20 TVBEurope
www.tvbeurope.com July2013
“People call it 4K or 4096 pixels; we prefer UHDTV-1” —Richard Salmon
networks, for both live and VoD services. The Ultra HD video player will be a big issue to deal with in the months to come.” Richard Lindsay-Davies
is chief executive officer of the Digital TV Group. His presentation provided a welcome dose of real-world implementation experience — particularly following the protracted resolution of the ‘HD Ready’ concept into the marketplace in recent years. His words hung heavy with caution. “Where the DTG is strong is
very much having an eye on how we practically deploy that last leg down to the consumer. Whether we like it or not, UHD displays are coming to market very very quickly. My guess is, just as in the HD Ready period, we’re likely to be moving in the same direction with Ultra HD. So the message that I want to get across today is that Ultra HD is much much more than evolution. We’ve got to be very clear as to how we define that step-change. “One of the parallels I often
use is Apple. When I pick up my Apple iPhone I know I can make phone calls on it; I have no illusion, when I pick up my iPod, that it’s also a telephone. What we need to be very careful about is that as we make this next step-change in television, we understand perfectly the right way forward for the consumer and also the right timing. “At the moment there’s a
great deal of confusion about
what the Ultra HD logo or mark will be. The other thing that’s very important is colour space; this is a good opportunity to improve the colour gamut going forward and we should think long and hard about what spec we choose, both for the industry and the consumer. “We do know, from our
experience at the London Olympics for example, that frame rate is critical. Bit depth is also an issue. 3D support? We’re still feeling our way somewhat from a service point of view in terms of autostereoscopic consumer proposition. “Generally, there’s as much opportunity to cause confusion as there is opportunity to create exciting new products and services. I think there is a very good window, in the next year or so, for us to get this right. We need to get it right. “The demand from consumers is definitely going to be there — certainly no question of that. Sets are definitely getting larger and more powerful. But it may take 18-36 months before it is technically and commercially broadcast ready. As an industry, when we move from HD to UHD, we need to do it in a well-rounded, organised way.” “What’s happening at SMPTE?,” asked Richard Salmon, lead research engineer, Displays and TV Beyond HD at BBC Future Media. Salmon was representing the work of the
maybe. UHD needs a higher frame rate. We’ve got flicker, judder, motion smear — all are more obvious. The current standard supports up to 120fps. So what [TV set] manufacturers are doing producing sets at 30Hz only — when the current standard supports 120fps — is a very good question. “What’s important is the
Richard Salmon: “The problem is that UHD is going to be disruptive to the industry”
SMPTE UHD Ecosystem Group at Beyond HD Masters. “The study group on the UHD TV ecosystem is very important regarding the development of standards for carrying UHD over serial digital interfaces — and new sync and time code standards are important especially if we move to high frame rates. Should we still be using black and burst to time up signals? We’re probably moving to do more stuff over IP, production in IP networks. And [we are developing] a joint task force on networked streamed media. “Why does all this matter? The
problem is that UHD is going to be disruptive to the industry. Users need to think about planning their infrastructure investment very carefully. Some users want to start to introduce some aspects of UHD into the shorter term. Will people want
to move whole sections of their workflow over as quickly as possible? We shall see. “So where are we now? SMPTE has been standardising UHD since 2008. What we’re now doing is looking at those documents to harmonise them with the ITU 2020 UHD standard. The work of the Ecosystem Group is looking at the complete end-to-end chain, focusing particularly on the production environment, and particulaly on UHDTV-1. People call it 4K or 4096 pixels; we prefer UHDTV-1. Up to 120fps, that is already in the standards. “Frame rate? That’s been my passion for a number of years! The problem we have is the current consumer interface is only up to 30fps. The Confederations Cup is going to be shooting at 60fps, 50.94
WHICH DISTRIBUTION platform is best placed now and in future to deliver cost-effective Ultra HD? What investments do broadcasters need to make in transmission/reception — where and how much?
Beyond HD distribution: Satellite, cable, broadband or terrestrial? David Wood: “Just recently
some very great progress has been made in the DVB Project”
effect on the viewer. Where there is a large difference between the resolution of a static and dynamic picture, this can lead to a feeling of nausea. This was a problem for HD — it’s going to be an enormous problem for 4K. Therefore the higher the static resolution, the higher the dynamic resolution must be for comfortable and lifelike images. “There are all sorts of issues if you have a frame rate below 100fps. The work NHK have done shows that above 100fps is required; they have chosen 120fps. “Regarding realtime interfaces, we’re getting more and more raw data rate. UHDTV in a facility needs a single wire interface. If building a new studio infrastructure, future-proof it with single mode fibre. No matter what you want to carry, you’ll be able to put it on single mode fibre. “SMPTE is working to
provide new standards and recommended practices to future-proof upgraded facilities. This work is timely and urgently needed.” — Fergal Ringrose
Laterally and vertically, if you have a huge screen it’s nice to know the height of the source of the sound. But what we have essentially is speakers speakers everywhere and not a drop to drink! “The TV surround, the bit
Dr DavidWood is a consultant to EBU Technology and Innovation, and also chair of CM-UHDTV & DM-3DTV at the DVB Project. He first asked who needs to care, in relation to the various standardisation issues? ITU-R for fundamental parameters; DVB for delivery formats; EBU for broadcaster interests; SMPTE for production systems; MPEG/ITU for compression formats; HDMI for consumer interfaces; and BDA for packaged media. “There are two jobs essentially to be done,” said Wood. “One is to define the basic parameters of the
UHDTV systems and these have to last for very many decades. And that’s what the ITU has been doing, around the UHD-C (conventional) profile and the UHD-H (high) profile. “The second job is to define
exactly what a broadcasting profile is, taking from those ITU UHDTV parameters. That’s what the DVB Project has been doing. And I think just recently some very great progress has been made in the DVB Project —
although there’s a lot of talking and discussion to be done, towards a two-tier system; one that can be used right now and one for a few years time when integrated circuits allow. “What kind of sound goes with ultra high definition? Please don’t ask! It’s a bit of an M.E.S.S. There is no agreement on a new system yet, despite perhaps six years of discussion. “But large screens do make height localisation more valuable.
around the screen: is that the thing that includes the speakers — or are there speakers around the room in the traditional way? We have been looking at three different approaches; channel-based, scene-based and object-based systems. But not all is lost! There have been proposals to the ITU for a universal speaker location system, a way to identify where the speakers are. “Then there’s the frame rate issue: this is what you need to remember from today folks! Frame rates define the sharpness/judder compromise of moving objects. Frame rates
affect the ‘realness’ of the image. Frame rate affects image flicker. “We’re also using UHD as a
reason for begging people not to take away the terrestrial space. We say that in order to future- proof broadcasting, to allow it to have any future at all, we must keep the terrestrial spectrum for broadcasting and not give it to wireless broadband. We must hold onto the spectrum: and I hope there’s someone from Ofcom in this audience!” “Is HD enough when
we reach screen sizes of 55-60 inches?,” asked speaker Michel Chabrol, director Digital Cinema, 3D & Ultra HD at Eutelsat. “The answer is No, so there is a need for something beyond HD. “Ultra High Definition can be split into two parts: UHD-1 or 4K TV, which is made of Continued on page 22
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