Welcome to the NAB’s 2020 Broadcast Engineering and Information Technology (BEIT) Conference Proceedings. The papers offered here have been presented at the annual BEIT Conference at NAB Show, the world’s largest trade show for the media content creation and distribution industry.

The BEIT Conference program is established each year by the NAB Broadcast Engineering and Information Technology Conference Committee, a rotating group of senior technologists from NAB member organizations, along with representatives from the Society of Broadcast Engineers (SBE). The 2020 BEIT Conference Committee roster is available here.

The content available in the BEIT Conference Proceedings is covered under copyright provisions listed here.

2020 NAB BEIT Conference Proceedings

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  • 2020 BEIT Conference Proceedings - $75

    Date: April 26, 2020
    Topic:

    These Proceedings contain all technical papers prepared for the 2020 NAB Broadcast Engineering and Information Technology Conference at NAB Show.

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  • 5G Meets Media and Entertainment: Opportunities and Challenges - $15

    Date: April 26, 2020
    Topics: ,

    It is forecast that video traffic is going to account for 74% of all mobile data traffic by 2024 when 5G ecosystem has been massively deployed around the world. This paper will discuss how 5G is going to shape media and entertainment consumption landscape in the next 10 years, as well as opportunities and challenges for the 5G network to serve the media and entertainment verticals.

    The paper first reviews new business and service opportunities that could be enabled by 5G network with high throughput and low latency characteristics. We will then discuss the challenges from several aspects of 5G network and media technologies, including end-2-end wireless network optimization, enabling technologies in video encoding, packaging, and delivery. At last, a set of guiding principles is proposed to address these challenges.

    Peng Tan | TELUS Communications Inc. | Toronto, ON, Canada
    Jia Liu | TELUS Communications Inc. | Toronto, ON, Canada

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  • A Case Study in All-Digital HD AM Broadcasting: Refinements, Performance Tests, and Lessons Learned - $15

    Date: April 26, 2020
    Topics: ,

    WWFD (820 kHz, Frederick MD), owned by Hubbard Radio and having engaged in a cooperative effort with Xperi Corporation to become the first AM broadcast station to transmit using the HD Radio MA3 mode full-time, commenced operations as such on July 16th, 2018. While initial performance met expectations in terms of coverage, a transmission problem occurred: the secondary and tertiary carriers, containing the stereo information and ancillary data services, were not being formed correctly and therefore suffering from excessive bit-error losses. Inadequate sampling of the baseband digital signal by the transmitter?s Pulse Duration Modulator (PDM) had led to excessive noise in the carriers and increased spectral regrowth in the transmitted RF signal. A second transmitter having a higher-phase PDM was installed, solving this issue. A further refinement was made by adding a phase rotation network to the day antenna, achieving Hermetian symmetry (already present on the night antenna), which presented a constant-conductance load to the transmitter. With the antenna system optimized, adaptive precorrection techniques were employed in the transmitter to minimize spectral regrowth, and improve signal robustness and receiver acquisition time. Day and night drive tests were conducted in the summer of 2019. Nighttime tests were repeated in the winter of 2019, to compare coverage with the reduced co-channel skywave interference conditions encountered earlier in the year.

    With all-digital operation, the monitoring of licensed parameters must be revisited. Power measurement with regards to MA3 transmissions must be performed in a different manner than with standard analog AM transmissions, as pin-diode base current meters designed for AM do not accurately measure currents using the all-digital mode of operation. Procedures for performing power measurements with spectrum analyzers, power meters, and thermocouple RF ammeters are discussed.

    Finally, some operational ?lessons learned? are presented. Techniques for optimal audio processing in conjunction with the high audio compression rate in the MA3 mode are discussed. A battery-protected power supply which keeps critical parts of the digital transmitter online during power interruptions was installed, thereby reducing system downtime during utility interruptions. It is hoped that the knowledge gained from WWFD?s experience will facilitate the conversion of other stations who are contemplating using the MA3 transmission mode.

    Dave Kolesar | Hubbard Radio | Washington, DC USA
    Mike Raide | Xperi Corporation | Columbia, MD USA

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  • A Multi-Pronged Approach to Effectively Secure SMPTE ST 2059 Time Transfer - $15

    Date: April 26, 2020
    Topics: ,

    As the new version of the IEEE 1588 standard will be published in the very near future, its enhancements with respect to improved resilience and observability are summarized. The paper concludes on presenting ways the broadcasting industry can benefit from these new features efficiently and quickly.

