Inter BEE 2017 Highlights 8K, 360 Tech NHK offers peek at production unit for 2018 Winter Olympics coverage By Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director
Friday, November 17, 2017 - 10:23 am
Print This Story
Story Highlights
The 2017 Inter BEE Conference in Japan highlighted technology developments on the show floor and also featured a mix of Japanese- and English-speaking panelists discussing the future of the industry.
Not surprisingly, NHK's efforts around 8K were of interest around the show floor and in the sessions. Yuji Yamana, senior manager, Planning Division, Engineering Administration Department, cites 8K cameras offered by such manufacturers as Ikegami, Sony, Astro Design (which introduced an 8K camcorder at the show), and Hitachi as examples of manufacturing momentum. It's the kind of momentum that, in a few years, will lead to increased competition in the marketplace, which will spur development of TV-production-equipment features and also drive costs down.
NHK's booth made sure everyone knew about the launch of an 8K satellite service in 2018.
We will start satellite broadcasting of 8K beginning on Dec. 1, 2018, says Yumana. Now we are preparing our equipment, productions, and transmission [facilities].
NHK's booth at the show was highlighted by a full-size 8K remote-production unit. NHK will have two of the units at the Winter Olympics in PyeongChang in February, and they will be the backbone of eight hours of live 8K/HDR coverage each day.
We will have a total of four OB 8K trucks by the end of 2019, he adds. We also have three audio trucks and are building 8K studios inside NHK headquarters.
The workflows are currently baseband because the reliability of IP 8K workflows is still not there. But the next trucks are expected to have a mix of IP-based and 12-Gbps SDI signal transport. In addition, compression formats like Tico and VC-2 are under consideration in order to lower the current 48-Gbps data rate per signal.
One of the exciting developments on the floor was a demonstration of a product at the Canon booth with a working title of Free Viewpoint Video System. The system is the manufacturer's effort to create an alternative to the Intel freeD system. Both systems require more than 30 cameras to be placed around a stadium or arena to capture 360 degrees of images of the action on the field. The goal is to capture enough information to allow an operator to create a replay that can show what happened from all angles via a virtual camera that spins around the action.
The Canon approach is different from Intel's, placing a greater emphasis on creating 360 replays that have moving video rather than a freeze frame.
The system uses 30 cameras around the stadium to shoot the game simultaneously, and synchronization is very important, says Tsuyoshi Wakazono PhD, assistant manager, Canon SV Business Development Project. Once we have those images, we create 3D models of the players and objects, and then we can paste the images around those frames.
The result is a full-motion-video replay that allows a virtual camera to sweep around and dive anywhere into the field of play. The demonstration at the booth featured shots from within an actual soccer game that seemed to have been captured by a camera operator running around the pitch with a Steadicam, weaving in and out of players, and ultimately having the ball hit straight into the camera.
The technology is still very much in its early days, and rendering out the replays takes a day, but the Canon team is hard at work looking to reduce that turnaround time to make the technology more practical.
A Focus on Storage and Global Delivery of Multiple Versions
Among the highlights off the floor was a presentation by BBC Head of Production Standards Andy Quested on the Digital Production Partnership (DPP) and the use of IMF to streamline storage of programming destined for delivery around the globe via broadcast, cinema, or streaming.
Inter BEE is the Japanese version of the NAB trade show.
You need a high-quality mastering format that can be extended beyond a three- to five-year window, he explained. Different versions of the same content are our future, and, as a public service, we are under pressure to produce more and more content for less and less money. And the audience expects content delivery on any device.
He noted that the 50th-anniversary episode of Dr. Who was delivered in 80 editorial and technical versions around the world. There were six core versions, three in 2D at 1080p and different frame rates, and three in 3D HD - each delivered in five languages and various (and large-bandwidth) cinema versions. The storage required by all those formats was very large because the episode was 77 minutes long. The TV versions required 4 TB of storage, the cinema versions 67 TB, for a total of 71 TB.
