(Yicai Global) Jan. 15 -- The 2020 Spring Festival Gala -- the most-watched TV event on Earth -- will broadcast via China's fifth-generation mobile network and display in 8K technology for the first time, after 5G and 4K were applied in last year's show.

The combined application of 5G, 8K, 4K and virtual reality techniques will bring a brand-new viewing experience to the gala, its producer China Media Group said yesterday, China Central Television reported.

The annual Spring Festival Gala CCTV staged on Chinese New Year's Eve is a variety show that first aired in 1983, and instantly became the world's premier TV program. Over 1.17 billion people -- about one out of every 6.6 persons worldwide -- watched the show via TV, the internet and other terminals during last year's live broadcast.

China's 5G network fully spans the gala's main venue in Beijing and two sub-venues in Zhengzhou, Henan province and alongside the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge, China Media Group said yesterday.

The gala will also use a virtual network interactive system for the first time this year, and users can watch the show's VR livestreaming in multi-camera panoramic filming through CCTV's Yangshipin app.

The CMG applied 5G technology in last year's gala for the first time but beamed it primarily in 4K ultra-high-definition throughout.

8K resolution is an image or display resolution with a width of about 8,000 pixels, with 8K UHD (7680 × 4320) being the highest resolution defined in the applicable standard.

China's video technology is about to enter the 8K era after developing from an analog standard definition to a digital standard definition and from high definition to 4K. By 2022, China's total ultra-high-definition video industry will surpass CNY4 trillion (USD580 billion), with an essentially consummate 4K industry ecosystem and breakthroughs in product research and development and industrialization of key 8K technology, according to a UHD video industry road map.

Editor: Ben Armour