    Nikolaus Ker? | Oregano Systems | Vienna, Austria
    Thomas Kernen | Mellanox Technologies | Russin, Switzerland

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  • A Novel White-Balance System for Broadcast Cameras Using Machine Learning - $15

    Date: April 26, 2020
    Topics: ,

    Color constancy is the ability to perceive colors of objects, invariant to the color of the light source. Our eyes, the human visual system is capable of doing that. Color constancy algorithms first estimate the color of the illuminant light source and then correct the image so that the corrected image appears to be taken under a canonical light source. In this project, we use color constancy on a broadcast camera without processing the video but instead acting on the RGB gain control much akin to a camera operator. The reference color is provided by a neural network which is trained to infer the color of the illuminant just looking at a sample frame from the camera; from that reference, we can compute the direction of the error from the white illuminant in color space and then generate a new RGB gain triplet to the camera. With the new adjustment, the cycle continues and eventually, the camera will output an image that is corrected and the neural network will estimate the illuminant as white yielding a zero error and the whole system stabilizes.

    Edmundo Hoyle | GRUPO GLOBO | Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
    Alvaro Antelo | GRUPO GLOBO | Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
    Leandro Pena | GRUPO GLOBO | Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

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  • A Review of State-of-the-Art Automatic Speech Recognition Services for CART and CC Applications - $15

    Date: April 26, 2020
    Topics: ,

    In this paper, we analyze how ready and useful Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR, also known as text-to-speech) services are for companies aiming to provide cost-effective Communication Access Realtime Translation (CART) or Closed Captioning (CC) services for corporate, education, and special events markets.

    Today?s major cloud infrastructure vendors provide a broad spectrum of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) services. ASR is one of the most common. Several vendors offer multiple APIs/engines to suit a wide range of ASR projects. A number of open-source AI/ML ASR engines are also available (assuming you are ready to embed or deploy them yourself). How can you determine which of these many options is best for your project?

    We analyze existing ASR offerings based on several different criteria. We discuss ASR accuracy, how it can be defined and measured, and what datasets and tools are available for benchmarking. Accuracy is paramount, making it a natural starting point, but other parameters may also significantly influence your choice of ASR engine. Real-time applications (CC for live streaming and on-premises CART services) demand low-latency responses from the ASR system and a specially designed streaming API ? neither of which are requirements for offline (and thus more relaxed) transcription scenarios.

    ASR engine extendability and flexibility are among the other key factors to consider. What languages does the ASR system support for online and offline transcriptions? Are there domain-specific vocabulary models/extensions? Can the ASR model be customized to recognize specialized vocabulary and specific terms (e.g., the names of a company?s products)? We try to shed some light on these questions as well.

    Misha Jiline | Epiphan Video | Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
    David Kirk | Epiphan Video | Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
    Greg Quirk | Epiphan Video | Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
    Mike Sandler | Epiphan Video | Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
    Michael Monette | Epiphan Video | Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

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  • A Unified Cloud Pipeline for Production, Post, Mastering and Localization using IMF and Open TimeLine IO - $15

    Date: April 26, 2020
    Topics: ,

    By leveraging the Interoperable Master Format (IMF), Open TimeLine IO (OTLIO) and other open source and standardized tools such as C4ID Cloud Identifier, a centralized cloud based continuous master can be created. This continuous master can be constantly synchronized with work in progress in editing, visual effects, color grading and sound mixing systems to provide a single centrally available point of collaboration for all parties in production, post, localisation and distribution. This method avoids the requirement for proprietary asset management or file types, and allows creatives and engineers to use the tools they prefer and avoids repeatedly moving assets in and out of cloud. Furthermore it allows a paradigm shift in the localisation and distribution master process which can allow productions the ability to deliver a project almost instantly to any number of platforms, territories and versions once it is complete. This workflow also allows productions to?share conformed work in progress versions at any moment during the production/post/versioning life cycle without interrupting progress in any of these processes. This method also has side benefits such as total de-duplication of assets, no vendor or tool lock in for access to assets and the ability to link business systems to the content creation process, thus allowing order-to-delivery automation. This method overall offers benefits in terms of time, cost, operational effectiveness and most importantly creativity. This benefits all types of delivery from movies to?episodic, advertising, trailers or any produced content targeting multi platform, domestic?and international audiences. It also allows for the latest content trends such as branching storylines and audience interactive content to be stored and accessed in a non proprietary way. The?methodology?described in this paper provides?a step change in managing today’s content pipelines and future proofing for next generation?workflows.

