tvbe april 2015 digital edition

www.tvbeurope.com

April 2015Business, insight and intelligence for the broadcast media industry

Internet of ThingsWomen in broadcast

Set-top box IPTV supplement

Defi ning our fi eld of vision

Evaluating the UHD ecosystem

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TVBEurope 3April 2015 www.tvbeurope.com

We may be far from any widespread

adoption of UHD, but what we do

have widespread adoption of is the

understanding of the numerous obstacles that

must be overcome before we see the onset of a

fully UHD-enabled ecosystem for TV production.

This issue seeks to assess some of those

challenges: whether suffi cient infrastructure is in

place; the dearth of content being readied for

this medium; the need for standards; issues of

piracy; the shortage of video-centric equipment

at the acquisition stage; and more besides. The

perspectives we’ve assembled for this edition

offer just a snapshot of the hurdles we as an

industry acknowledge to be standing in the way

of progress. With Gartner predicting that a third

of all TV sets produced will be UHD by 2018 (as

John Ive points out in his contribution), the race

will be on to ensure that an enabled ecosystem is

in place before long.

The scale of the operation required to make

this happen is not lost on anyone, which makes

the thrust of discussions at our TVBEurope 2020

conference even more pertinent, as companies

continue to defi ne their strategies to encompass

UHD, IP infrastructures, and beyond.

As part of this feature, we also attempt to

demystify UHD Phase 1 and 2, and report from

SMPTE’s recent

seminar that sought

to provide insight

on how to navigate

the UHD ecosystem.

Elsewhere,

we continue our

spotlight on females

in the media and

entertainment

industry with a

feature highlighting

a selection of

personalities who have provided inspiration for

women throughout the sector. Sophie Wilson

offers her personal account of the pioneers

whose efforts and contributions deserve

recognition for the example they set to others.

The Internet of Things is also back on our radar,

as we look at the business case for media entities

seeking to cash in on the coming connected

world. No doubt, we’ll be hearing much more

about all of these themes at N AB, and I look

forward with interest to learning the nature of

the insights being delivered and debated at this

year’s show. See you in Vegas!

James McKeownExecutive Editor

Exploring the challenges facing the widespread adoption of UHD

Welcome

Defi ning our fi eld of vision

EDITORIALExecutive Editor - James [email protected] - Melanie [email protected] Staff Writer - Holly [email protected] Media, 1st Floor, Suncourt House, 18-26 Essex Road, London N1 8LN, England +44 207 354 6002Contributors - Chris Forrester, David Fox, David Davies, Dick Hobbs, John Ive, George Jarrett, Adrian Pennington, Philip Stevens, Catherine WrightHead of Digital - Tim FrostHuman Resources & Offi ce Manager - Lianne DaveyHead of Design - Jat GarchaEditorial Production Manager - Dawn Boultwood

Senior Production Executive - Alistair TaylorPublisher - Steve [email protected]+44 207 354 6000Sales Manager - Ben [email protected]+44 207 354 6000Account Manager - Richard [email protected]+44 207 354 6000Managing Director - Mark BurtonUS Sales - Michael MitchellBroadcast Media International, PO Box 44, Greenlawn, New York, NY [email protected]+1 (631) 673 0072Japan and Korea Sales - Sho HariharaSales & Project, Yukari Media [email protected]+81 6 4790 2222 Fax: +81 6 4793 0800CirculationNewBay Media, Sovereign Park, Lathkill Street, Market Harborough, LE16 9EF, UK

Free [email protected] Tel +44 1580 883848

TVBEurope is published 12 times a year by NewBay Media, 1st Floor, Suncourt House, 18-26 Essex Road, London, N1 8LN, England

NewBay Media is a member of the Periodical Publishers Association

© NewBay Media 2015. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the prior permission of the copyright owners. TVBEurope is mailed to qualifi ed persons residing on the European continent. Subscription is free.

Allow 8 weeks for new subscriptions and change of address delivery. Send subscription inquiries to: Subscription Dept, NewBay Media, Sovereign Park, Lathkill Street, Market Harborough LE16 7BR, England. ISSN 1461-4197

Printing by Pensord Press, Tram Road, Pontllanfraith, Blackwood NP12 2YA

In this issue4 TVBEurope www.tvbeurope.com April 2015

We invite a selection of perspectives from across the industry as to the current barriers to the widespread adoption of UHD, covering areas such as infrastructure, piracy, and content creation

Supplement: Set-top box solutions for IPTV/OTT and hybrid4029

6-8 Opinion and Analysis

53 TVBEverywhere

What does IoT really mean to the media and entertain-ment industry and what should service providers be doing to cash in? Adrian Pennington reports

20 The Internet of Things

Perceptions of the public cloud: a third of UK fi rms ban staff from using pu blic cloud services, reports Connected Data

62 Data Centre

Feature37

Sophie Wilson, director of sales and marketing at PHA Media, draws attention to the hugely success-ful women in our industry and recognises their important contributions to the broadcast sector

This issue’s supplement, in association with ABOX42, looks at set-top box solutions for IPTV/OTT and Hybrid DVB, and the rigours involved in upgrading fi rst generation IPTV solutions to the latest, third generation systems

55As Virtual Reality is becoming more commonplace, so there is a growing need for greater understanding of the technology. Just what are the challenges? Do enough designers understand what is required? Philip Stevens moderates

55-58 Virtual sets forum

In search of defi nition

Setting the stage for consistent loudness worldwide. By Patrick Waddell, SMPTE fellow and manager, standards and regulatory at Harmonic

The changing behaviour of TV viewers. Dr Andreas Schroeter, co-founder and COO at wywy, examines the shift in TV viewing habits

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Opinion and Analysis6 TVBEurope www.tvbeurope.com April 2015

The roots of the loudness drama reach back

into the days of analogue television, when

media consumers used mono-only TV sets

with tiny speakers. At the time, few broadcast

stations bothered to wire for stereo; audio was

a bit player while video took centre stage. The

shift to digital audio changed this dynamic,

opening the door to stereo and multichannel

audio. Because even the least expensive

home theatre-style sound systems offered

vastly better performance than analogue

equipment, consumers began to invest in

digital entertainment systems. At the same time,

broadcast networks increasingly were converting

their audio and video infrastructure to digital

(often along with their conversion to HD).

