
SMPTE's Annual Technology Conference and Exhibition, under way this week in Los Angeles, is providing plenty of food for thought about the future of the industry. And it appears that many in the industry are hungry for information: attendance reached all-time highs, and demand for exhibits required additional space at the hotel.
The 2015 SMPTE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition in Hollywood this week drew a record crowd and set an all-time high for exhibits.
Day one of the conference offered plenty of discussion concerning three of the hottest issues: UHD, HDR, and IP.
Among the fascinating presentations, one by ARRIS Group Fellow Dr. Sean McCarthy cast new light on a future where high dynamic range, wide color gamut, and high frame rates are part of the viewing experience. His overview of how the brain processes those elements into a cohesive experience challenged some notions on the benefits of bigger, more, better.
To begin with, he said that, while it may be tempting to consider resolution, luminance, color gamut, and frame rate as separate and distinct, the human visual system doesn't and, therefore, they need to be considered as integrated features.
Everything is integrated in the human experience, and it all comes together, he said. We need more research on luminance and how the brain invents color, because that is what our brains do.
One of the most basic beliefs is that bigger is better. But McCarthy noted that, although adding more pixels allows a larger screen, if the viewing angle is wider than 30 degrees, blind spots move from being outside the screen's edge to within the viewer's field of view. That means that a UHD viewing experience on a massive screen can be very different from that on a tablet, where there is no blind spot.
The upside of the bigger screen, however, is that it can require the viewer to move his or her head to take in all the information. That head movement is an important part of creating a sense of immersion. A tablet, for example, cannot offer that sense of immersion because moving the eyes alone is all that is required to take in the visual information.
McCarthy pointed out that higher frame rates help visual acuity: viewers watching an object or athlete moving faster than 0.03-0.07 degrees per frame (at 60 fps) will lose visual acuity. The higher frame rates could help the viewer's gaze maintain a sub-threshold retinal slip and have an experience that is closer to real life as they can track motion better.
One interesting drawback to the move to HDR, McCarthy noted, was the bleaching adaptation that can occur when, for example, an SDR and an HDR commercial are run back to back.
After watching an SDR commercial or content, he explained, it will take a minute or two for the eye to adjust, and, during that time, the viewer will lose the ability to capture HDR information.
Luminance can also have an interesting impact on the viewer's experience. As a picture brightens, the brain's neural responses get faster, there is greater sensitivity to flicker, and stroboscopic effects become more noticeable.
You can use brightness to evoke a sense of jutter or flicker, McCarthy said. And luminance can also affect the perceived color hue as, above 500 nm, things will appear more yellow and, below 500 nm, things will look more blue.
Another phenomenon is the Stevens Effect of Adaptation, in which perceived brightness of constant luminance decreases over time.
Regardless of the challenges ahead, McCarthy is bullish on a future where viewers can have a more lifelike viewing experience.
UHD in a Hybrid SDI/IP World
It's no surprise that UHD requires a lot of data to be moved, and the current standard workflow is to tie four 3-Gbps SDI links together to move the UHD payload. And, while transport of UHD over four 3-Gbps SDI circuits (typically called quad-link 3G SDI ) was standardized in 2014, SMPTE is hard at work on improving the situation to make IP-based UHD transport a reality as well.
On the opening morning, Randy Conrod, senior product manager, digital products, Imagine Communications, and Nigel Seth Smith, Signal Integrity Products Group, Semtech, offered an overview of UHD in a hybrid SDI/IP world.
The standards are very flexible and interoperable, said Conrod, and it is easy to translate signals from quad 3G to 12-Gbps SDI. That is important because the infrastructure is not limited to the formats it can carry and interface with.
There are currently three ways to move UHD signals: use SDI signals (like the quad-link 3-Gbps SDI approach mentioned earlier), move to an Ethernet-based system, or adopt compression at every interface.
Time-critical switching using IP is still a niche, Conrod noted. A hybrid approach where time is critical can use SDI while non-real-time uses can use IP.
