Converting to Ultra HD Television Broadcasting

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

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

HDR for Full HD - $15

Although 4K/UHD, High Dynamic Range (HDR) and Wide Color Gamut (WCG) are usually mentioned together, HDR/WCG is not limited to 4K/UHD. Full HD (1080p60) can also benefit from a dramatic improvement in picture quality with HDR and WCG. The average worldwide viewing distance of 9 feet is too far away to see the optimum 4K/UHD resolution on a typical 65? TV. A properly set-up HD image with HDR will look better than a 4K/UHD image with Standard Dynamic Range (SDR). Upconversion by consumer UHD TVs will provide nearly the same visual experience, but consumes about ? of delivery and storage requirements of 4K/UHD.

One enduring misconception about HDR is it produces brighter pictures. In fact, the Average Picture Level (APL) will not change. Only peak highlights will be brighter. In addition to recovering detail from dark shadows or bright areas, HDR offers a more realistic picture, like the way the Human Visual System sees things in real life. Another misconception is that HDR is incompatible with existing Standard Dynamic Range (SDR) TVs. Modern flat-panel SDR displays are capable of higher luminance, contrast ratio and wider color gamut than is standardized in today?s program production. Hybrid Log Gamma (HLG) can produce better pictures on these SDR TV displays even without HDR processing. However, for SMPTE ST-2084/PQ and Dolby Vision, the latest UHD HDR TVs are required.????

Producing and delivering both SDR and HDR signals is the next big challenge. Acquisition and production systems will need to handle SDR and HDR signals for compatible mixing of content. This presentation deals with both the technology and workflow related to HDR. Newly developed techniques will allow video engineers to shade HDR cameras while using standard SDR monitoring. This is accomplished using an inverse HDR gamma and remapping gamma for SDR. With this process, cameras can output both HDR and SDR feeds in UHD and HD. Conversion of other SDR signals to HDR may be required in the short term. Program production may require UHD, HD, SDR, and HDR versions for wide distribution.

Many US mobile companies and sports networks are moving toward adopting Full HD with HDR for both archive and OTT delivery. For broadcast, ATSC 3.0 can use the HDR SL-1 standard to deliver all HDR profiles in a compatible transmission system for delivery of HD and UHD in SDR and HDR.

Due to the different requirements for live sports and post-produced programs, it is highly likely that multiple HDR profiles will be used in the future.

John Humphrey | Hitachi Kokusai Electric America, LTD. | Woodbury, NY USA

Machine Learning Based UHD Up-conversion Using Generative Neural Networks - $15

Ultra HD (UHD) is now part of mainstream TV production. Various consumer electronic companies now offer a wide range of high-quality UHD TV sets, which accounts for a significant proportion of all new TVs sold globally. The popularity of UHD has raised viewers’ expectations for a stunning quality experience. In today’s media landscape, online providers have moved quickly to satisfy this UHD demand via ABR delivery.

However, there remains a limited amount of content available that is UHD-native, and traditional content providers have a wealth of great content to offer the consumers even more value in UHD format. As consumer expectations grow, broadcasters will need to provide higher quality experiences, moving from a few UHD events to full-time or pop up channels, even if this is delivered only over ABR infrastructure. The question about where to get valuable UHD content remains open-ended, even though traditional up-conversion techniques can result in an end user experience that is more “HD-like”?than UHD.

This presentation explores a different approach to up-conversion, using Generative Adversarial Neural Networks to synthesize detail in the upconverted image, leading to an experience that is much closer to native UHD, leading to more compelling, higher quality experiences for consumers.

Alex Okell | MediaKind | Hedge End, Hampshire, United Kingdom
Tony Jones | MediaKind | Hedge End, Hampshire, United Kingdom