Management of analogue audio had been

straightforward, but digital audio was another

story. Analogue television audio had less than

40dB of dynamic range. With the shift to digital,

the dynamic range of audio extended to more

than 100dB, giving the creative community

the opportunity to produce television content

that could compete aurally with dramatic

stories in the cinema.

Another positive change has been that the

noise floor is no longer coupled to signal level.

However, without meaningful signal alignment

levels built into the AES3 digital audio standard

(or other standards) to dictate interoperability

points and lacking an accepted and accessible

loudness measurement method, sound mixers

and their producers used levels that varied

by 30dB or more. Operators thus faced the

challenge of dealing with inconsistent levels from

content suppliers, and advertisers had to spend

money on mixing commercials multiple times,

often with varying results, to meet the differing

program delivery specifications for each network

and distribution mode (over-the-air, cable, and

satellite). Though operators could place audio

material almost anywhere within the 100dB

range, many chose to ‘play it safe’ and run

at -30dBFS (decibels relative to full scale) or

lower to avoid digital clipping.

All of these factors led to the inconsistent

channel-to-channel and programme-to-

programme loudness levels that irritated viewers

and ultimately led to loudness mitigation

recommendations and regulations. Within the

industry, frustration was fueled by the lack of

a loudness measurement method that was

reliable and matched to human hearing, as

well as the absence of an agreed upon set

of interoperability points that could facilitate

program interchange.

In the US, the ATSC addressed this problem

by establishing the S6-3 ad hoc group in 2006.

This ad hoc group worked for close to two years

before it presented a draft of what became

A/85 to its parent Specialists Group, S6. S6 in turn

presented that draft to the ATSC Technology

and Standards Group (TG1) for balloting.

Following the resolution of ballot comments, it

was balloted at the membership level in 2009,

and then published as ATSC Recommended

Practice A/85, Techniques for Establishing

and Maintaining Audio Loudness for Digital

Television. (A/85 has just won a Technology

and Engineering Emmy Award).

A/85 was written to ensure that digital

television provided uniform subjective loudness

for all audio content, across and within channels,

with a focus on the spoken word. It also

examined audio measurement, production,

and post production monitoring techniques,

recommending methods for controlling loudness

with an eye toward effective content delivery

or exchange. It also formally adopted the first

international standard designed to measure

audio loudness: the ITU-R BS.1770 standard

released in 2006. Extensive testing by the ITU

found matching results for human subjects

and the BS.1770 algorithm.

Perceived loudnessThe ITU had created ITU-R BS.1770 to document

two critical audio measurements – objective

multichannel loudness and accurate true peak

levels – and establish a loudness measurement

unit expressed as ‘LKFS’ (level, K-weighted,

against full scale), with the ‘K’ algorithm

accounting for the emphasis the outer ear puts

on low frequency (as documented in ISO 226,

which updated 1930s research by Fletcher and

Munson at Bell Labs). A ‘gating’ function was

later added to BS.1770 to ensure that periods of

silence and low-level signals would not yield a

too-low measure of perceived loudness.

While time-averaged measurement is key

to loudness measurement, an accompanying

‘true peak’ measurement is necessary to

measure potential digital clipping. With reliable

measurement of true peaks in the digital domain,

operators can operate much more reliably in the

upper range of digital levels.

In providing a method for measuring true

peak levels, BS.1770 also made it possible

to set an accepted level (-24 LKFS) for

program interchange. (The -24 LKFS value

is suggested by A/85 and the ITU’s BS.1864

Operational practices for loudness in the

international exchange of digital television

programmes, and the EBU suggests -23 LKFS.

A tolerance of ±2dB renders this 1dB difference

virtually negligible.)

In 2010 the EBU PLOUD (production/loudness)

group published its Loudness Recommendation

EBU R128, which provides European markets

with a method for measuring and normalising

audio using loudness meters instead of just

peak meters. Offering a series of documents

that are somewhat in parallel with A/85, but

with a broader scope and focus on the full

audio signal rather than specific elements,

this recommendation was designed to help

users overcome the limitations of conventional

audio metering.

Setting the stage for consistent loudness worldwide

By Patrick Waddell, SMPTE fellow and manager, standards and regulatory at Harmonic

‘A/85 was written to ensure that digital television provided uniform subjective loudness for all audio content, across and within channels, with a focus on

the spoken word’

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Today in Europe and North America, the standards

and recommendations addressing loudness

measurement are fairly complete, and channel-to-

channel variation has been improved dramatically.

(Countries around the world are using the same

standards and recommendations to help prevent

loudness issues as they complete their transitions

to digital.) For production, post production,

and broadcast facilities – particularly smaller

independent companies – the remaining challenges

have to do with establishing proper audio monitoring

environments and selecting loudness control tools

that don’t stomp on dynamic range.

In the US, A/85 provides detailed guidance (and

even downloadable test signals) that help users

to align their audio rooms. In Europe, valuable

practical guidance is available via EBU R128-

related documents, but it is critical that readers

drill down through these to get the full picture

necessary for proper implementation. In fact, as

the audio industry and larger broadcast industry

move forward, education and training will be the

most important steps towards ensuring that digital

audio is being produced, handled, and broadcast

in a way that meets consumer preferences, as

well as providers’ and broadcasters’ operational,

compliance, and business requirements.

By Jon Schorah, director, Nugen Audio

Since the initial introduction of loudness

recommendations in 2010 (EBU R128 in Europe)

and 2011 (CALM in the US), our understanding

and adoption of loudness normalisation in

practice has come a long way. What was

initially designed as a method of measuring

and mitigating irritating loudness jumps

between commercial and programme content

has evolved into a set of tools and techniques

that are able to address many other areas

of audio quality – including those related to

dialogue intelligibility, listening environment,

and data compression side effects.

Of course, it has not all been smooth

sailing. Initially, there was a rush to ‘solve’ the

loudness puzzle using real-time processing.

Whilst this did indeed provide compliant

audio, the overall effect was something of

a disappointment in terms of audio quality.

Therefore, loudness compliance began to

move into the creative post production

sphere so that programming could be

broadcast as intended, rather than be subject

to the vagaries of ‘blind processing’.

