hd technical standards ravensbourne2011

8/6/2019 HD Technical Standards Ravensbourne2011

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Ravensbourne 2011

High Definition Programming

Technical Standards for Programme Delivery

Version 1.0

Ravensbourne Technical Standards for Programme Delivery

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1 Introduction! 32 Technical Responsibilities for Programmes! 4

2.1 General Responsibilities! 4

2.2 Exemptions! 4

3 General Technical Requirements! 53.1 Video Standard ! 5

3.2 Video Levels and Gamut! 5

3.3 Aspect Ratio! 5

3.4 Safe Areas for Action and Captions! 5

3.5 Time-code! 6

4 Audio General Technical Requirements! 64.1 Audio Standards! 6

4.2 Audio Level, Reference Level and Measurement! 6

4.3 Line-up Tones! 7

4.4 Sound to Vision Synchronization (Lip-Synchronization)! 7

5 General Quality Requirements! 75.1 Technical Quality Grading ! 7

5.2 General Vision Quality Requirements! 8

5.3 General Audio Quality Requirements! 9

5.4 Flashing Images / Visual Patterns - Photosensitive Epilepsy (PSE)! 9

6 Submission! 106.1 Line-up Test Signals, Clock and Leader! 10

6.2 Copyright Legislation! 10

6.3 Technical Acceptance Procedures! 10

6.4 Submission Procedure ! 11

6.5 Feedback! 11

6.6 Submission Dates! 11

Appendix A!

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Version History ! 12


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1 Introduction

This document defines the technical standards for all high definition programmes thathave been commissioned for the Ravensbourne 2011 Event and applies to both pre-recorded and live content. The contents of this document does not apply to Standard

Definition programming or 3D programming for the SD technical standards see thedocument titled Ravensbourne 2011 Standard Definition Programming and for 3Dstandards see the document titled Ravensbourne 2011 3D programming.0

This document includes both technical and production specifications in a compactdocument so it can be used as a simple reference for operational staff and engineerswho are involved with content creation. It does not have any relevance to programmecontent. For the regulations on programme content please see the document titledProgramme Content Specification

As well as technical requirements this document also includes Operational and Qualitystandards to ensure that transmitted material is not only compatible with transmissionequipment but also of high quality and legal to broadcast.

If there are any areas of the document that are unclear or you have further questionsabout then please contact a relevant person (see 2 Technical Responsibilities forProgrammes)

The standards set out in this document must be met otherwise the content will not be fitfor broadcast and a revision of the programme that complies with the guidelines will beasked for. Any problems with content received will be clearly outlined and helpfuladvice can be given to ensure that content complies with these standards and can betransmitted.

This document refers to three types of standards as laid out below:

Technical Requirements

This describes the technical standards required by Ravensbourne 2011 so that theprogramme can be processed easily within the system. These are pass / fail objective

measurements.

Quality Requirements

This deals with broadly subjective quality issues with the pictures and the sound. Tojudge this we will be using the CCIR-5 point grading scale.Operational Requirements

This deals with delivery standards such as the line-up sequences and metadata.


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2 Technical Responsibilities for Programmes

2.1 General Responsibilities

The Heads of Quality control are required to ensure that broadcast programmetechnical quality is maintained to a satisfactory standard.

The Heads of Quality Control this year are:

Ashley Spires Peter Basma-Lord

Mobile: 07889547394 Mobile: 07970963161E-mail: [email protected] E-mail: [email protected]

2.2 Exemptions

Although all programmes are expected to meet the standards outlined in this documenthowever exemptions can be made in some cases. The criteria for exemption from thestandards is strict and is not flexible, also it may not be used for the convenience ofprogramme makers.

These are the categories for technical exemption:

Historic Interest: Programmes which use archive material to support the programme

content. This includes footage from previous productions where current standardscould not be met due to the constraints of the equipment at the time.

Actuality Material: Features or documentaries where broadcast quality has not beenpossible due to limitations such as the format or physical size or value of equipment.

