September 2014
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from the Commonwealth Games illustrates the issue. It tested a complete IP production circuit from lens to display but with one missing link: in the absence of IP-connected cameras it had to begin with conventional 3G-SDI. Futuresource puts mainstream adoption of IP production tech at two years out at the earliest. “This will be no impediment to early adopters of UHD,” suggests the analyst’s head of broadcast equipment, Adam Cox, who expects the first European pay-TV 4K services to launch mid-2015.
“They will take an initial hit and use the quad 4K solution,” he says. “Pay-TV operators have an imperative to keep their content relevant and in mature markets like the UK such a move [to 4K] would be more about reducing churn.” The BBC is among those hedging its bets with tests of a hybrid broadcast infrastructure over IP and DTT. It made the first of these in 4K by taking the feed of three matches from the Brazil World Cup finals over satellite and into a UK fibre optic network, and set off via over-the-air transmitters, performing the same test at the Commonwealth Games from Glasgow.
Hybrid IP and DTT infrastructure “By experimenting with both routes, we can bring to life our vision of a hybrid distribution infrastructure,” explained BBC CTO Matthew Postgate. “The strength of DTT is that it is able to reach many users concurrently. Equally, an IP route might be more suited to on demand delivery.”
At the Commonwealth Games, the BBC went with an all IP UHD live production using a suite of BBC R&D-built prototypes
At the Glasgow Games, though, the BBC went a step further with an all IP UHD live production using a suite of BBC R&D-built prototypes including an IP-conversion unit, IP-vision mixer, and IP monitor stack. Crucially, BBC R&D needs the IP Studio system to work in multiple resolutions. “Although the source media is 4K, one of the things we want to do is provide the right form of media to particular production devices,” said Phil Tudor, principal technician on the project. “It’s not always appropriate to send a 4K signal to a multiviewer, for example, or a tablet where the
size of screen is a fraction of full screen Ultra HD. So, IP Studio will create a set of streams. It will be 4K in and on the network, but there will also be an HD feed and a sub-HD proxy so that content is suitable for different devices. Working in IP Studio, production staff can access any of those streams.” For example, if a producer is working from a tablet in order to make first assembly edits, they will require a lower resolution preview suitable for a smaller screen and once the edit decision is made, it is pushed back into the system and the 4K signal is cut
[Picture credit: BBC R&D
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