Five years ago, real-time standalone

hardware metering was something of a

default solution in broadcast circles. Loudness

measurement was based upon measuring the

entire programme content – a time-consuming

and inefficient proposition if you plan to

measure a 30-minute documentary in real time.

Edit-based software solutions, capable of being

used directly in the NLE timeline, were quickly

developed to remove this handicap.

The time constraint of having to measure the

entire section of audio has been significantly

alleviated by the use of faster-than-real-time

tools within the NLE; however, there is still

significant room for improvement.

As well as workflow challenges, the loudness

legislation itself has continued to evolve.

Released last year, the new supplement EBU

R128 S1 introduces alternative short-term

or momentary loudness delivery criteria for

commercials, promos, and other short-form

content. The consumer is also demanding audio

that is ‘fit for purpose’ be it high-quality 5.1 audio

for the home cinema or consistent audio with

distinct dialogue for consumption in a mobile

environment. These diverse demands again

place increased pressure on budgets and busy

production schedules.

Nugen Audio will be releasing significant

updates to its loudness metering and correction

tools at the 2015 NAB Show.


Loudness control

‘Today in Europe and North America, the standards and recommendations

addressing loudness measurement are fairly complete, and

channel-to-channel variation has been improved dramatically’

Jon Schorah, Nugen Audio


Most broadcasters have CD libraries

with many thousands of discs – some

upwards of a quarter of a million. As

is generally acknowledged now, CD is not a

permanent medium, so broadcasters are moving

these considerable assets into safer archival

storage. Transferring such a large volume of

content to a future-proof archive would be

a big undertaking in any circumstances, but

there are reasons why it’s rather more difficult

than might be thought.

First let’s look at the medium itself: CDs are

either commercially produced, or created

by the user on CD-R discs. CD-R dye fades

fairly rapidly and the data burnt onto the

disc becomes more problematic to read.

Commercial CDs are longer-lasting (research

by UNESCO and others puts the life of a CD at

between three and 20 years) but they are likely

to have been in daily use in production, and

therefore to have sustained damage that will

limit their useful life. These factors make both

CD-R and commercial CDs difficult to process

through a bulk migration operation.

We’ve all been in restaurants or shops where

the music betrays its CD origins by skipping

irritatingly. It’s even more annoying if the

staff are too busy to change the disc; but

imagine that problem multiplied by several

hundred thousand – the kind of numbers

faced by anyone trying to migrate a

broadcaster’s CD library.

When you want to migrate CDs, you are faced

with a very wide choice of drives, but those that

are currently available are almost all focused

on multimedia applications, and reading DVDs.

Their performance with audio CDs is often not

so good. It’s an IT process to grab an audio CD,

and theoretically it should be a simple one, but

unfortunately there is a lot more to it than first

meets the eye.

CDs contain important non-audio information

such as the ISRC codes that tag the recordings

with international recording numbers for royalty

payments, and lots of other information such

as emphasis flags. This information has to be

preserved as part of the archived copy of the

recording, and if the drive can’t read it, that is a

headache for the archivist.

So the archive operator is left with two

questions: will the drives I use be able to read all

the required information (as well as the audio)

reliably from discs that may not be in good

condition, and what happens when they can’t?

Parallel ingestOf course, if we listen to a CD and hear a glitch,

we can see at what point it occurs,

and take note. But no migration operation

of any size can afford to have an operator

listening to every disc as it’s being ripped.

So even with the cheapest approach (with

several computers operating at once with

ripping software) parallel ingest is required in

order to get through the volume of material,

with a single operator able to feed a handful

of machines. Any errors in this kind of set-up

are usually reported without precise location

information, so the operator then has to reload

the CD and listen explicitly to it to find the

errors. The throughput with this approach can

never be very high – even assuming good

performance from the CD drives. But that’s a

big assumption because of the way drives have

changed since the heyday of CDs. When drives

can’t read the stream they apply some type

of interpolation, and with today’s drives this

has now been oriented more towards the DVD

industry rather than the audio. They are also of a

different quality due to the mechanical stability

of the laser on the drives.

To source high performance drives for

use with our CD Lector systems, we are

continually searching the market and

testing models from many manufacturers.

We have evolved a rigorous procedure for

this, using a specially-created test CD that

contains not only audio content, but all of the

types of subcode information that CDs use.

But further than this, the disc also contains

deliberately added damage in the form of

CNC routed scratches and a black arrow

on the playing surface: this simulates the

type of wear and tear typically sustained

by a well-used disc. In our tests, we’ll often

take 20 currently-available drives, and we

generally find that only one or two can

really survive the test CD and deliver a good

quality transcription.

The next stage of the testing process is to

test another ten of the successful models to

check if performance is consistent across

the manufacturing run. If it passes our criteria,

we then buy in bulk order to keep in stock.

But we have to be quick because any one

CD drive is usually only available for around

three months before the specification changes

and then we have to begin the testing

process over again.

Of course there’s a price to this: the time taken

to source and test these drives, plus the costs of

keeping them in stock for years, means that the

authorised drives we supply to customers with

the CD Lector system is not the same as

the price of an off-the-shelf, untested drive.

But with drives of authenticated performance

CD Lector users typically get through 500 CDs

a day, aided by the precise location data the

system provides when a stream error occurs,

which allows the operator to remedy the

problem quickly.

Transcribing 350,000 CDs in two years with two

eight-drive systems is quite normal performance

with well organised metadata if you choose

your drives carefully.

The drive for CD migrationHow a deliberately-scratched CD can improve your audio library migration, by Christophe Kummer, managing director of NOA Audio Solutions

“When you want to migrate CDs, you are faced with a very wide choice of drives, but those that are currently available are almost all focused on multimedia applications, and

reading DVDs. Their performance with audio CDs is often not so good”

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Workflow12 TVBEurope www.tvbeurope.com April 2015

Television in Ukraine can be traced back to

the beginning of February 1939 when the

first broadcast was originated in Kiev. That

transmission lasted just 40 minutes and featured a

portrait of politburo member, Sergo Ordzhonikidze.

Hostilities in Europe then prevented any further

progress and the population had to wait until

November 1951 before regular programming

restarted – again from a studio in the capital,

Kiev. Since then, in keeping with many other

countries, Ukraine has seen a series of other

developments in the broadcasting field with an

increasing number of channels being introduced

– the latest of which is free-to-air English

language 24/7 news outlet, Ukraine Today.