Domestic Equipment: Programmes which use excerpts created by consumer qualityequipment which fits in with the context of the programme.


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mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]


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3 General Technical Requirements

These technical requirements must be met so that material can be passed throughtransmission systems reliably and with little noticeable impairments. Ultimately allowing

the end user to view material in the best possible quality.

3.1 Video Standard

All programmes shall be of the 1920 x 1080 interlaced at 25fps standard otherwiseknown as 1080i/50 and in the DVCPRO HD 100 codec unless otherwise agreed withthe Head of Quality Control. Signals will be assessed according to the recommendationITU-R BT.709-5

3.2 Video Levels and Gamut

Video levels including line-up must fall within the specified limits so that the programmematerial can be used without adjustment.

Video levels are based on the PAL System I which specifies 0 to 100% RGB Limits.

Signals must meet EBU Recommendation R103-2000 which states:

Luminance limits from -1% and 103%Chrominance 105% max - RGB values to not exceed limits -5% to +105%.

The video should not suffer from composite errors such as cross colour, banding, andmoir.

3.3 Aspect Ratio

All programmes must be in 16:9 aspect ratio.

Full programmes in 4:3 will not be accepted.

Format changes within the programme will not be accepted.

16:9 Programmes may contain short sections of floating 4:3 material but must bePillarboxed. The programme must not include black bars at the top or bottom of thepicture as this can cause unwanted zooming on some Tv sets which have auto-zoomfunctions enabled.

3.4 Safe Areas for Action and Captions

All programmes will be in 16:9 format and therefore must be protected for 14:9 safearea.

All captions and main programme action shall be within the safe areas defined inAppendix A.


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3.5 Time-code

Timecode should conform to EBU specification 12M-2 (SMPTE 12M2-2008).

Programme start should be at Timecode 10:00:00:00

Timecode must not span across the midnight (00:00:00:00) boundary.

All time-codes must match including LTC, DVITC, ATC.

4 Audio General Technical Requirements

4.1 Audio Standards

Programmes shall be delivered in dual mono or stereo format at 48 kHz per channel.

Left audio shall be present on the A leg or Channel 1.

Right audio shall be present on the B leg or Channel 2.

Mono shall be in Dual Mono format with identical and phase coherent audio on bothLeft and Right channels. This is so that it may be used amongst stereo programmes.

Finished programme material intended for transmission with stereo sound, whetherrecorded or for live transmission, must carry sound in A/B (Left/Right) form. M/S (Mid/

Side) is not acceptable for delivery.

4.2 Audio Level, Reference Level and Measurement

For Digital Audio the reference level is 18dB below the maximum coding value(-18dBFS) as per EBU recommended practice R68. Reference level is referred to asZero Level, Line-up Level, 0dB, 0dBu or PPM4.

Programme audio levels should be measured using Peak Programme Meters (PPM) toBS 5428.

The Maximum or Peak Programme Level shall never exceed 8dBs above theprogrammes Reference Level (i.e. PPM 6 or -10dBu).

Programme audio level should not drop below PPM4 for any longer than 10 seconds.


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4.3 Line-up Tones

Line-up Tones serve to identify individual signal channels and to provide referencelevels to indicate that without adjustment the programme transmitted will be within the

signal level limits specified.

All tones must have been sourced to a tolerance of +/- 0.1dB.

Stereo Line-up Tone shall be at a frequency of 1kHz +/- 100Hz and shall indicate theLeft and Right programme legs with EBU Stereo Tone at 8dB (PPM4 / Zero Level) withonly the left leg identified by 250ms breaks every three seconds.

All tones must be sinusoidal, free of distortion and shall be phase coherent betweenchannels.

4.4 Sound to Vision Synchronization (Lip-Synchronization)

The relative timing of sound to vision should not exhibit any perceptible error.

Sound should not lead or lag the vision by more than 10ms.

