Season three of Sky's original production Das Boot will be the first TV series to be made available in 8K resolution via a partnership with Samsung.
'Das Boot' in 8K
The first two seasons of Das Boot are available in 4K resolution. For the third season, Sky Studios in partnership with Bavaria Fiction will be moving to 8K production. It will also feature a Dolby Atmos soundtrack.
- "'Das Boot' is the first worldwide series to be produced in 8K and Dolby Atmos. Thanks to the outstanding image quality and three-dimensional soundscapes, we can portray the individual characters and storylines in an even more emotional and tangible way, and create a truly immersive experience for the audience. Thanks to the new cooperation with Samsung and long-standing partnerships with Dolby and of course Sky Studios, we are very excited to produce the third season of 'Das Boot' using state-of-the-art technology," said Moritz Polter and Jan S. Kaiser, executive producers of Das Boot, Bavaria Fiction.
The company said that its partnership with Samsung will make the third season available in 8K resolution to Sky Q subscribers with a Samsung 8K TV. No further practical or technical details were provided at this time, but Sky did confirm that shooting has not started yet.
First 8K series, but...
Das Boot will, unless something happens in the meantime, be the first TV series to be produced from start to finish and made available in 8K resolution, but it is far from the first title to be shot on 8K cameras.
Netflix has been using the RED Helium 8K camera to shoot series like Lost in Space (season 2), The Politician, and Our Planet, while Amazon has been exploring 8K with The Tick. For an 8K vs. 4K study, Pixar rendered scenes from Brave and A Bug's Life in 8K, and Warner has rescanned Dunkirk in 8K from the 70mm film. FlatpanelsHD has previously seen 8K clips from Dunkirk based on the rescanned material but it did not look particularly "8K" due to its low 24fps frame rate.
Also read: 4K vs. 8K: Study finds that few viewers can see the difference
Das Boot is a symbolic step forward for the industry and a win for Samsung who, in particular, has been eager to position 8K as the next step for high-end TVs. However, it is unlikely to change the 8K landscape in any significant way as Sky Q availability is limited to a few select regions.
Sky has yet to announce a premiere date for season three of Das Boot.
- Source: Sky Deutschland via 4KFilme
