28 Saturday 14.09.13 theibcdaily Embracing Ultra-HD
Ultra-HD is a natural, graceful evolution of HD and one broadcasters should not be afraid of, says Matrox Video technical marketing manager Dan Maloney
Broadcasters have nothing to fear from Ultra-HD. The coming transition will be much easier to implement than the one from SD to HD. Most of the broadcast world
began its arduous migration to HD only with additional motivation from national governments, and depending on where you live, that transformation may still be ongoing. There were plenty of hurdles to overcome but the most significant pain points were the analogue-to-digital transition, 4:3-to-16:9 aspect ratio reformatting, and the need for more bandwidth (fatter pipes) from acquisition through delivery. The first hurdle was the
most significant, involving the fundamentals of acquisition, production, delivery and consumption of video. Facilities had to be equipped
and employees trained to deal with digital video workflows, which was very costly. The second hurdle was
rooted in the tube-to-panel display aspect ratio disparity. The 4:3-to-16:9 migration meant that content edited for display on a 4:3 tube had to be compromised to fill the 16:9 screen of a panel and, conversely, content edited for display on a panel had to be altered to fill a tube screen. To this day, the majority of television viewers experience some level of format mismatch and a less than ideal viewing experience when channel surfing. The fact that there were two possible panel resolutions to choose from also contributed to the variables influencing transition decisions. Infrastructure to support HD video was the last hurdle to
overcome. Once the transition to digital was accomplished; increasing bandwidth to support HD throughout the plant and out to the viewer was solved purely through technology upgrades. General purpose IT technologies, compression technologies, over-the-air infrastructure, telco bandwidth availability, and inexpensive HD panels evolved rapidly, driving costs down for all. Will the transition to 4K have
the same growing pains? Not by a long shot! Only the fatter pipe hurdle must be overcome. In some parts of the broadcast workflow it already has been, in others it is just around the corner. Options abound. Given a choice, people
always watch HD over SD, and given a choice they will also watch Ultra-HD over HD. There is certainly a
questionmark surrounding the nature of Ultra-HD delivery – however once available, it will be adopted by a subset of viewers, whichever incarnation(s) it takes. Right now, broadcasters
should consider acquiring their most valuable content in Ultra- HD to ensure that they can extract the maximum value from this asset in the long run. Affordable, professional 4K+ acquisition is a reality today with native Ultra-HD post- production systems and Ultra-HD displays on the way. Matrox and our technology
Dan Maloney: ‘Professional 4K+ acquisition is a reality today’
partners will help empower the transition to 4K. We see Ultra- HD as a natural and graceful evolution of HD, one that broadcasters should embrace because it represents additional payback for the expensive, arduous transition to HD they have just been through. At IBC2013, we are
exhibiting a suite of 4K production and post production technologies that will help broadcasters plot a relatively straightforward course to Ultra-HD. 7.B29
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