Launched in August 2014, Ukraine Today is

a part of one of the biggest Ukrainian media

groups, 1+1 Media.

“We began broadcasting on 14 August

2014, with a live stream on our website and

a transmission via satellite,” states Tetiana

Pushnova, executive producer of Ukraine

Today and a former chief editor of TV news

programme TSN at Ukrainian TV channel 1+1.

“Those first transmissions simply displayed a test

card, but included a scrolling text that provided

information on how to receive the new channel.

Ten days later, on Ukrainian Independence

Day, we had our official launch and started

broadcasting news content.”

Role definedThe channel states that its primary focus is on

providing broad information pertaining to the

conflict in Ukraine as well as other current events

in Eastern Europe and post Soviet states. It also

covers economic, cultural and sports news.

“For us, as one of the leading Ukrainian

media companies, it is important to provide

the international community with access to the

real facts and events in Ukraine, Russia and

News from UkrainePhilip Stevens takes a look at one of the latest 24-hour news channels to be launched

“For us, as one of the leading Ukrainian media companies, it is important to provide the international community with access to the real facts and events

in Ukraine, Russia and the CIS”Oleksandr Tkachenko, 1+1 Media


Workflow

Tetiana Pushnova: “Nowadays SNG trucks are replaced by internet delivery lines more and more. But because Ukraine is at the stage of war, we still need to have SNG and DSNG for satellite broadcasting to remote regions”

the CIS,” states Oleksandr Tkachenko, the CEO

of 1+1 Media.

To fulfil those objectives the channel began its

programming in a style similar to Euronews – with

clips of news stories accompanied by voice over

commentary. However, within a month, Ukraine

Today started to generate a limited amount

of live content.

Pushnova continues, “After we launched

Ukraine Today in August, we also implemented a

convergent newsroom in September. In order to fully

integrate convergent technology into the workflow,

combining broadcast and other media production,

we deliberately delayed the launch of the website.

We were the first in Ukraine to introduce this

technology for the production of television news.”

She adds, “We have also implemented several

online projects, such as Ukraine Today Revolution

with an alternative view of Euromaidan history

and a website profiling Ukraine’s ‘cyborg’ soldiers.

These are designed to show the Ukrainian reality

to the world community and present it in detail.”

The first of those projects features the Euromaidan

Revolution which allows international audiences

to explore the impact of the historic events which

have transformed Ukraine over the past year. While

Cyborgs (cyborgs.uatoday.tv) provides an overview

of the Battle for Donetsk International Airport

and profiling of the iconic ‘cyborg’ soldiers of the

Ukrainian army.

Studio facilitiesThe channel is staffed with both Ukrainian and

international staff and broadcasts from the 1+1

Media Group’s specially configured newsroom,

with live Ukraine Today programmes originating in a

160sqm studio. Building and equipping the facility was

overseen by Ukrainian systems integrators including

ComTel, Mak-House and IT-TV, working alongside

German, Canadian and Norwegian developers.

As well as the output for Ukraine Today, the studio

serves other companies in the 1+1 Media Group.

The studio is equipped with six Sony HDC1700

cameras that are manually controlled. Although the

facility has been built with a transition to HD in mind,

the channel continues to provide output in SD only.

The gallery is equipped with a Grass Valley

Karrera vision mixer and Studer audio console.

“We opted for the Grass Valley switcher because

we have complicated vision mixing tasks and

these systems are very powerful and best suit our

production needs,” explains Pushnova. “We are

also planning to use virtual reality sets, but have not

yet implemented that option.”

The control room is equipped with a Vizrt

Multichannel system for graphics production. The

system simplifies the playout of playlists, and combines

pre-scheduled, timecode-based playlist operations

with the possibility of adding real-time 2D and 3D

graphic effects and powerful branding capabilities.

In complex environments the application helps to

centralise the entire workflow on to one desktop.

The broadcaster has selected the Annova

by OpenMedia newsroom system. “We made

that choice because at the moment it meets the

requirements of a convergent newsroom. It means

that it can simultaneously impose the news on all

media platforms that we have in our group.”

The system provides Ukraine Today with a flexible

editorial workflow and rundown management. In

order to support production planning of videos,

a special workflow of timing placeholders was

implemented in OpenMedia NOW, with a list of

all videos to be produced for a day. Inside such a

list, the journalist is able to create a story element

with timing placeholders that serve as a storyboard

for the editor. Once the editor has published

the completed package, it can be called up in

OpenMedia NOW and used in the further editorial

workflow and finally for playout. To ensure a

seamless workflow throughout the new production,

connections to third-party systems are provided.

Integrating Vizrt’s graphics system, Autocue’s

Teleprompter and Imagine’s MAM and playout

enables the journalist to cover the whole news

workflow from the initial concept right through to

broadcast from inside of OpenMedia NOW.

Pushnova goes on to say that the whole

operation has been tapeless since day one.

“Thanks to the new Diva video archives

management system developed by Front Porch it

was a simple move to tapeless broadcasting and

archiving technology. It also saves a lot of time

because all routine processes connected with

archiving, restoring, and transcoding are now fully

automated. When it came to editing, we bought a

system from Imagine Communications, which we

consider to be the most powerful, advanced and

reliable system that perfectly fits our requirements.”

That purchase from Imagine Communications

comprises a Nexio playout server and a Velocity

editing system.

She reveals that discussions were carried out

with respect to journalists performing editing on

their laptops, but it was decided to postpone any

decision for the time being and allow editing to

be carried out by dedicated staff.

As far as getting content back to the studio

centre in Kiev, Pushnova says that the channel

is determined to use the internet as a system

for translations and live broadcasts. “Nowadays

SNG trucks are replaced by internet delivery

lines more and more. But because Ukraine

is at the stage of war, we still need to have

SNG and DSNG for satellite broadcasting to

remote regions.”

Ukraine Today broadcasts can be seen via

the Eutelsat Hotbird satellite and through internet

streaming. News updates are at official website

www.uatoday.tv, on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube,

and via Android and iOs applications. The output is

also available on Samsung and LG Smart TVs.