And 90% of the content is repeated. There had to be a better way to maximize efficiency, Quested said. So the BBC, along with DPP and the EBU, looked at creating an Interoperable Mastering Format, or IMF.
IMF is a business-to-business high-quality mastering format in which a program is divided into components (opening credits, the show itself, end credits, etc.) and an XML document is used to bring those components together to create a composition playlist that makes it easier to deliver more-personalized content to a TV, cinema, or streaming distribution partner.
The CPL looks like a nonlinear-editing project, Quested added, but those systems are proprietary while IMF is a set of standards devoted to mastering and versioning content.
The impact on storage requirements is dramatic. For a program like Dr. Who, the overall storage needs drop from 71 TB to just under 3 TB.
That is a saving of 96% and is why IMF is an incredibly powerful tool, he said. Our trial pilot for IM
Most recent headlines
04/08/2024
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, is excited to announce Santiago Solanas as its new Chief Executive Officer (CEO)....
03/06/2024
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, a...
29/04/2024
Premier Sports, an Irish-based premium sports broadcaster, has selected QuickLink's Remote Commentary solution for introducing professional, high-quality re...
29/04/2024
The awards celebrate the craft of behind-the-scenes TV talent and the best programmes of 2023
By Matthew Corrigan
Published: April 29, 2024
The awards cel...
29/04/2024
The team at Milk had to create and deliver the VFX and environment work for the royal residences featured in the drama from scratch
By Jenny Priestley
Publis...
29/04/2024
CEO Bob Bakish is expected to leave the company as early as today, with a new leadership committee likely to run the company on an interim basis
By Jenny Pries...
29/04/2024
Albena Ivanova, director, media and entertainment and strategic products at CHAOS Media talks to TVBEurope about her route into the industry
By TVBEurope Staff...
29/04/2024
The acquisition gives Grand Technix the opportunity to expand its footprint in the audio visual and broadcast technology sectors
By Jenny Priestley
Published...
29/04/2024
29 04 2024 - Media release Screen Australia announces James J. Robinson's debut feature First Light
First Light
Principal Photography is underway on Firs...
29/04/2024
Capitol Broadcasting recently became the inaugural company honored with inductio...
28/04/2024
Mediahaus delivers the first SRT live-streaming sports production over 5G with U...
27/04/2024
On April 26, L3Harris Chair and CEO Christopher E. Kubasik joined CNBC's Mor...
27/04/2024
PORTLAND, Oregon Audinate Group Limited, the developer of the Dante AV-over-IP solution, announced significant new additions to Dante Connect, its cloud-based D...
27/04/2024
TORONTO Bell Media has launched 10 English and French-language FAST channels featuring entertainment, factual, news, and sports programming. The new free stream...
27/04/2024
An extensive new analysis of the news segments in the broadcast evening news programs of ABC, CBS, NBC and PBS has found that broadcasters devoted most of their...
27/04/2024
GERMANTOWN, Md. EchoStar's Hughes Network Systems has opened a new manufacturing facility and private 5G incubation center in Germantown, Maryland....
27/04/2024
Harry Pappas, one of three brothers who founded Pappas Telecasting Companies in 1971, died April 24. He was 78 years old....
27/04/2024
ATLANTA and LONDON Mexican telecommunications and broadcast company Televisa has selected Synamedia for an overhaul of its broadcast distribution....
27/04/2024
Participate in the Survey - The Impact of AI on Media and the Creative Industry
Pascal Wagner April 26, 2024
0 Comments
By participating in this surve...
27/04/2024
SDVI Rally Access Workstation Earns Two Top Awards at 2024 NAB Show
Brie Clayton April 26, 2024
0 Comments
SDVI, the leading platform provider for clo...
27/04/2024
Berklee's Music and Health Institute Launches Community Health Musician Cert...
27/04/2024
Charter Communications reported higher first-quarter profits despite continued cord-cutting and competition for broadband customers....
27/04/2024
Two environmentally-focused groups are partnering to engage the unscripted TV world in finding better ways to address climate change. Reality of Change is an ec...
