Ultra High Definition Expedition

After High Definition (HD) TV, Ultra High Definition has been hailed as the next revolution for TVs. This strikingly high-quality format, also known as 4K, and with four times as many pixels as HD, has been under development since 2003. It rose to prominence in 2013 and has since become standard on many high-end TV displays.

While the production of Ultra HD TV displays and cameras has flourished, very little Ultra HD content has been made universally available until now. The European Southern Observatory (ESO) — the world’s most productive astronomical observatory — aims to change this, and will now deliver free Ultra HD content to all, from consumer to broadcaster.

As perhaps the first scientific organisations to deliver free Ultra HD content on a regular basis, the vision of the ESO Ultra HD Expedition transcends astronomical, geographic and scientific frontiers and delivers crisp, breathtaking Ultra HD footage — bringing the Universe closer than ever before. Astronomy is a visual science, and with four times the resolution of HD, Ultra HD adds a new dimension to our stunning footage of the cosmos.

Four world-renowned astrophotographers and ESO Photo Ambassadors equipped with the powerful Ultra HD tools of the technological front runners, embark on the pioneering ESO Ultra HD Expedition that will capture ESO’s three unique observing sites in Chile in all their grandeur.