Looking ahead“At present we only broadcast in the English

language, but we have a strategy to introduce a

Russian version later in 2015,” says Pushnova. “But

there are no plans to launch on pay-TV channels

in the foreseeable future.”

She concludes by revealing that other plans

are in the pipeline for the future. “We have

ambitious plans despite our TV centre already

being number one in Ukraine. Those plans call

for considerable investment in equipment of our

studios and the determined development of

Ukraine Today in general.”


‘The OpenNow newsroom system provides Ukraine Today with a flexible

editorial workflow and rundown management’

Journalists from the Ukraine Today convergent newsroom

Goran Radman was appointed by

the Croatian Parliament as director

general of HRT (Hrvatska radiotelevizija,

the Croatian public service broadcaster) in

November 2012. According to the Croatian

Radiotelevision Act, the director general has

no direct editorial and programming powers,

but has overall responsibility for the legal,

fi nancial and other business management

prerequisites needed for the successful fulfi lment

of HRT’s public role and services, including

the content production and broadcasting

on all platforms – television, radio and digital

media. This responsibility is shared through the

organisational structure which includes four

assistant directors – for programme, production,

technology and business – and 17 editors-in-chief

of all programme channels (four television, 12

radio and one combined digital content output,

including web and mobile services).

“After my student days I became a freelance

journalist and co-founder of a number of

independent magazines, TV and radio stations

back in the early 1980s, ” explains Radman. “My

television career highlights were in 1987 when

I became the general manager of Television

Zagreb, and in 1990, as the executive producer of

Eurosong, the Eurovision Song Contest in Zagreb.

“In 1992 I moved into the private sector and IT.

Most signifi cant was my Microsoft career, where I

started off as Croatia’s country manager in 1996

and ended up in late 2008 as Microsoft president

for Eastern and Central Eastern Europe. I returned

to Croatia and moved into the academic sector

to become a lecturer and the Dean of Vern

University, the largest private applied sciences

institution in Zagreb. With the end of my term in

the Dean’s offi ce, and after almost two decades

in private sector executive roles, I’m back in a

public position to carry out plans for restructuring

and reshaping HRT.”

Workfl ow16 TVBEurope www.tvbeurope.com April 2015

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Meeting the Croatian challenge

Two years on since his appointment as top executive of HRT in Croatia, Goran Radman talks to Philip Stevens about the challenges of the job, the restructuring plan and his vision

Goran Radman: “We are now

broadcasting in full 16:9 format, introduced

end-to-end tapeless in news production while preparing for it at central production facilities in

Zagreb and the rest of HRT by the end of 2015”

Balancing the budgetHe reports that the list of priorities was extensive

when he took up the position, but of special

concern was financial stability.

“For some years HRT had accumulated a huge

financial debt and scored multi-year and growing

negative balance sheets and poor business

results. In addition, liquidity issues posed severe risks

to basic operations, so we had to recover and

reverse that trend instantly. I’m glad to confirm the

measures we undertook paid off quickly. Settling

the tax and loan dues, reducing the operating

costs and improving efficiency helped us return

to profit in 2013 and 2014, and we look forward to

continuing positive business results.”

The second priority was reshaping the

traditional media silos and bureaucratic

organisation into a multimedia, functional

and responsible public business-minded

enterprise. The successful organisational reforms

undertaken during 2013 enabled HRT to quickly

refocus its new management on strategy and

development, rather than legacy issues.

“My third priority was modernisation,

especially technology modernisation, since

most of the business and production equipment

and infrastructure were outdated, mostly

more than 20 years old. However, investing

courageously in financially restricted conditions

is a risky and challenging task, but I’m glad to

confirm we have made a big step forward and

are close to a complete end-to-end tapeless

production environment.”

Multimedia movesThe overall restructuring programme that began

in August 2013 is due for completion towards

the end of 2017. Radman says the plan is

designed to cope with the demanding and

rapidly changing social, technological and

media environments, while still focusing on high

public value that the broadcaster brings to

Croatian society.

“Our new multimedia-oriented functional

organisation follows the key business activities

to create a workflow environment in which

creative personnel and external partners would

be able to focus on content, regardless of the

distribution platforms, while editors focus on

interacting with audiences and understanding

media landscape demands.”

He continues, “Like other public broadcasting

services in Europe, we are competing for

national audiences in an open, globalised and

highly saturated media market. Dozens of local,

regional and national commercial television

and radio stations get access to homes, and

there are numerous international IPTV and cable

channels. If we want to remain relevant to our

users, we constantly have to deliver added

value services and premium national content in

Croatian, not only to our traditional television and

radio audiences, but also to the growing number

of younger and technology savvy individuals

who prefer internet communication.”

Internally, that means there is a growing

pressure on journalists and producers to adapt


Workflow


faster to those challenges, to learn and perform

new cross-media technology and social

communication skills, and finally to accept and

absorb the new media culture. One way of

moving forward is the evolution from a traditional

single-media reporter into a multimedia

video journalist (VJ).

“Two years ago we had only a few VJs on

board, today there are dozens of them. Media

convergence was only a buzz phrase a few

years ago, but it’s in the mainstream news and

other productions today. The news convergence

has been enabled through the integration

of radio and television NRCS tools that had

previously been separated. Now, all our

journalists share the content, regardless of the

platform. But they are still physically separated.

We are preparing major investment in the

integrated newsroom by the end of 2015. This will

enable us to produce more, better quality and

more accurate content across media platforms

with optimised use of resources.”

Radman goes on to report that HRT has

restructured its satellite operations, launched

an experimental OTT service, reorganised its

international and national correspondents’

network and modernised most of the regional

production sites across Croatia. “We are now

broadcasting in full 16:9 format, introduced

end-to-end tapeless in news production while

preparing for it at central production facilities

in Zagreb and the rest of HRT by the end of

2015. This is a key milestone towards the

introduction of HD. We are now ready to

address competitiveness issues: programme

quality, market outreach and general

audience trust issues we’ve cumulated

through the transition years.”

Maintaining momentumDespite the significant changes within the HRT

operation, some challenges remain. Radman

cites the continued reduction of the workforce

and completion of technological modernisation

process as the biggest. He says the operating

costs have to stay under 95 per cent of total

revenues, in order to achieve sustainable

development. And the successful introduction of

new technology will be the key driver of further

labour restructuring. Among other challenges is

strengthening the broadcaster’s market position –

to achieve the stated goal of growing total media

reach to at least 40 per cent of the population.

