BBC showcases first live Super Hi-Vision broadcast

The BBC has showcased the first live broadcast of Super Hi-Vision technology as part of its Olympic Games coverage.

Offering pictures that are 16 times as sharp as high-definition TV, along with multichannel surround sound, Super Hi-Vision - developed by Japanese broadcaster NHK - is being demonstrated to the public in special screenings across the UK.

Late last month, 120 viewers flocked to the BBC's Broadcasting House in London to witness the first live screening, featuring swimming heats from the Olympic Aquatics Centre.

The images were also transmitted to viewing theatres in Bradford, Glasgow, Fukushima and Toyko in Japan, and Washington DC in the US.

Tim Plyming, head of the BBC's Super Hi-Vision trials, said the scale of London 2012 makes the event a "great testing bed" for the technology.

"Most of the big leaps in technology that we've known - from black and white to colour and from standard definition to high definition, and now to ultra-high definition - have all had their home at the Olympic Games," he noted.

Ahead of the Olympics, the BBC trialled Super Hi-Vision by filming at some of London's iconic landmarks, including Tower Bridge.