Television at 16 times the resolution of today's HDTV is inching ever closer -- and now it's in color.

This recently-developed 33-megapixel image sensor has helped Japanese public broadcaster NHK improve its Super Hi-Vision system.

In a demonstration last year, engineers used four 8.3 megapixel image sensors to reach full resolution in black and white but now three of the new sensors are being used to produce a color image.

At 7,680 pixels by 4,320 pixels, a single SHV image is equal to 16 tiled HDTV screens -- a massive jump on HDTV and one NHK is pursuing with an eye to commercialization sometime in the next decade.

The picture is so sharp and detailed that it's possible to read the type on this newspaper, which is about two meters from the camera.

Having the proper lens for the job was also a hurdle, so NHK collaborated with lens manufacturer Fujinon to create an ultra-high-resolution lens for the system.

It also showed prototypes of an upgraded signal processing circuit, which can now work at a higher speed, and an improved optical transmission device, but the camera and circuitry is still a mass of wires and circuit boards -- there's lots of work to go before a Super Hi-Vision service begins.

One of the few broadcasting companies to heavily invest in R&D, NHK began work on Super Hi-Vision technology in 2002. NHK was the pioneer in HDTV technology, beginning work on it in 1964.

At NHK's Science and Technical Research Laboratories in Tokyo, this is Martyn Williams, IDG News Service.