With respect to UHD over IP, 10-Gbps Ethernet is the dominant high-end technology, and work is being done to allow first-generation UHD (where just the resolution has increased) to be transported over a single 10-Gbps circuit. The use of multiple Ethernet links for a single UHD image is currently not defined, and, more important, the next single Ethernet link has not been decided.
But the addition of higher frame rates or higher dynamic range will require a move to 40-Gbps Ethernet. And, if the desire is to move signals with UHD resolution, twice the frames, and expanded dynamic range, the demands require 100-Gbps Ethernet. The good news is that, this year, the concept of using four 25-Gbps Ethernet connections to move 100 Gbps was proved out.
Plus, you can take one of those four 25-Gbps Ethernet connections and have a 25-Gbps connection that is suitable for broadcast uses, said Conrod. We are still in the early days of standardization, but there is some action.
The use of mezzanine compression is
Most recent headlines
13/03/2025
WASHINGTON FCC Chairman Brendan Carr announced that the agency has launched a massive, new deregulatory initiative that could potentially subject virtually all ...
13/03/2025
SUNNYVALE, Calif. SDVI has announced that it has integrated its Rally media supply chain management platform with the Spectra Vail multi-cloud data management s...
13/03/2025
ATLANTA Gray Media has announced that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has granted a waiver of its local ownership rules to permit Gray Media to acqu...
13/03/2025
TV Tech: What do you anticipate will be the most significant technology trends at the 2025 NAB Show?...
13/03/2025
Watch Student Naomi Soleils Folk Pop Performance on The Voice The songwriting major sang Stars by Grace Potter and the Nocturnals during the blind auditions.
...
12/03/2025
O Spotify acaba de lan ar o relat rio Loud & Clear deste ano, uma vis o transpar...
12/03/2025
Spotify acaba de presentar el informe Loud & Clear de este a o, una mirada trans...
12/03/2025
Ramadan, a period of profound spiritual significance for Muslims worldwide, is a time for fasting, prayer, reflection, and community. Enrich your experience thi...
12/03/2025
Spotify has just unveiled this year's Loud & Clear report, a transparent loo...
12/03/2025
More than 70% of FAST programming has been produced since 2010, according to new Gracenote report
NEW YORK March 12, 2025 Gracenote, the content data busin...
12/03/2025
GEONA, Nev. Independent digital and linear advertising rep firm Viamedia will adopt cloud-based ShowSeeker Pilot as its primary ad campaign and order management...
12/03/2025
BRUSSELS Mediagenix has announced that Wael Yasin has joined the company as sales director Central Europe....
12/03/2025
LONDON A new study highlights opportunities for shoppable TV and the massive impact online consumer spending is having on the economy, with Omdia predicting tha...
12/03/2025
CUPERTINO, Calif. Interra Systems has announced that Comcast Technology Solutions has integrated recent updates to BATON Version 9 into its operations....
12/03/2025
Nevion announces new 400G addition to its eMerge SDN media fabric offering
Brie Clayton March 12, 2025
0 Comments
High-capacity switch enhances existi...
12/03/2025
DaVinci Resolve Studio Delivers Cinematic Sound for Adam Bol
Brie Clayton March 12, 2025
0 Comments
Feature film relies on DaVinci Resolve Studio for ...
12/03/2025
SVT Leverages Ateliere Live to Pioneer 100% Software-Defined Production at Rally...
12/03/2025
Berklee Awards Fenway Neighborhood Improvement Grant to Four Organizations A total of $17,000 will be distributed among the Boston-based nonprofits.
By
Madd...
12/03/2025
TVBEuropes Jenny Priestley sits down with new SMPTE president Richard Welsh to discuss his aims for the organisation going forward, its efforts to attract a you...
12/03/2025
The new process has significantly enhanced operational efficiencies, with automation freeing up creators to concentrate on higher value tasks
By Matthew Corrig...
12/03/2025
Jellyfish Pictures, which has offices in London and Sheffield, said it has been battling hard in the face of strong headwinds over the last 12 months
By Jenny ...
