18 TVBEurope Wrap-Up
www.tvbeurope.com May 2013
“The question we’re tackling is how you integrate 4K into an IP workflow” — Olivier Bovis, Sony
The bigger picture
The broadcast industry is shifting from baseband to file-based working where, given enough computing power, anything is possible. But the problem of producing Ultra-HD has to be overcome
first.Adrian Pennington analyses key production trends from NAB
WE MAYnot all be watching Ultra-HD at home on one of Chinese manufacturer Leyard’s 4-metre long videowalls as premiered at NAB, but 4K and definitions beyond it are suddenly in range. Advances in optical engineering and leaps in GPU speeds are enabling more information about an image — from high dynamic range to pixel density and high frame rates — to be captured, manipulated and managed as data affording creative and business possibilities unimaginable a few years ago. The broadcast industry itself is shifting away from video engineering and transport technologies like SDI toward IT and using IP packets for distributing video. In future, the barriers to working at super high resolution won’t matter, provided enough computing horsepower and money is thrown at it. Whether consumers actually
perceive the value of Ultra-HD was one issue on the minds of NAB attendees. For Digital Cinema, where the 4K spec is higher at 4096 x 2160 compared to TV’s 3830 x 2160, viewing at normal theatre distances means you can’t see sharpness unless you’re in the first few rows of the cinema (positions which cinema- goers least appreciate). Ultra-HD TVs were too
expensive to be taken seriously, but in arguably NAB’s most significant announcement, Sony’s consumer division unveiled sub-£3,000 pricing for a 55-inch Ultra-HD TV. That’s a dramatic slash in the £15k previously listed for its 84-inch model — albeit that screens the magnitude of 84-inches are advised in order to fully appreciate 4K resolution. Prices will tumble further, but
vendors also know that they need to build the catalogue of available Ultra-HD content. With no route to the home as yet, why should producers spend time and money on 4K creation today? The chief reason is archive, noted Steve Bannerman, VP marketing of DI specialist Assimilate. “As with the move to HD from SD, there are benefits in working with images at the highest quality you can for a better quality show today, while
Whether consumers actually perceive the value of Ultra-HD was one of the key issues on the minds of attendees to NAB 2013 in Las Vegas
the product could take in and output 4K over IP. We are the only company doing this.” That’s not entirely true. BBC R&D has been beavering away for 18 months to develop Stagebox, a £6,600 camera- mounted IP connectivity device that enables remote control of the camera head and other functions over the internet. HD today, it can be scaled to accommodate 4K. According to BBC R&D technology transfer manager Nicolas Pinks, “linear workflows driven by SDI will change. We hope that by introducing Stagebox to market we will see the big broadcast equipment companies changing. “Sony’s IP55 is a proprietary solution that operates point to point,” he adds. “I want multiple cameras located anywhere in the world to be multicast-enabled.”
BBC R&D has been beavering away to develop Stagebox, a £6,600 camera- mounted IP connectivity device that enables remote control of the camera head
retaining the source files because you don’t know how that may be used in future.” Broadcasters, though, need to prioritise the transition to multiscreen delivery which means producing more content without additional cost, burdened as many are with recent investments in HD infrastructure. That’s why, despite all the emphasis on Ultra-HD as the premium image quality, there is a need for cost-effective 4K product which doesn’t disrupt existing workflows.
Populating the 4K production chain
Giving the market an inexpensive entrée into Ultra-HD production is Blackmagic Design which unveiled a £2,500 Production Camera with Super 35 size sensor, a £1,300 live production switcher and a £1,300 converter for connecting cameras long distances away from the switcher.
Key is 4K output over a single 6G-SDI cable, explained CEO Grant Petty. “When new video resolutions are introduced for the first time, initially customers are not really producing much content in that new format. However customers like to have future proof hardware so we think 6G- SDI is ideal because any 6G-SDI product can simply plug into regular SD and HD-SDI based systems. Customers can use our products for SD or HD work, but then are ready the moment they need to do an Ultra HD job.” The firm’s initial target market is corporate and live event AV, where “there is big and immediate demand for Ultra-HD for live events, houses of worship and digital signage,” noted senior comms manager Patrick Hussey. The Australian company will
be keeping its fingers crossed that the manufacturing issues which dogged shipment of its BMCC 2.5K camera are not repeated.
Remarkably, discussions are already turning to the ‘full fat’ level of Ultra-HD. NHK plans to skip 4K and go straight to 8K with domestic TX tests coinciding with the Rio Olympics 2016
“We hope we won’t have the same problem with the new cameras,” said Stuart Ashton, Europe director. “We’ve done significant evaluation on the sensor so we are a lot more confident it will ship when we say it will ship.” Sony dismisses the 6G-SDI
approach, predicating the topology of Ultra-HD video contribution on IT and IP networking. “The question we are tackling is how you integrate 4K into an IP workflow,” said Olivier Bovis, Sony’s head of AV Media. “The core technology of the NXL-IP55 [a video network unit for transferring multiple HD image, audio and control signals over cable] is fundamentally 4K ready. Today we can take in one HD feed and deliver three HD feeds downstream to enable remote production. A future version of
Panasonic was also previewing a video-over-IP capability. “SDI is still used widely and is very reliable but there is a limit on expanding it to traffic high resolutions,” said Kunihko Miyagi, president of the company’s imaging division. “We are working to transition all our product from systems cameras to switcher to IP. The issue to overcome is making sure transmission is reliable.”
Putting together the 4K OB:
For live broadcast, For-A’s 900fps FT-ONE and Vision Research’s 1,000fps Phantom Flex4K (due IBC2013) are the first to bring 4K super slow- motion action. For-A debuted a RAW to DPX converter (FT1- READ) for the FT-ONE, which turns the original file format into one widely accepted by other equipment for grading or editing giving the product an application outside of live sports.
Photo: Jake Young
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