    Richard Welsh | Sundog Media Toolkit Ltd | Bristol, United Kingdom

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  • Activity of Disseminating Japanese EWBS Technology - $15

    Date: April 26, 2020
    Topics: ,

    The Japanese digital terrestrial broadcasting system (ISDB-T) is adopted by 14 countries in Latin America. Japan provides technical cooperation to help the implementation of ISDB-T in those countries. EWBS (Emergency Warning Broadcasting System) is one of the particular features of ISDB-T and expected to be introduced as a national communication system in case of emergency. The ?EWBS Superimpose dissemination system? which is improved from the Japanese original by adapting to local requirements in Latin America has successfully developed in Japan. Taking advantage of the robustness of the ISDB-T ?One-seg? technology, making maximum use of the existing broadcasting network, this system realizes simple utilization and wide coverage with outstanding reliability. This system is already introduced to some Latin American countries and highly evaluated. Japan continues the technical cooperation so that EWBS can be contributed to disaster prevention and mitigation around the world.

    Yasuji SAKAGUCHI | DiBEG (Digital Broadcasting Experts Group) | Tokyo, Japan
    Yasuo TAKAHASHI | DiBEG (Digital Broadcasting Experts Group) | Tokyo, Japan
    Seiji SAKUMA | DiBEG (Digital Broadcasting Experts Group) | Tokyo, Japan

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  • Addressable TV Over ATSC 3.0: A Dream Come True! - $15

    Date: April 26, 2020
    Topics: ,

    While broadcasters are facing an increase in digital advertising, whose investments have surpassed those of TV advertising since 2017, TV remains the most powerful medium for brands. It is the only media able to reach millions of people simultaneously. Whether in short or long term, it generates the most profit at the greatest cost-efficiency with the lowest risk. All major advertising effectiveness studies, including those commissioned by competing media, agrees that TV outperforms all others. Before ATSC 3.0, Addressable TV was only possible on cable; now with Next Gen TV technology, it?s possible on Free-To-Air (FTA) TV.

    This paper will introduce fundamentals about ATSC 3.0 and highlight how broadcasters can enable targeted advertising and seamlessly address their linear FTA TV Video with their favorite Digital Ad Server, like in the digital world. With broadband connection, the broadcasters will be able to personalize advertisements and monitor audience and visibility in real time. Finally, we will show the new business opportunities for broadcasters thanks to Next Gen TV technology: A dream come true!

    This session will be rebroadcast on the?BEIT Express?channel?on May 13, 2020?at 10:45?p.m.?and May 14, 2020 at 6:45?a.m.?EDT (UTC -4).

    Fayssal Kartobi | ENENSYS Technologies | Cesson S?vign?, France

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  • Another New Step Towards UHD: Nationwide Installation of 4K News System for Delivering BS4K Daily News - $15

    Date: April 26, 2020
    Topics: ,

    On September 30, 2019, NHK started a 4K daily news program, ?BS News 4K? on the BS4K satellite channel. We?ve been developing a new production system that consists of ?4K File Transfer System,? ?4K-IP Video Router,? ?4K File Base System,? and ?4K Video Switcher? at the BS News Center, the Network Center, and at local stations all over the country to carry out 4K/2K simulcast from the BS News Center.

    We installed the 4K File Transfer System at seven key local?stations and 46 other local stations throughout Japan, to feed 4K content?to the headquarters faster than the previous contribution system. We put a 4K-IP Video Router at the Network Center in the headquarters for distributing 4K/2K inbound signals to both Network Center and other studios. This ?4K File Base System? is installed at the News Center for BS channel recording, editing, and transmitting news materials. We also installed a ?4K Video Switcher? at the BS News Center, which enables switching 4K signals?such as live cameras, video servers?and graphics. We therefore successfully built a 4K total news production system that makes it possible to broadcast 4K news in 4K quality.

    IP transition is another element of this system. By adopting some parts of the system, the total flow processing both 2K and 4K signals works efficiently in an integrated manner. That provides great improvement in the total ease of operation, system expansion?and space utilization. Since this system also accepts 2K production, we?re convinced that the system can carry out 4K production while maintaining the conventional 2K production workflow. In summary, we present how we upgraded?our conventional facility into 4K with minimum cost while flexibly having the conventional 2K system as a back up.

    Tetsuya Yahara | NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation) | Tokyo, Japan
    Yuko Kawano | NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation) | Tokyo, Japan
    Ikuya Kumai | NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation) | Tokyo, Japan
    Tatsuro Honda | NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation) | Tokyo, Japan
    Hidenori Konishi | NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation) | Tokyo, Japan

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