Looking toward the future, SES is providing demos of Ultra HD (UHD) with high dynamic range (HDR) on the exhibit floor and a demonstration of brand-new virtual-reality R&D via satellite in conjunction with Fraunhofer Heinrich Hertz Institute (HHI) Berlin.
Thomas Wrede at the SES booth at IBC 2016
The first UHD demo offered a test channel with content produced by LG Electronics (launched in May during SES's annual Industry Days) on a 65-in. LGE OLED flat screen encoded in the Hybrid Log Gamma (HLG) format (BBC and NHK's backwards-compatible HDR technology). The second demo showcased two sets of UHD content in HDR, produced by Samsung and SES, respectively, and displayed on a 75-in. Samsung Quantum dot SUHD TV using the HLG format. The third demonstration showed the Technicolor/Philips backwards-compatible HDR technology on a 65-in. LGE OLED flat screen via a Technicolor set-top box.
On the VR front, SES teamed with Fraunhofer to showcase transmission of a 10K x 2K panoramic video signal via satellite to multiple devices. The signal was received at the SES stand at IBC 2016 and transmitted to a UHD display and a VR headset. The viewer could choose a viewing angle, zoom in and out, turn the picture on the TV display using a simple remote control; if the user wears the VR headset, the video signal is delivered simultaneously to the TV and the headset. The content - a symphony-orchestra concert - was filmed with Fraunhofer HHI's OmniCam-360 camera and transmitted via SES's ASTRA 19.2 degrees East orbital position.
The show also marked the IBC debut of MX1, the merged company resulting from SES's acquisition of RR Media, which closed in July. The new global media-services company, which is exhibiting in its own stand separate from SES, leverages the capabilities and infrastructure of both companies to offer a full suite of digital video and media services.
SVG sat down with Thomas Wrede, VP, reception systems, during the show to discuss SES's UHD/HDR demonstrations and the potential of virtual reality.
How is SES exploring the transmission of HDR UHD content, and what challenges do you foresee?
We are looking very closely into high dynamic range. It's an important topic for the industry, especially for some of our customers, because it will further enhance the consumer experience. It will also defocus the conversation from just being about more pixels and the viewing distance versus the display size. If you are too far away, if your screen is too small, you don't need Ultra HD resolution necessarily.
The problem with high dynamic range is that, in the production, it has to be specially prepared. You need high-dynamic-range cameras with the respective camera curves and the respective technology. And I think the producers and the creative people also have to learn how to handle it. So there will be a learning curve - just as HD shooting and Ultra HD shooting had and continue to have.
Another headache with high dynamic range is that there are several technologies to do high dynamic range and several have intellectual-property rights involved. So our goal is to test all these technologies live on satellites. SES is among the first to do so because, at the end of the day, the decision as to which high dynamic range technology will be transmitted on a respective transponder is [made] by the customer, but we have to be ready for everything.
Can you tell me about the UHD HDR demos you have on display at the booth?
At IBC, we have four Ultra HD demos running on two satellite transponders with two 25-MBps transport streams on each transponder. We have a big focus on Hybrid Log Gamma [HLG] with three demos of the BBC and NHK system because we think it's perfect for live television. Our other HDR demo is with Technicolor Philips [HDR standard]. We have a Technicolor set-top box connected to an LG OLED display, and that's working well and delivering fantastic high dynamic range.
We have two Hybrid Log Gamma transmissions. One we have here on the 75-in. UHD screen Samsung -provided and SES content done in one clip, which was encoded by ATEME in France. And then we have another HLG transmission on transponder 49 over 19.2 East, where we have very nice high-dynamic-range content from LG.
Why are you in favor of HLG as the HDR standard movie format?
It's backwards-compatible, it's easy to implement, and there's no metadata headache. You just need to implement the Hybrid Log Gamma curve to the television set. At the end of the day, you will need some signaling from a set-top box to a display via HDMI that lets the displays know it's received Hybrid Log Gamma, but we don't see that as an issue. And I can tell you that it works very well with the displays, in particular if you stay in the same BT2020 color space. That is no issue for us, because we also strongly believe in having UHD with 10-bit-color-depth encoding. And all the HEVC 10-bit devices out there are BT2020 devices. We test it with a lot of displays in our office, and the backwards-compatibility really works well.
For live sports, I think the HLG decision for me is a very obvious one. However, we do have some customers that are vertically integrated players and can handle the metadata challenges. That's when we started talking about Dolby Vision, the Technicolor Philips [HDR standard], HDR10, and other solutions. There are good reasons for these technologies to be in our industry, but there are definitely technical challenges - as there are with HLG - and I'm not sure they create a far better experience for the average consumer than HLG.
Where are we in the maturation timeline of HDR, and how do you see the HDR standard playing out?
We have 26 Ultra HD transport streams on our satellite out of about 60 on satellite worldwide as of early September 2016. None of these
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
07/10/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, today announced the latest Long-Term Supported (LTS) release of Dalet Flex. Build...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
19/08/2026
As the cost of IP nears price parity with traditional SDI, Reynolds argues that ...
19/08/2026
A private 5G bubble was chosen instead of traditional broadcast RF for the race ...
19/08/2026
(L-R) Rafael Manuel and Isabel Sicat attend the Filipi ana premiere during the 2026 Sundance Film Festival at The Ray Theatre on January 23, 2026, in Park Cit...
19/08/2026
Studio owners invited to have their say on rates cuts
The Music Producers Guild (MPG) are inviting UK-based studios to take part in an in-depth survey that ...