12/03/2025
Visit Booth #W2213 to Experience the Latest in AI-Driven Content Discovery and Workflow Automation
Bitcentral, a leader in media workflow solutions, is set to ...
12/03/2025
CHICAGO Jeff Lilly has been named WGN-TV director of technology effective March 17, 2025, according to Ric Harris, WGN-TV vice president and general manager....
12/03/2025
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. A new study from LG Ad Solutions indicates that consumers want more features that would allow them to shop for products on the connected T...
12/03/2025
BOTHELL, Wash. The Alliance for IP Media Solutions (AIMS), Advanced Media Workflow Association (AMWA) and the Video Services Forum (VSF) will once again present...
12/03/2025
PHILADELPHIA Comcast announced that it has upgraded Xfinity Internet speeds for more than 20 million customers for no additional cost....
12/03/2025
Create with Maxon: Cinema 4D Fundamentals Workshop - March 12-14
Brie Clayton March 11, 2025
0 Comments
Makin' Waffles with Elly Wade
During Marc...
12/03/2025
Ottawa, Canada - March 12, 2025 - Ross Video is pleased to announce the appointment of Aaron Tunnell as Business Development Director, Cloud Solutions, reinforc...
12/03/2025
12 Mar 2025
VEON to release 4Q 2024 trading update on 20 March 2025 Dubai, 12 March 2025 - VEON Ltd. (NASDAQ: VEON), a global digital operator, today confirms ...
12/03/2025
Getting set for the Winter Olympics: Inside SVT's ongoing software-based pro...
12/03/2025
THE PLAYERS Championship 2025: AI Commentary, Shared-Reality Viewing at COSM, La...
12/03/2025
Seamless SMPTE 2110: A Discussion on Making the Move to IP Less Painful Leaders from Netflix, Monumental Sports & Entertainment, LinkedI, and Megapixel address ...
12/03/2025
Opening Doors of Perception: Meta's Ajit Ninan on Rethinking AR/MR Perceptua...
12/03/2025
With the 2025 Formula 1 season set to begin in Melbourne on March 16, Sky Sports is gearing up to deliver its most comprehensive F1 coverage yet. Following a th...
12/03/2025
Unicanal and Trece TV revolutionize Digital TV in Paraguay with Rohde & Schwarz ...
12/03/2025
Honoring Service, Celebrating Sport: Rohde & Schwarz UK Sponsors NavyFit Rugby D...
12/03/2025
New HVS-Q12 Represents a Quantum Leap in Switcher Design...
12/03/2025
Telespazio and ABS Expand Partnership to Deliver Tailored C-Band Connectivity So...
12/03/2025
ABC conducts independent audits across the TAG programs. In the March 2025 TAG s...
12/03/2025
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Moonlight: ESA program to create a satellite con...
12/03/2025
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
In 2025, Thales ranks among the top 0.01% of the...
12/03/2025
Consumer show back following hugely successful first series
10 March 2025 Following a hugely successful first series, The Complaints Bureau returns to RT ...
11/03/2025
By Lucy Spicer
One of the most exciting things about the Sundance Film Festival...
11/03/2025
Salsa is making a comeback, captivating new listeners with its infectious energy...
11/03/2025
For many people, music can serve as a reflection of their roots and upbringing. ...
11/03/2025
The solution delivers reliable, scalable and secure connectivity for critical pu...
11/03/2025
SAN JOSE, Calif. Harmonic has announced that Weigel Broadcasting has deployed Harmonics VOS Media Software, which offers playout-to-delivery capabilities, inclu...
11/03/2025
NEW BERN, N.C. Wheatstone will introduce a Linux audio driver for its WheatNet IP audio network during the 2025 NAB Show, April 5-9, at the Las Vegas Convention...
11/03/2025
NEW YORK A new study finds that as TV viewership for women's sports surged by 131% in 2024, the programming also saw a 56% year-over-year increase in ad im...
11/03/2025
Powerful switcher for news studio
FOR-A, a cutting-edge video broadcast technology company backed by more than 50 years experience, has installed its HVS-1200 ...