[opendtv] TV Technology: What is the reality of UHDTV/4KTV today?
- From: "Manfredi, Albert E" <albert.e.manfredi@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 9 Jul 2013 21:36:32 +0000
My thinking is that in an initial period, broadcasters wouldn't need to
transmit 4K at all, not even upconverted 4K. In the early days, any
upconverting is done in the TV set itself.
Before 4K content is actually broadcast, it's best to wait for H.265 or VP9.
And if all content were to be broadcast that way, not just the 4K content, then
broadcasters could conceivably need even less bandwidth than they do now,
assuming that the current HD streams migrate to 4K, and that the SD streams
become compressed 4 times better than now.
Bert
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http://www.tvtechnology.com/from-the-editor/0120/k-ready-or-not/220171
Tom Butts / From the Editor in Chief 07.08.2013 12:00 AM
4K: Ready or Not
What is the reality of UHDTV/4KTV today?
TOM BUTTS
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF tbutts@xxxxxxxxxxx
With much less fanfare than when HDTV was introduced in the market 15 years
ago, the first UHDTVs started appearing in major consumer electronics retail
showrooms this spring. Looking for a modest 55-inch set to replace your current
one? You can drop a cool $5,000 on the Sony XBR55X900, which it announced at
the NAB Show. For even less than that, you can purchase a Seiki Digital 50-inch
screen for $1,400. A digital cinema enthusiast can splurge for a $17,000 LG
84-inch UHDTV.
Apart from a lighter wallet and neighborhood tech bragging rights, what are you
really getting for all that? If you're expecting what the marketers tell you,
you're getting state-of-the- art display technology but you're also in for some
frustration if expectations don't meet reality.
What is the reality of UHDTV/4KTV today? A lot like it was in the early days of
HDTV; that is, beautiful displays that looked nice on the wall but very little
to no content. But unlike 15 years ago, expectations weren't as high as they
are today either. Back then, showing an analog picture side-by-side with HD was
an eye opening experience for many consumers who were just beginning to enjoy
digital quality imaging via DVDs (one could argue that it was DVDs that
influenced consumers' attitude about picture resolution more than HDTV). Today,
with a TV life cycle replacement of 6-8 years, many viewers are just beginning
to replace their first HDTV sets and many of them became disillusioned with the
rapid rise and fall of 3DTV and are understandably skeptical about the next
generation of TV technology.
A few of the major consumer electronics companies are aware of this and are
trying to dampen enthusiasm. Several months ago, a Samsung executive told a
gathering in Europe that when it comes to content, the current crop of UHDTVs
are not market-ready. "No UHD TV today will be compatible with UHD standards to
come," said Michael Zoeller, Samsung's senior director of sales and marketing
for the company's Europe market, according to TV Technology sister publication
TWICE. Zoeller added that although Samsung's line of UHDTVs offers an
"Evolution kit" that keeps its S9 85-inch UHD backlit TV updated, even that
will not last beyond four or five years.
With major manufacturers bleeding red ink over declining profits from TV set
sales, the early decisions will go to those who also own the content. Sony, for
example, is offering three 4K mastered 4K Blu-ray discs with the purchase of a
new Sony 4K Ultra HDTV. For others though, the road to 4K content will be a
long hard slog.
Some primetime television programming is being shot in 4K and that's only
expected to increase as production costs decline. Such future-proofing includes
the ability to distribute that content to consumers, but simply put, the lack
of infrastructure and evolving standards are standing in the way.
There are intermediate solutions, however. Upconverting 1080P content sounds
promising except when you consider that very little of it is being broadcast to
consumers already due to bandwidth constraints. Sharp's new Ultra HD set offers
advanced upscaling technology but early reviews have been mixed. Broadcasters
are still years away from sending 4K pictures over the air, although the
pressure of spectrum auctions and market demand could put pending standards
such as ATSC 3.0 on the "fast track." Ericsson recently demonstrated the first
successful end-to-end transmission of true 4K UHD via satellite to Turner
Broadcasting's facilities in Atlanta. Netflix's anticipated launch of 4K
programming will present an interesting look at how such files are handled in
an increasingly crowded broadband environment. And new standards such as 6G-SDI
and HEVC and the increasing use of fiber in the facility make the future 4K
facility inevitable.
As recently as a year ago, there was a high degree of skepticism in the
broadcast engineering community about the future validity of 4K for the
consumer market. That has subsided somewhat with the introduction of 4K-ready
production gear introduced at this year's NAB Show and the even more rapid
market introduction of UHDTV. But as we report in this issue's cover story on
the format, putting all the pieces together for a true end-to-end 4K
production/distribution workflow will take a bit longer. If content is the
lifeblood of the media facility today, we're going to need larger, more
efficient arteries.
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