27/04/2024
Sarah Garcia has been promoted to weekend anchor at KTLM McAllen, Texas, known as Telemundo 40. Starting April 27, she will anchor Noticias Telemundo 40 weekend...
27/04/2024
CBS Sports said it launched a new 24-hour free, ad supported streaming television (FAST) channel devoted to the UEFA Champions League....
27/04/2024
Comcast chairman and CEO Brian Roberts received $35.4 million in compensation in 2023, up 11% from the previous year, according to a proxy statement filed by th...
27/04/2024
Art Happens Here With John Lithgow, which sees the actor study dance, ceramics, silk-screen printing and vocal jazz with students in Los Angeles, debuts on PBS ...
27/04/2024
Remember Leave It to Beaver? Bewitched? Dragnet? When cable ratings were rising?...
27/04/2024
Next up for the weekend binge at Catchy Comedy is Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. Every weekend, Catchy Comedy features The Catchy Binge, a marathon of a classic sitcom....
26/04/2024
Sundance Film Festival CDMX 2024 kicks-off today with screenings in 5 theaters in Mexico City and the opening-night film, FRIDA, directed by Carla Guti rrez...
26/04/2024
[Editor's Note: This interview is part of a larger feature about the women d...
26/04/2024
Once again this year, SGL Carbon opened its doors to interested children and young people. On the occasion of the German Girls and Boys Day, which took place on...
26/04/2024
Orders1 of $5.5 billion; book-to-bill of 1.06x
Revenue of $5.2 billion, up 17%,...
26/04/2024
Five Considerations For Communications Modernization In The 21st Century
In the digital-enabled battlespace, the Joint Force needs to shoot, move and communica...
26/04/2024
CBS Sports has launched Champions League as a new, 24-hour streaming channel that will serve as the year-round destination for nonstop highlights of the UEFA ...
26/04/2024
Despite tough competition in the streaming space, Roku reported solid results in Q1 2024, beating revenue expectations, with total net revenue up 19% YoY to $88...
26/04/2024
LONDON AND TORONTO Pinewood Toronto Studios has appointed Sarah Farrell as general manager of the Studios in downtown Toronto....
26/04/2024
Quantum to Offer Advanced Filesharing Technology and Performance in StorNext and...
26/04/2024
FilmLight Colour Awards welcomes 2024 entries and introduces new Emerging Talen...
26/04/2024
Picture Shop Announces Chris Evans as Head of Unscripted
Brie Clayton April 26, 2024
0 Comments
Picture Shop announced Chris Evans will lead Unscripte...
26/04/2024
Participate in a Survey - The Impact of AI on Media and the Creative Industry
Pascal Wagner April 26, 2024
0 Comments
By participating in this survey,...
26/04/2024
Toy maker Mattel said it is working with Samsung to launch its first free ad-supported streaming television (FAST) channels later this year....
26/04/2024
Trusted Media Brands (TMB) said it named Marty Moe as president....
26/04/2024
Ron Howard is the director on Jim Henson Idea Man, a documentary that premieres on Disney Plus May 31. Henson of course created Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, Big...
26/04/2024
The ice continues to melt under the regional sports network business as the Seattle Kraken of the National Hockey League have made a long-term deal to broadcast...
26/04/2024
Heading into the upfronts, Warner Bros. Discovery said it launched Olli, a first-party data platform advertiser can use for converged, targeted advertising camp...
26/04/2024
CBS has renewed the drama The Equalizer, which will see season five on in 2024-2025. Queen Latifah stars....
26/04/2024
The CW has entered into an exclusive multiyear broadcast partnership for the Miss USA Pageant and the Miss Teen USA Pageant. The 73rd Miss USA Pageant will air ...
26/04/2024
Fuse Media isn't mincing words in a campaign urging its young viewers to register and participate in the 2024 elections....
Inter BEE 2017 Highlights 8K, 360 Tech NHK offers peek at production unit for 2018 Winter Olympics coverage By Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director 
