As demand for 4K TV grows, content providers must meet the challenge

Ready or not, 4K is coming. Bringing it within reach of consumers while also turning a profit for the content provider is the present-day challenge.

While many debate the timing and practicality of UltraHD or 4K television in consumers' homes in the immediate future, savvy broadcasters and video production professionals around the world are preparing various strategies for producing 4K content and distributing it into consumers' living rooms. Virtually everyone is in agreement that 3840 pixels 2160 lines of resolution, or basically four times the pixels of the best 1080p HD sets, makes a better picture. Bringing it within reach of a large segment of consumers while also turning a profit for the content provider is the present-day challenge. Cost is certainly a limiting factor when making a 4K purchase decision, but the current lack of 4K content is also a hurdle that must be overcome.

4k is 3840x2160, basically four times the resolution of 1080p.

Consumer electronics (CE) manufacturers recognize the price barrier and have made significant progress towards making 4KTV affordable. In fact, the prices of 4K compatible TV sets are now within reach for many. A 55-inch Sony 4K TV sells for under $5,000US and a 39-inch, 4K-compatible television from Seiki Digital for $699. Citing this reduction in pricing, the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) projects shipments of Ultra HD sets to reach 57,000 units-with shipment revenue to earn $314 million-this year alone. By 2015, that number could increase to more than one million units shipped.

To stimulate 4K TV sales, like the early days of HDTV, more content is needed. To make Ultra HD home releases, studios need 4K masters and digital intermediates, whether scanned from 35mm film or shot in digital 4K. The film industry, the CEA said, is well positioned to rerelease many films in true Ultra HD resolution and to produce native content. Likewise, broadcasters and production facilities have to begin experimenting with the format for their daily programs, including the use of 4K titles and station IDs, virtual sets, weather and other news-related graphics, and native resolution video content.

To this end, Vizrt, based in Bergen, Norway, has enhanced its popular Viz Engine, a powerful rendering platform and real-time compositor of graphics and video to meet the new 4K challenge. Petter Ole Jakobsen, CTO of Vizrt, said that as more TVs penetrate the market, broadcasters will be forced to offer native content in order to stay one step ahead of their competitors. Vizrt has tools that address the entire content chain, from ingest, and editing, to graphics insertion and playout.

Using the Viz Engine broadcasters can continue producing HD content today and then migrate to 4K when ready.

Consumers always want the best and will tune into the channel that has the best content, he said. It's that simple. I believe 4K TV will happen faster than some people think, it's just a matter of time and planning correctly for this inevitability.

He added that retail outlets and other forms of digital signage might be the first practical implementation for 4K monitors.

Using Vizrt's strategy, broadcasters can continue producing HD content as they do today, and then migrate to 4K in a slow and steady progression. Users of the latest Viz Engine are technically ready for the coming of 4K.

However, the large file sizes of 4K content can be difficult to handle, especially with today's existing infrastructure. For distribution, the use of next-generation compression schemes (e.g., H.265 HEVC) will certainly help move files along. On the production side, the efficient use of network bandwidth is critical. Vizrt addresses this with the Viz Media Engine, their digital asset management system. Editors and producers to use proxy video to edit with while the invaluable edit information is stored as metadata, and then instead of rendering massive 4k files as a finished package, the video and graphics content are played in real-time through the Viz Engine. This non-conform workflow takes the EDL information from the editors, the graphics from the producers and puts it all together when triggered from the control room live.

At various industry trade shows, Vizrt has been demonstrating its concepts for 4K production and post with a 4K video wall inside its exhibit stand, rendered by a single Viz Engine. The demonstration illustrates the power and improved resolution of the Viz Engine with a new 4k-output option built into the Viz Engine.

Vizrt has partnered with third-party vendor Matrox Video, based in Canada to bring 4K capability to its customers as quickly as possible. Vizrt has chosen the Matrox DSX LE3 4K card to power the next generation of the Viz Engine rendering engine and compositor. The Viz Engine is now capable of creating animated 2D and 3D scenes in real time, in SD, HD and 4K resolutions. This latter part is important because the transition to 4KTV will be slow and thus broadcasters must still carry on with their daily productions in SD or HD (and perhaps will do so for quite some time).

Last year at the IBC show in Amsterdam, European satellite broadcaster SES Astra participated in a live 4K transmission demonstration with Sony and it looked great. There's talk of more content providers across the globe are preparing to conduct their own trials.

Clearly, these closed tests are not representative of the real world, and 4K's bandwidth-hungry file sizes make it tough to use the existing distribution infrastructure (whether over the air, via cable/satellite/Telco, Blu-Ray disc or even the Internet). Can it be done technically: sure. Is it practical: far from it. The answer, many agree, is a better form of video compression than the H.264 standard that is widely available today and 4K native production tools like the Vi

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