultra-high through-put (59-megapixel 8K × 8K resolution, 60 fps, 14-bit depth), achieving superior performance in high-mobility shooting scenarios and vertically extended image acquisition compared with recent large-format high-resolution sensors. The camera system employs a modular design in which the lightweight camera head is separated from the signal-processing unit by a fiber, enabling flexible deployment on gimbals, vehicles, and drones. Production trials were conducted using this system, including the parallel production of immersive VR content and 4K IMAX content derived from the same 180° fisheye 8K × 8K footage, and multi-region-of-interest (ROI) extraction for 2K broadcasting studio applications. These trials showed the system's effectiveness for multiplatform content production and helped simplify conventional broad-cast workflows. The system not only broadens broad-cast capabilities but also shows adaptability for the emerging immersive era.

Print ISSN
Electronic ISSN
2160-2492
Published
2026-10
Content type
Original Research
Keywords
8k×8k camera, immersive video, multiplatform content production, vr content editing system
DOI
10.5594/JMI.2026/KAQU1510