“But,” reflects Radman, “I believe there are

many more challenges yet to come. However, my

vision is a simple one: HRT as a modern Croatian

and European public service broadcaster, with

high levels of social value added, of programme

relevance and reach, technologically advanced

and financially stable. In-depth transformation of

HRT is a serious undertaking, but the first two years’

results are encouraging. Regardless of challenges

and, sometimes, even obstacles, I’m determined

to continue and complete this process.”

‘HRT has restructured its satellite operations, launched an experimental

OTT service, reorganised its international and national correspondents’ network

and modernised most of the regional production sites across Croatia’

The goal for the Internet of Things (IoT) is

to connect as many devices as possible

so they can be used together in new

ways. By some accounts it’s a huge untapped

opportunity. Analyst IDC reckons the global

IoT market will exceed $7 trillion by 2020.

Wearables are a subset of IoT and the market for

Microelectrical Mechanical Systems which power

them will be worth $22 billion by 2018 (according

to the MEMS Industry Group).

Cisco talks of the Internet of Everything which

encompasses the Internet of Things to suggest

an approach that connects not just things but

people and processes.

“There are a lot of things in flux,” says

Guillaume De Saint Marc, senior director, chief

technology and architecture office at Cisco.

“You could talk with different people at Cisco

and receive different standpoints.” As more

home devices become IP enabled, the value in

actually connecting them will depend upon how

they make our lives easier, more interesting, more

secure, and so on. But how can the broadcast

and media industry cash in?

The intersection of IoT with connected

entertainment is already underway. Indeed,

entertainment is arguably the first sector to push

a digital ecosystem closer to consumers. Tablets,

smartphones, STBs and connected TVs are early

arrivals into the digital world of things.

“There is clear overlap between IoT and

connected entertainment, at least at the

device level,” says Steve Plunkett, CTO, Red

Bee Media. “As they are joined by your fridge,

toaster and doorbell they bring something

extra to connected entertainment – context.

Context today is narrow, focused on previous

media consumption patterns within online video

platforms. IoT could provide more insight and

context (i.e. just arrived home, later than normal,

midweek, so don’t recommend a three-hour

movie). There are many open questions of course

around data sharing between devices and

platforms to be resolved first.”

Feature20 TVBEurope www.tvbeurope.com April 2015

What does the IoT really mean to the media and entertainment industry and what should service providers be doing to cash in? Adrian Pennington reports

The real value of the Internet

Cisco’s demonstration of the connected home of the future at the IBC Content Everywhere MENA event in Dubai this year


Feature

With IoT, the

possibilities are

apparently endless.

“It’s a fantastic

new playground

for developers

and provides

new business

opportunities for

service providers,”

says Benoit Joly, SVP,

marketing, smart

home and solutions

integration at Technicolor. “Someone is ringing the

doorbell? Let’s display the image via a pop-up

on TV. Your set-top-box could start recording your

favourite TV show if your smart watch indicated

you are stuck in the traffic.”

Adding new services such as these to a

broadband subscription has been a page in the

telecom operators’ playbook for years, says Simon

Trudelle, senior product marketing director at Nagra.

“From a technical angle, as IoT is based on

IP and cloud technologies, and connected

entertainment is accelerating in the same

direction, most of the core underlying

infrastructure is now common to all types

and classes of smart home and connected

entertainment services,” he says.

IoT futureSince network service providers (telcos, pay-TV

operators) are already providing entertainment

services into the home, is there is a business

opportunity if they can leverage this shrewdly?

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of Things

Simon Trudelle: “Seamlessly integrating services that are accessible at a click of the remote gives an edge to the service provider”

“This is not a natural evolution of TV Everywhere

strategy,” advises Saint Marc. “It needs thought,

focus and investment. First, they have to continue

to invest in the cloud. A lot of the business

intelligence for IoT will be housed there. Security of

the home gateway is another significant issue and

an elegant and very powerful way for providers to

capitalise on their already considerable investment

in security for set-top boxes.”

CE vendors are of course well placed because

their huge marketing budgets allow them to

educate the masses about connected objects

and services. But who wants to give all their data to

Google? Who has only Apple products?

Service operators are also interested in playing

a key role in this space and are going to do it by

providing services across the multiple devices that

people already own in a non-proprietary fashion.

“They have made their customers move

to connected entertainment, and they can

continue to do so with IoT,” says Joly. “How

are they going to do it? We think TV is still their

best ally. Everyone knows how to use a TV.

Not everyone knows how to install and use a

connected thermostat device on its own.”

It’s all about serviceWhat puts such service providers in pole position

over consumer electronics brands like Apple,

Samsung or even over Google is this service

aspect. True, these companies have begun re-

orientating their service provision, differentiating

themselves on innovation, scale and consumer

reach but network service operators have been

dealing with in-home customer service for years.

“For advanced IoT services, like home security,

home safety, home automation, energy

management or e-health, the installation and

usage remains deeply integrated into the home

environment and usually require an installer to

come on site and handle the ‘last mile’ of the

service,” outlines Trudelle. “This is obviously an

area where broadband service providers are

traditionally very well positioned.”

If this card is well played, he continues, “this

can form a natural extension to the ongoing

media gateway deployments and which can be

increasingly positioned as a monetisation anchor in

the connected home.”

Nagra suggests such advanced services could

bring extra monthly ARPU in the range of €10 to

€35, for a penetration of five to 30 per cent of the

subscriber base in advanced markets.

“This is a significant opportunity for service

providers despite the regional volatility factors

built into these estimations,” says Trudelle. “While

ARPU may only add up to a fraction of the

media and network access services revenues

that incumbent operators currently enjoy, there

is definite potential for accelerated growth at

some point in the next 18 to 24 months.”

As it is the case for media entertainment

today, however, owning the network or the STB

connected to the main TV is no guarantee that

consumers will buy new types of services, or

actually buy these services from their incumbent

broadband or TV provider.

A good strategy for TV and internet service

providers could be to start with an OTT service

linked to several connected objects. One user

interface, one dashboard for everything, and

available on TV as well.