19/08/2026
Vintage-inspired desktop interface revealed
Harrison's latest hardware offering sees them head into the world of audio interfaces, delivering a 10-in/12...
19/08/2026
Granular effect remains locked to scale and tempo
Described as your dream granular effect , Minimal Audio's latest creation is capable of turning any s...
19/08/2026
First polyphonic SWAM instrument incoming
Audio Modeling's latest physical-modelling orchestral instrument is just around the corner, and is now availab...
19/08/2026
World Cup Games Generate 84 Billion Minutes Across FOX, Fox Sports 1 and NBCU...
19/08/2026
July brought typical peak-holiday drops in viewership, driven primarily by viewers stepping away from screens and a visible decline in reach across both traditi...
19/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/08/2026
Henry joins BCE as the company accelerates its commercial strategy and expands its international presence across the media, broadcast and technology markets. He...
19/08/2026
iWedia, a leading provider of software solutions for connected TV devices, today announced a major milestone in Android platform optimization with the successfu...
19/08/2026
NTP Technology announces that ST 2110-30 audio-over-IP connectivity with AES67 and RAVENNA capabilities is now available for the brand's world-class audio i...
19/08/2026
Net Insight has been selected to provide its Nimbra platform by the service provider Big Blue Marble, formerly ORS Group, as the core media transport solution f...
19/08/2026
LiveU has supported Coventry City FC and several other top-flight UK football clubs through one of their most demanding live production challenges of the year, ...
19/08/2026
Nature Seekers Documentary Shot with Blackmagic URSA Cine 12K LF
Brie Clayton August 18, 2026
0 Comments
Filming endangered turtles required camera...
19/08/2026
Neyrinck Brings D-Control Consoles Back to Life on Apple Silicon with D-Control ...
19/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/08/2026
Riedel Communications today announced that Edith Cowan University (ECU) in Perth, Australia, implemented a comprehensive communications infrastructure that brin...
19/08/2026
QuickLink, a leading provider of award-winning video production and remote guest contribution solutions, will spotlight a major leap forward in remote guest con...
19/08/2026
Integrated platform melds media asset management, playout automation and newsroom workflows
EMAM, PlayBox Neo and SNEWS have officially launched Nuvex, a conne...
19/08/2026
Screen Australia releases the Private Investment Toolkit to strengthen screen in...
19/08/2026
Do Aussies truly value local content? Unpacking Screen Currency 2026 with Deirdr...
19/08/2026
There's an early Christmas gift for Bookish fans, as UKTV confirms the re-commission of the hit U&alibi drama, created by and starring Mark Gatiss. Viewers ...
19/08/2026
Wednesday 19 August 2026
Sky gives sports fans the chance to watch multiple liv...
19/08/2026
On Saturday September 5 Katie Taylor will step into the ring for the fight of her life against Flora Pili in front of 80,000 fans in Croke Park. A legendary fig...
18/08/2026
SportStream 2026, a free three-day virtual event, will take place September 15-17. One registration provides access to all three days of live programming and on...
18/08/2026
BeckTV will introduce BeckFlow to the European market at IBC2026, demonstrated on the Providius stand (10.F53).
BeckFlow is a web-based schematic documentation...
18/08/2026
Boland Communications will introduce a SMPTE ST 2110 input option for its 4K monitors at IBC2026, along with a new 55-inch super-narrow bezel display for video ...
18/08/2026
Dolby Laboratories and the Seattle Seahawks have announced a partnership integrating Dolby OptiView into the Seahawks' live streaming coverage, making the S...
18/08/2026
For BMG Executive Producer of Sports Production, Graham Taylor, producing live s...
18/08/2026
TMRW Sports has appointed Rufus Hack as President of Golf, a newly created role in which he will lead the company's golf businesses including TGL presented ...
18/08/2026
SMT will provide race technology for FOX Sports' coverage of the Freedom 250 Grand Prix of Washington, D.C. on August 23, when the NTT INDYCAR SERIES races ...
18/08/2026
The live, YouTube-native roundtables combine fan voices, credentialed reporters,...
18/08/2026
Behind The Mic provides a roundup of recent news regarding on-air talent, includ...
18/08/2026
The industry legend sounds off on replacing the Heat's iconic Medusa score...
18/08/2026
William F. Rasmussen, the sports fan-turned broadcaster and entrepreneur whose out-of-the-box idea of a 24-hour cable sports network, ESPN, changed forever the ...
18/08/2026
DAZN Group has completed its acquisition of ViewLift, a provider of streaming and digital solutions for sports content owners. The acquisition was first announc...
18/08/2026
The American Association of Professional Baseball (AAPB) has added SI TV, Sports Illustrated's 24/7 streaming channel, as a broadcast partner for the remain...
18/08/2026
The Esports Foundation has announced that the inaugural Esports Nations Cup (ENC), originally scheduled for November 2026 in Riyadh, will be postponed to Novemb...
18/08/2026
Diversified has announced a new Global Managed Services Practice, consolidating the company's managed services capabilities into one organization. Rob Mello...
18/08/2026
Appear has completed a proof of concept with Thoroughbred Racing Productions (TRP), demonstrating multi-camera remote live production over bonded 5G cellular an...
Looking toward the future, SES is providing demos of Ultra HD (UHD) with high dynamic range (HDR) on the exhibit floor and a demonstration of brand-new virtual-reality R&D via satellite in conjunction with Fraunhofer Heinrich Hertz Institute (HHI) Berlin.
