24 TVBEurope 4K: Beyond HD
Commanding the pitch Directing sport in 4K
Does working in Ultra High Definition affect the way directors view their task?
Philip Stevens talks to those who have made 4K their palette
MUCH HAS rightly been made of the technical achievements in transmitting both sporting and other events in 4K. The world’s first 4K live rugby match — a Saracens versus Gloucester game — was captured in Ultra High Definition (UHD) 60p and transmitted from London to Amsterdam during the IBC2013. The match was shot on three Sony F55 4K cameras fitted with Sony CA-4000 Fibre Transmission Camera Adaptors which carried the images to the 4K capable Telegenic OB truck. The output was transmitted over BT fibre and the IntelsatONE network, then uplinked to Intelsat’s 905 satellite using Newtec equipment. Delegates at IBC then flocked to the three venues within the exhibition centre to view the stunning pictures.
More recently, on 26 April, a German Bundesliga football match between Bayern Munich and SV Werder Bremen was covered in 4K by Sky Deutschland — the world’s first 2160p50 UHD live broadcast in HEVC. This was closely followed on 17 May by another 4K transmission, this time featuring the German Cup Final between Dortmund and FC Bayern Munich, played in Berlin. Both games were broadcast as a test over satellite. And, of course, coverage of some World Cup matches includes the UHD treatment. But beyond the technical achievements, there are production considerations that are equally important. To some degree, programme directors had to rethink their coverage when the switch was made from
The camera positions selected for first German football match in April. Cameras 3 and 4 are shown in ‘conventional’ positions
‘traditional’ coverage — the beauty of 4K detail means a shot can be held for far longer because there is more visible information for the viewer to enjoy in each framed shot. And with fewer cameras, vision mixing is a great deal easier. With 4K generally associated with very big TV screens, but with viewers also inclined to watch on other devices such as tablets or mobiles, do those other screens make any difference to the way coverage is directed? “It is most suited to large screens, and my instinct is to produce programme images to suit that format,” said Inglis. “The monitors in the scanner were 4K — they have to be. Unfortunately the most important monitors — the camera operators’ viewfinders — were not 4K. I believe they most certainly should be.”
“Ultra High Definition is a beautiful format for live sport. It’s the
Based on the experience of the April game, director Alberts relocated cameras 3 and 4 to these new positions to gain better 4K coverage
SD to HD. And of course, 3D has to be treated in a different way from 2D. So how did the directors of these ground- breaking 4K broadcasts go about their task?
The rugby challenge BT Sport’s Gordon Inglis was responsible for the Saracens/ Gloucester rugby match coverage. “We used three 4K cameras with different limited range 4K Fujinion lenses on each. Because we only
used three heads, the main consideration regarding the placing of the cameras was locating them in a position to suit the event and to get as many different, appropriate, shots as I could from each.”
Inglis explains that covering a rugby match means that the rhythm of the cutting is more obvious than is required by a more random-play football match. “Each play in rugby has more of a repeated two stage process. The ball is either being
contested for in a fixed scrum or ruck, before getting passed along the line or booted up the park. I quickly detected I could happily cut into the low angle 22m line cameras with tighter lenses when play had the reduced velocity of a scrum or ruck, and then cut back to the gently panning main wide shot up on the grandstand gantry for all other elements of play.” He goes on to say that despite the reduced number of cameras — as compared with
beginning of the creation of a new language of sports production” Bill Scanlon
So, having experienced his first 4K show, what does Inglis feel about the format? “I foresee times when 4K will outshine HD broadcasts of events, but am wary that not all television would be better off with this format. For instance, recent events like the Chelsea Flower Show and the Carl Froch v George Groves title boxing fight at Wembley would be super- enhanced by the clarity of 4K detail, but fast-moving sports like horse-racing might not.”
www.tvbeurope.com July 2014
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