Technicolor’s digital life suite of apps (IZE),

for example, is an open source IoT platform

aggregating different services. Explains Joly: “Each

of these services is delivered by a digital concierge

(the Nurse, the Doorman, the Caretaker, etc) as

you know them in real life. So you know exactly

which service you are subscribing to, and you can

add services as you need, you just pay for what

you use, exactly like in real life.”

Nagra’s advice to service providers is

firstly to invest in market intelligence and

consumer research to build the business case;

and secondly “not be distracted by gadget

applications that may not have a sustainable

business model over time.”

Any working business model is likely to be

similar to those that already exist on the web.

“Paid-for services where the consumer, perhaps

as an increment to an existing bill, buys products

that support their IoT existence, or free-to-use

services that exchange consumer insight (sold to

advertisers etc) for IoT support and experiences,”

informs Plunkett.

The important thing, he stresses, “is to plant a flag

somewhere in the universe of things and begin

experimenting.”

Multi-device UEXIn order to scale the connected home, the user

experience (UEX) has to be extremely seamless.

This is a big headache, but one where service

providers, working with technology partners, should

still have the edge.

“You want all those connected things to work

together because you are just in one environment,”

says Saint Marc. “A classic example is using the TV to

adjust lighting or heating or monitoring the baby.”

4K TVs with larger screen real estate are

perfect for displaying both entertainment and

IoT services. Vendors see strong potential for

consumers to get an efficient and intuitive

‘dashboard’ view of their IoT services.

“Seamlessly integrating services that are

accessible at a click of the remote gives an

edge to the service provider, as such integration

actually brings extra convenience that

consumers tend to value,” says Trudelle.

Instead of having several user interfaces which

forces users to quit the content they are watching in

order to navigate other menus, Technicolor’s system

also keeps content first, always on screen.

Expanding TV applicationsA piece of digital entertainment should be

considered a ‘thing’. Is there an opportunity for

broadcasters/content owners to capitalise on IoT?

“First and most obvious is to use the increased

context provided by IoT data to better recommend

what to watch,” says Plunkett. “In this scenario,

the content itself and the viewing experience is

unchanged. The second scenario is to use IoT data

to change how the content is experienced. For

example, if the motion sensor or door sensor detects

you have left the room, the programme could

automatically pause until you return.”

Similarly, a toy Dalek in the living room could be

activated to move in familiar Dalek fashion by an

audio trigger embedded in an episode of Dr Who.

Fragmentation or glue?IoT will remain a pipedream if the network to

connect devices and people cannot handle the

traffic. Dramatic increases in global mobile traffic

are widely anticipated, with an estimated 50

billion connected devices in play by 2020. Cisco

predicts an 11-fold increase in global mobile

data traffic between 2013 and 2018.

To fulfil a growing interoperability need, the

emerging IoT is awash with standards. Some,

such as AllJoyn, Homekit and OSGi are driven by


Steve Plunkett: “If we end up with fragmented groups of devices living in isolated islands of connectivity within our homes then this will inhibit the usefulness of IoT”

Benoit Joly: “[IoT] is a fantastic new playground for developers and provides new business opportunities for service providers”

CE vendors or CE-driven industry consortiums like

DLNA and UpnP. ZigBee is a wireless protocol that

links appliances and sensors and operates from

tiny amounts of power. The similar Thread standard

boasts membership from Samsung, ARM and Silicon

Labs. The Open Internet Consortium (OIC), which

includes Intel, Cisco and General Electric, is working

with Linux on open source software project, IoTivity.

Technicolor is a founding member of the AllSeen

Alliance (with Microsoft, Sony, Panasonic, LG, Cisco

and Qualcomm), contributing Qeo, an open

source software language for connected objects.

Technicolor’s IZE ‘digital life dashboard’ is designed

with the Allseen IoT framework in mind to ensure

interoperability between all connected devices

used to operate it.

All these standards aim to define a platform

environment for integrating other devices and

systems delivered by non-tech companies, such

as electric switches and sensors. Specific industry

standards may also emerge for some vertical

ecosystems, typically in the energy management

and home automation space.

“For service providers, this clearly means that

extending their offering with smart home services

will require new skills, first and foremost to find out

which vendors are the right partners to choose to

be successful in this new evolving environment,”

says Trudelle.

It is in the consumer’s interest that all of their

connected devices can interact via a common

platform – the network effect of IoT is an important

part of its future promise.

“If we end up with fragmented groups of devices

living in isolated islands of connectivity within our

homes then this will inhibit the usefulness of IoT,”

says Plunkett. “This can be achieved through the

use of open platforms that all devices connect to.

One way to achieve this goal is through the use

of standards so that all manufacturers can build

common/compatible device side implementations.

The risk is that standardisation can be a slow process

and this may create the conditions for proprietary

platforms to emerge in the lead.”

In Cisco’s view the key ingredient to any IoT

success will be IPv6, the latest version of IP. “We have

a lot of perfectly mature standards ready,” says Saint

Marc. “It’s not happening as an ecosystem but as

a sum of independent and successful applications

at the device level. What needs to emerge is at the

platform level. It will need to connect everything

together and yet be simple and secure for the end

user. It will take a few years before we get there

and the only way it’s going to happen this decade

is through open source momentum and from the

wider development community.”


Feature

“This is not a natural evolution of TV Everywhere strategy. It needs thought, focus and investment”

Guillaume De Saint Marc, Cisco

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Zylight is introducing the Newz compact on-camera light designed for broadcast news and other run-and-gun shooting applications. The variable white light includes brightness settings from tungsten (3200K) to daylight (5600K), while a unique articulated arm design allows shooters to easily adjust the height and angle of the light.

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NAB Preview

It feels like NAB 2015 has been looming on our horizon for some time, but now, it is finally here. We’ll be reporting on the key trends and thought leadership emerging from this year’s event in our May and June editions, and we begin our NAB coverage this issue with a sneak peek at some of the key announcements being generated from the showfloor

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NAB Preview26 TVBEurope www.tvbeurope.com April 2015

Riedel has launched its new MediorNet device that will add increased flexibility and convenience to the acclaimed MediorNet real-time network.