5 General Quality Requirements

5.1 Technical Quality Grading

The following principles of excellence apply to both audio and video.

Programmes shall be capable of meeting the grading requirements as given bythe ITC using the CCIR 5-point grading scale, namely:

Live programmes using systems that meet the performance figures in the ITCHandbook should achieve a sound and vision grade of 5.

Recorded programmes based on electronic production should achieve a grade of atleast 4. The absolute minimum quality that is normally acceptable is grade 3.

Ravensbourne 2011 Management reserves the right not to broadcast programmeswhich in its opinion are technically unacceptable.

The CCIR 5-point grading is:

Quality! ! ! ! Impairment5 - Excellent. ! ! ! 5 - Imperceptible.4 - Good. ! ! ! 4 - Perceptible but not annoying.3 - Fair. ! ! ! ! 3 - Slightly annoying.

2 - Poor. ! ! ! ! 2 - Annoying.1 - Bad. ! ! ! ! 1- Very annoying


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Typical Factors that Depict Grading

Video Hop and WeavingJittering

Drop-OutStreakingVideo NoiseColour Cast and ShadingErrorsMixed LightingVignetting

Over-ExposureUnder-Exposure

Poor DefinitionSoft PicturesCrushed Black LevelLow ContrastSaturation

Picture monitors on which video parameters are assessed and gradings made shouldbe grade 1 (reference EBU Tech 3263-E) and lined up to professional standards. A

PLUGE (Picture Line Up Generating Equipment) signal shall be used prior to theassessment to ensure proper adjustment of brightness, contrast and grey scale.

5.2 General Vision Quality Requirements

By its nature this is a subjective area. All presented commissioned programmes will begraded subjectively. A competent post-production provider should be able to make aneducated view during editing.

These guidelines are not to prohibit the use of any production techniques or to preventinnovative programming provided that a suitable quality is achieved.

In general:

a) The picture must be sharp and well lit (unless artistic considerations require otherwise).b) The video signal must be free of black crushing and highlight compression. Transient

response shall be such that streaking, ringing, smear, echoes and overshoots are notnoticeable. Moir and other patterning shall not be visible. Hum, crosstalk and otherspurious signals must not be apparent.

c) Colour rendition, especially skin tones, must be a realistic representation of the sceneportrayed unless artistic considerations require otherwise.

d) Video processing (e.g. effects devices) must not introduce unintentional changes toluminance and chrominance levels nor cause perceptible timing shifts on entry or exitfrom the effect.

e) Appropriate audio or video delay must be used to compensate for lip-sync errors.f) There must be no visible contouring / artefacts caused by multiple D-A and A-D

conversions or compression. Quantisation Noise shall not be apparent. In general,recordings made off-air from digital sources (DTT, DSAT and D-Cable) should not beincorporated into new programming as these signals have already been significantlycompressed.


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5.3 General Audio Quality Requirements

a) The audio shall be free of spurious signals such as noise, hum and cross-talk.b) Sibilance and distortion, wow and flutter shall not be apparent.

c) The audio shall not show dynamic and frequency response artefacts as a result of theaction of noise reduction or low bit rate coding systems.d) Audio compression should be used as little as possible as the effects of compression

used for broadcast distribution and transmission can exacerbate impairments.e) Dynamic range shall not be excessive. It shall be suitable for the whole range of

domestic listening.f) Care shall be taken when incorporating background music and effects with dialogue, or

people with a hearing impairment and poor listening conditions can find the dialoguedifficult to hear.

5.4 Flashing Images / Visual Patterns - Photosensitive Epilepsy (PSE)

Flickering or intermittent lights and certain types of repetitive visual patterns can causeserious problems for some viewers who are prone to photosensitive epilepsy.Teenagers are a group where photosensitive epilepsy is considered to be a particularproblem.

Television is by nature a flickering medium but steps can be taken to reduceunnecessary risks and to reduce the incidence of seizures to an acceptable level,although they cannot remove the risk entirely.

