The CCW (Content and Communications World) in New York has adopted a new name and is now called NAB Show New York. It still contains the SatCon conference and adds InfoComm Connections as a sub-show to its offering. This year, the addition of InfoComm did not result in a different focus of the conference or exhibition. There were just a few presenters that are typically found at InfoComm with a large booth occupied by InfoComm International themselves.
Overall, NBA Show NY is a “mini NAB” with a strong focus on content creation, post production and distribution. From a display perspective the focus has definitely moved away from image creation and the related technologies. While displays are everywhere, the focus is not on the resolution, contrast ratio or the like. Instead the total aspect of delivering content is more of the focus everywhere. While consumers may still be awed by a 65” OLED TV, this plays almost no role at NAB Show NY. Display highlights are few and far between on the show floor. Even in the conference track display topics play only a minor role. There were just a few talks about 4K / UHD and HDR and even those dealt more with the practical consequences as well as the implementation in today’s world.
For example one presentation (“4K, why and when”) was aimed at content creators and intended to provide first-hand advice on how to acquire footage in 4K. This was a practical approach indeed with a list of 4K cameras and best camera settings. It was not about what the technology can do, but how to use it. One interesting aspect was that acquiring in 4K / UHD and reframing to FHD will lead to content that cannot be recreated in UHD later. From a monitoring standpoint a 4K monitor is necessary to control the image composition, but low cost 4K PC monitors will do just fine in most cases.
In a panel discussion about HDR (“The road to high dynamic range: finding clarity”) the panel looked at HDR development through the eyes of camera makers, post production houses and networks. There were quite different views on where we are and how it will progress. From a camera standpoint, high dynamic range has existed for quite a long time, even though the definition of high dynamic range is kind of a “soft target” as it is viewed by many companies differently.
In post production, HDR is just another spec that has to be fulfilled. For now Amazon and Netflix already have it already in their deliverables. The specs aim at a maximum display brightness of 1,000 nits, a number that may have to be revisited in the future as consumer TVs improve. From the network perspective, there will be standards coming out soon that will take the guesswork out of the development of HDR content.
One controversy at the event was how to deal with various brightness levels TVs have today and in the near future. The suggestion of metadata that defines the anticipated brightness level would allow the TV to adjust the signal in way to show the content as close to the artistic intent as possible. While this may be an alternative for packaged content, it may be difficult for live or broadcast content.
Here are a view highlights from the NBA Show:
SiliconCore Technology
This maker of LED walls came to the show for the first time. While the new involvement of InfoComm may have had something to do with that, they also have a customer base in broadcast and display designers that is strong in New York, which made it an easy choice to come to NY. The showed their 1.2mm, 1.5mm and a 2.6mm solution at the show, but noted that they will be announcing a finer pixel pitch next year.
SRI International
In continuation of its test pattern development SRI has developed a new color space and monitor test pattern suite to address wider color gamuts. I took the opportunity to ask them if they ever had tested their 4K / UHD patterns on an RGBW UHD TV to see if they could contribute to the discussion on alternative subpixel displays. They stated that they had never done anything like that and they typical only do testing based on a direct customer request. However they did state that they have seen surprising effects in their test images when using various display brands, which they mostly relate to the signal processing rather than the sub-pixel layout. (For more on SRI, see the video SRI Shows off New HDR and WCG Patterns at SMPTE 2015 from the recent SMPTE conference)
Cameras supporting 4K / UHD and HDR
I took the opportunity of the major professional camera makers (Sony, Canon, Panasonic, JVC) being all in one room to do a small survey on the availability of 4K / UHD and HDR capable cameras. I asked how many camera models support 4K and how many support HDR out of their complete camera line up. I also asked how they define HDR and what trends they see in terms of customer interests in relation to these new technologies.
In terms of 4K / UHD support, about 25% to 50% of the cameras support this resolution today. When it comes to HDR the numbers are on average somewhat lower with 0% to 30% of all offered cameras. Keep in mind this refers to professional cameras only and reflects the camera model count not the actual sales numbers. We can also expect these numbers to change as new models are being announced.
When asked how they see these technologies developing, they all basically the same answer. The interest is growing in this year with 4K / UHD being almost a requirement and interest in HDR growing strongly. The definition of HDR varies between the manufacturers from 12 to 15 stops, which reflects the capabilities of the respective sensors. HDR support is as much related to a specific image sensor as is 4K / UHD capability. (NH)
