08 Executive Summary Embracing change


High dynamic range game changer


Bill Baggelaar SVP Technology, Sony Pictures Entertainment


Region: United States Interviewed by: Adrian Pennington


A studio veteran who served 13 years at Warner Bros and the last three at Sony Pictures Entertainment, Bill Baggelaar has witnessed a lot of


technology changes such as the gradual passing of film to digital. But what excites him today is the tremendous creative potential of High Dynamic Range (HDR).


“This is a game changing technology for the industry,” he declares. “A whole host of things upstream and downstream come into play. You partner HDR with 4K and you have a compelling experience for the consumer with images and


stories that we've not been able to tell before. I think a lot of the exploration into HDR is still to come as the technology emerges.”


Higher dynamic range offers a new level of tools to the creative “and it can tell better stories that make the consumer want to own the new devices and services that they can experience them on,” says Baggelaar.


As a key executive within the industry's most vocal cheerleader for 4K content, Baggelaar is aware that he has a balance to tread. “Resolution is a component and obviously driving some sales and driving


SDI will die


Head of Cognizant’s broadcast consulting practice, John Footen also serves as co-chair of the Framework for Interoperable Media Services (FIMS), joint taskforce of the Advanced Media Workflow Association (AMWA) and is a member of SMPTE where he chairs the 34CS Media Systems Control and Services technology committee. If we need an expert on the future of SDI, Footen is that person. “SDI will die. It was a


technology that was the only way to accomplish the design goals we had in systems in the past, but IP methods now can meet our needs. In fact, in many ways, IP has marked advantages. For example, new feeds do not automatically mean a need to add more infrastructure. Another scalability benefit is inherent support for higher bit rate formats like 4K. “Aside from widely promoted


technical and cost benefits there is another factor in why SDI must die. Our changing workforce. Subject matter experts in traditional broadcast are becoming harder to come by while IT technology experts are


more easily found. This does not mean that broadcast IT approaches are just like standard IT approaches, but it does mean that the core base of technical knowledge is easier to find. “Much of what we need for


SDI to die is already available. There are hybrid SDI/IP technologies available to ease the transition. There are standards for transport and more on the way. What is missing is the full plethora of production technologies – especially for live TV – that are IP native. But that is a statement that will not be true for long. “The economic benefits of IP


are justified: I think it can be argued that making further significant investments in SDI infrastructure should no longer happen. IP technology is ubiquitous and cheaper than ever. Moving to an IP based infrastructure will allow broadcasters to converge their current, parallel video and data networks into a single IP/ethernet network. The move away from specialised hardware to pure software has the potential to greatly


higher quality content whether that's new release theatrical or TV content or new direct to OTT services,” he says. “The driving goal of higher resolution is to help create a higher quality product which is a first step in a higher quality overall consumer experience but I don't think resolution alone is the long term play.”


SPE-owned post division Colorworks has been working with expanded colour gamut and HDR some time. “We've known that a rec.709 colour gamut is not a complete enough experience and we need to enhance the quality in some other way. We are able to work in HDR today, the process is not trivial but it is fairly easy on the post side.” There is an issue on the display side (a lack of monitors capable of showing high contrasts) but the real hurdle, he says, “is devising a consolidated strategy for the industry that allows us all to deliver it in one way. This is hotly debated on the tech side. The HDR debate is not about its possibility, but about which solution and path to take to the consumer.” “Certainly if we had HDR in the [UHD] format from the get-


reduce the cost for network origination. “Not only can traditional


broadcast kit vendors survive and profit, it is almost certain that they will. This is because the IP domain is just an infrastructure layer. You still need to do 'stuff' in real world environments. This is where the traditional vendors come in. They understand the workflows and other needs of broadcasters. They are the only ones who can effectively pull together all the commodity technology into kits that do actual broadcasting. “With 4K and 8K on the


horizon, the need to operate in a compressed domain is imminent and it might as well be tackled sooner rather than later. 4K adoption’s main impact on the conversion to IP is the decision of compressed versus uncompressed. “For SDI, you have to bond


several SDI ports together. The same applies to IP when uncompressed. However, if using compressed, you are able to use a single 10G line to handle multiple 4K streams. By switching over to IP and already settling on a compression standard, the infrastructure and environment will already be set up to support 4K when you need it.”


John Footen AVP Broadcast and Advertising, Cognizant


Region: United States Interviewed by: Adrian Pennington


theibcdaily


“The HDR debate is not about its possibility


, but


about which solution and path to take to the consumer”


go things would have been easier, but this is not an unresolvable problem.” Baggelaar adds: “It is difficult for vendors to put out the be all and end all UHD and HFR display on day one. On the plus side there is some growth in the UHD spec so that the industry can come up with the right solution that provides value to consumers so that they see the benefit in upgrading over time.” When it comes to 4K it is perhaps surprising that not all SPE productions are an automatic Ultra HD commission. “We are pushing to do as much in 4K as we can but we pick and choose on a show by show basis,” he says. When partnering on co-pros there is a lot of consideration into what titles get


“T


the UHD treatment and which are best done in HD. There are also creative preferences for particular acquisition media. Also on Baggelaar's radar is experimentation with cloud services for production. Sony's professional technology arm is developing the Ci platform. “We're leveraging the cloud for those things that are appropriate such as trying to harness the power of a distributed workforce shooting in one location, VFX in another and editorial in another,” he explains. “Cloud offers opportunities to leverage that without a lot of the effort we go through today. I don't know how close we are to an end-to-end cloud production but it will become more of a trend over time.”


raditional kit


vendors can not only survive and profit... it is almost certain that they will”


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