TranSPORT 2017: To 4K or To 1080p HDR? That Is the Question Panel addresses challenges of 4K and HDR transmission, impact of ATSC 3.0 By Jason Dachman, Chief Editor
Tuesday, November 7, 2017 - 3:30 pm
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Delivery of live 4K UHD sports productions to the home has become a weekly occurrence in the U.S., Canada, and the UK. Meanwhile, live HDR (in both 4K and 1080p) production is quickly ramping up, creating new transmission challenges for broadcasters. However, the majority of these live 4K and HDR events have yet to impact the broadcast center: they are being produced in 4K in the truck onsite and sent directly to MVPDs for distribution. At SVG's TranSPORT conference last month, a panel featuring leaders from AT&T/DirecTV, Fox Networks Group, Layer3 TV, and MLB Network addressed the growing interest in 1080p HDR over 4K, the potential impact of ATSC 3.0, and the greatest hurdles left to clear for these next-gen formats.
4K vs. 1080p HDR: Where Are We Going?
Much of the conversation at TranSPORT - and at the bulk of broadcast-industry conferences today, for that matter - centered on whether producers of live sports broadcasts should be pursuing 4K or 1080p HDR. After 4K dominated the next-gen discussion throughout much of 2016, largely because of a marketing push by consumer-electronics manufacturers to sell 4K TV sets, the pendulum seems to have swung towards 1080p in 2017.
Fox Networks Group's Winston Caldwell
As broadcasters look to enhance the viewing experience without major upgrades to their broadcast facilities, 1080p HDR has promised an enticing option that allows significant improvement in the viewer experience without the need for a wholesale facility makeover.
Due to the complexity and cost and getting 4K through the traditional linear system, it is a bit of a challenge, said Winston Caldwell, VP, spectrum and advanced engineering, Fox Networks Group. 1080p, as a company considering next steps for the traditional workflow, is of great interest for Fox. I would also point out that the UHD Forum has determined that 1080p is HD format, but 1080p with HDR and [wide-gamut color] has been determined to be UHD format. We are happy about that because it could be an intermediate step to get there.
That said, Fox Sports has already produced a host of 4K productions over the past year-plus, producing a pair of NASCAR races, several college basketball and football games, and two games of last month's American League Championship Series. Caldwell also acknowledged that Fox continues to evaluate 1080p HDR for live sports coverage in the future.
What Does 4K Mean for the Broadcast Center?
During summer 2016, MLB Network was among the first to produce a weekly live 4K sports show with its MLB Network Showcase games on DirecTV (in conjunction with Game Creek Video). Although the 4K workflow in the field went off flawlessly with MLBN delivering the 4K feed directly to DirecTV for distribution, it took place on an island since the 4K signal was never integrated into MLBN's HD broadcast center in Secaucus, NJ (although the games were recorded in 4K).
We were really pleased with how it turned out. We delivered it to DirecTV, and everyone was very impressed by how it looked, but it never [entered our Secaucus facility], says A.J. Hilchey, director, broadcast systems, MLB Network. Making that change is a step function. You can't be half-way pregnant: you can't go from a 720p facility to a 4K facility [instantly]. There are a lot of forklift upgrades that have to happen, especially [such a large, robust] one like our facility. So there is kind of a wait-and-see [approach] right now.
Though saying that MLBN has no immediate plans for a 4K or 1080p HDR upgrade in Secaucus, Hilchey did acknowledge that the move to 1080p HDR would obviously be a shorter jump. To jump to 3G [infrastructure for HDR] is a big jump, but it's not four times 3G [as required for 4K].
From left: Layer3 TV's Charles Hasek, MLB Network's A.J. Hilchey, and AT&T Entertainment Group's Sassan Pejhan
He also added that, if MLB Network were to make the monumental decision to upgrade its Secaucus facility to 4K, that would almost certainly require converting its core routing infrastructure from baseband to IP.
We are doing a 4K show every week, but pulling the trigger to do a wholesale changeover [of a broadcast facility] is really tough. That's what we're wrestling with right now, he added. To go to 4K, I think it would be [a given] that you're going to an IP router. I think IP would be a precursor to 4K. Any IP router today is scalable to a 4K system.
DirecTV Continues To Lead the 4K Charge, Explores HDR
DirecTV launched 4K VOD in November 2014 and followed it up with its first live 4K presentation during The Masters golf tournament in April 2016. Since then, DirecTV has televised dozens of live games in 4K, including MLB Network Showcase and other MLB games, college basketball and football, multiple golf majors, Premier League soccer, UFC and boxing fights, and horseracing.
For us, with satellite, we see 4K as a competitive advantage, said Sassan Pejhan, assistant VP, AT&T Entertainment Group. With satellite, we have plenty of bandwidth, which the cable providers do not. So we really pushed it.
Pejhan added that DirecTV has been gung-ho about HDR from the beginning and is now exploring further opportunities regarding HDR content.
New Kid on the Block: Layer3 TV Service Comes 4K-Ready
Anytime new technologies are on the rise, there is going to be market disruption, and this is the case when it comes to 4K and HDR. Layer3 TV - a new premium entrant in the pay-TV market that has launched IP-based cable services in Chicago, Washington, Los Angeles, Dallas/Fort Worth - aims to take on the established cable giants,
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TranSPORT 2017: To 4K or To 1080p HDR? That Is the Question Panel addresses challenges of 4K and HDR transmission, impact of ATSC 3.0 By Jason Dachman, Chief Editor 