The ITC (UK) issues guidelines for PSE. The following guidance on the major factorsinvolved is provided for reference. However, the ITC guidelines should be consulted forcomplete information.

Rapidly flickering images should not change at a fast rate (i.e. less than 9 framesbetween each flash).

If more than 6 flashes per second then the material will fail immediately and berejected.

This applies across all submissions

If brightness changes for a given area of a picture are less than 25% of screenmaximum brightness then that area may be discounted.

In marginal cases such images should be avoided if they are positioned near the centreof the screen.

Changes in colour are not a problem unless they affect the red channel substantially. Prominent and regular patterns which cover a large proportion of the picture area

should be avoided, especially if they represent bars, spirals, or dartboard patterns.Moving or flickering regular patterns are particularly hazardous.

Care needs to be taken also with computer generated images, which, if highly detailed,can cause a high degree of 25Hz inter-line flicker in the displayed television picture.

Video luminance level as measured on a waveform monitor does not simply equate toscreen luminance (brightness) and cannot be used to assess brightness withoutcorrecting for Gamma.


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6 Submission

6.1 Line-up Test Signals, Clock and Leader

The start of programme and any subsequent part should be preceded by a countdownclock indicating programme production number, programme title and programmeproducers name.

The clock must provide a clear countdown of 10 seconds with the first frame of theprogramme laid back three seconds. The clock must appear round when viewed on a16:9 display.

Timecode Active Picture Audio Channels 1&2

09:59:17:00 EBU HD Colour Bars (75%) Constant 1kHz Tone09:59:47:00 Ident and Clock Silence

09:59:57:00 Black Silence

10:00:00:00 Programme Picture Programme Audio

Please note: At the end of the programme, sound must end naturally or be faded to beout by the end of the programme. There should be a freeze or living hold for 10seconds.

6.2 Copyright Legislation

It is the programme makers responsibility to ensure copyright laws are not breached,this includes literary, musical, sound recording, films, plagiarism etc. All programmesmust abide by the current Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. For moreinformation please visit;

http://www.copyrightservice.co.uk/copyright/p01_uk_copyright_law

6.3 Technical Acceptance Procedures

Every programme submitted must pass QC. Any programme not meeting the requiredstandard will be returned to the programme maker for amendment. Each failedprogramme will receive feedback on failed criteria. A subsequent review will then becarried out to check that any work has been done satisfactorily. Programmes which donot pass QC will not be broadcast under any circumstances.


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6.4 Submission Procedure

All content must be submitted for QC via the FORK Media Asset Management (MAM)

system.

Once the programme is complete and has been rendered out to with the formatspecified in this document (see 3.1 Video Standard and 4.1 Audio Standards) drag thevideo file into the QC Drop bin located on the MAM.

6.5 Feedback

Feedback will be given via timecode markers with related comments and informationviewable in the FORK MAM client.

Any general feedback or comments relating to the whole of the programme will beattached to a timecode marker located at the start of the programme material(10:00:00:00)

The programme makers will be notified if their programme has passed or failed QC. Ifthe programme has passed QC then the video file will moved into the Passed QC binfor delivery use.

If the programme does not pass QC then the video file will be moved into the FailedQC bin and if recently failed it will also appear in the Recent QC Fails bin. Theprogramme will have to be resubmitted by repeating the submission process.

6.6 Submission Dates

It is highly recommended to programme makers that they submit their programmes assoon as possible to allow time for further post production and resubmission in the eventthat the programme does not pass QC.

19/04/11 QC Process Begins

Programmes already submitted for QC and any submissions received after this date

will be run through the QC process.

19/05/11 - Final Submissions

Any programmes received after this date will not be run through the QC process andtherefore will not be used for broadcast. This includes resubmissions of programmespreviously failing QC.


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Appendix A

High Definition 16:9 protected for 14:9

Version History

Version 1.0 - Prepared by Ashley Spires for Ravensbourne 2011


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