The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) will be leading trials with five of its members and 19 industry partners to shoot, process, record and distribute live Ultra HD content, with High Frame Rates (HFR), High Dynamic Range (HDR) and Next-Generation Audio (NGA), at the 2018 European Athletics Championships in Berlin, Germany.
The trials involve live distribution of UHD content with both HDR (HLG/BT.2100) and HFR (100 frames per second). Current live broadcasts don’t exceed a frame rate of 50Hz in Europe, and 1080i25 is still the dominant broadcast emission format even though commercial encoders and TV sets manage up to 2160p50 resolution.
Image: EBU
In Berlin, a 2160p100 HLG/BT.2020 production workflow will be set up in collaboration with EBU members BBC, France Télévisions, IRT, RAI and ZDF, and a range of technology partners. The feed will be used to derive two additional 1080p100 and 1080p50 signals.
These three feeds will then be encoded in HEVC and multiplexed for a live transmission via the Eurovision satellite network to RAI’s experimental test bed in the Aosta Valley, Italy, and via the Eurovision Fibre infrastructure to the European Championships Broadcast Operations Centre based at BBC Glasgow in Scotland. The trials will incorporate:
- ATEME encoding and remuxing technologies for the 1080p100 feed
- Ericsson/MediaKind contribution technology (HEVC, MPEG-H Audio) for 2160p50
- EVS server for near real-time 2160p100 editing
- KaiMedia encoding technology (HEVC, MPEG-H Audio) for 2160p50
- LG prototype OLED TV sets capable of decoding the live UHD streams with HFR (2160p100) HDR (HLG and PQ) and NGA (Dolby AC-4)
- NTT encoding technology for the 2160p100 signal scene-based production tools and Qualcomm compression technology
- Rohde & Schwarz servers for uncompressed recording
- Sony XVS video switcher, PWS Live production server and storage solutions configured for a 2160p100 video production workflow and HDR acquisitions, plus one complete Sony UHD camera and 2160p50 picture monitoring
- Solid State Logic System T S300-32 mixing console with 3D panning and Network I/O
- TPC, the Swiss broadcaster’s operational subsidiary, will supply two other complete cameras, and a fourth camera will be provided by AMP Visual
The trials will enable all participants to build their understanding of next-generation sports content production and its strategic potential. EBU says that some clips may also become available for public dissemination, and for technical and scientific testing purposes.