Also on show is the new RSP-2318 Smartpanel (pictured), which offers features and capabilities that will enrich the user experience and change the way broadcasters and AV professionals communicate. As a control panel designed to serve as a powerful multifunctional user interface, the Riedel device boasts a unique feature set that includes three high-resolution, sunlight-readable, multi-touch colour displays; premium quality stereo audio; a multilingual character set; and 18 keys in just 1RU. These features make Riedel’s new Smartpanel a powerful user interface that can be further expanded through the use of apps. Riedel’s

first app for the RSP-2318 turns the Smartpanel into an innovative and smart intercom panel.

The Tango TNG-200 represents Riedel’s first network-based platform supporting RAVENNA/AES67 and AVB standards. With its own dedicated intercom application, the platform can be turned into a flexible,

cutting-edge solution for a variety of communications scenarios.

“NAB sees the introduction of a brand new member to the MediorNet family. Making their North American debuts, our innovative new Tango platform and Smartpanel represent the cutting edge of communications interfaces, with powerful features that will provide unprecedented

power and convenience,” explained Thomas Riedel, CEO of Riedel Communications.

Riedel is also presenting the STX-200 professional broadcast-grade interface, which brings any Skype user worldwide into the professional broadcast environment. Licensed by Microsoft, it meets broadcasters’ increasing

need for a reliable single-box solution that enables them to bring live contributions from reporters and viewers into live programming.

Other products on display include Artist, Performer, and Acrobat Intercom Systems; RockNet Audio Systems; MediorNet and MediorNet Compact; MediorNet MetroN Core Router and Virtual Control Panel (VCP). C4937

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NAB Preview

Quantel and Snell are demonstrating a complete IP system including routing, production switching, processing and playout. The companies are also showing how to transition from today’s SDI world into an IP future with modules for Sirius 800 routers and Kahuna switchers and a hybrid SDI/IP control system that enables current products to work across both worlds – eliminating the cost and disruption of a complete lift-out.

There are a raft of new developments across routers, switchers, channel-in-a-box and news production that ensure customers can get the best out of their existing infrastructure while they transition to IP.

NAB is the showcase for the Morpheus and ICE enhancements, which deliver a sophisticated on-

screen presence more efficiently, and adaptive cadence detection on Alchemist OD will streamline file-based conversion workflows.

Other developments on show include advances in 4K; Pablo Rio handling 8K 60p in real time; enhanced team-working with QTube; and the new LiveTouch (pictured) sports highlighting system with integrated editing, enabling more sophisticated and engaging sports coverage, more quickly and easily.

“NAB 2015 is the first opportunity for Quantel and Snell to demonstrate the breadth and depth of our complete product range,” said Martin Mulligan, sales director. “The raft of new products and developments on show will simplify, streamline and even transform workflows, enabling our industry to transition to its IP future.” SL1500MR, SL2009

Quantel/Snell

The transition to an IP future

xxxxx28 TVBEurope www.tvbeurope.com April 2015

NAB Preview

Telestream is hosting the company’s first Dynamic Ad Insertion (DAI) technology showcase, featuring the newly released Vantage DAI software solution. This will demonstrate an end-to-end file-based workflow encompassing video, audio and metadata transformation that delivers on the promise of increased ad revenue within a fully automated and scalable software system.

The introduction of DAI on a broad scale requires a strategic approach. “Dynamic Ad Insertion for VoD empowers content owners to generate new revenue streams from VoD content. This requires coordination between the content creator, the distribution network, and the agency managing ad campaigns. Our goal is to scale the output volume and maximise profitability for content owners, while ensuring system extensibility within the existing partner ecosystem,” commented Jim Duval (pictured), director of new products at Telestream.

Creating a normalised platform for advanced ads requires the right balance of process automation, scalability and human interaction. A system that provides a single connection point between the content providers, ad serving platforms and MVPDs is critical to the success of any DAI strategy. Doing this with a single interface for every service provider makes the solution scalable.

“Throughout North America, we have partnered with major broadcasters and cable TV MVPDs on DAI architectures that

enable them to realise the promise of DAI,” explained Duval. “We have collaborated with the pioneers of the cable DAI initiative and have now succeeded in deploying a business focused solution. In Vantage, we have developed a workflow automation platform that is proven to achieve outstanding results in DAI applications of various size and scale.”

At NAB, Telestream is demonstrating how Vantage takes previously transmitted content

and digitally prepares it for the insertion of new commercials and all associated metadata in preparation for re-transmission over a VoD cable network. The system automates the content and metadata formatting and delivery and integrates directly into the DAI ecosystem, so that DAI is achieved in the most efficient and cost-effective way. “We worked out the

essential workflow elements some time ago,” explained Duval. “The quantum progression that you will see at NAB this year is how Vantage makes the whole process much more hands-free and cost-effective without requiring wholesale infrastructure replacement.”

“NAB 2015 will be a key strategic milestone for Telestream in terms of introducing DAI – we can demonstrate to content owners and cable TV MVPDs a resilient and reliable toolkit which will help them evolve and extend their business models, creating major new revenue streams, which is something fresh and new in our industry in recent times,” stated Paul Turner, VP of enterprise product management at Telestream. SL3305

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Aspera is sharing its expertise in cloud-based workflows and is showing its complete portfolio of high-speed file transfer software and automation solutions.

The new capabilities of the Aspera Transfer Platform allow media enterprises to efficiently transfer, synchronise and stream content of any type, resolution and size across cloud and on-premise systems at global distances, enabling them to handle today’s increasingly complex production workflows. These include Aspera Drive (pictured) and Aspera Drive for Mobile, which is designed for content producers, creative teams and other end-users of the Aspera Transfer Platform, Aspera Drive for Windows and Mac allow them to remotely browse, drag-and-drop transfer, sync and exchange person-to-person rich media content and files directly from the desktop.

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In association with

Smart set-top box solutions for IPTV/OTT and Hybrid DVB

It’s true: there is nothing as permanent as

change. And right now nowhere is that more

true than in the field of set-top box (STB)

solutions for IPTV, OTT and hybrid DVB. The brave

new (well, relatively new) world of connecting

television to the internet is presenting a whole

host of new opportunities – and yes, challenges –

to those operating in that environment.

The industry has witnessed transitions from

a purely IP approach to the development of

hybrid smart STBs. These bring together traditional

DVB with IP-based services and apps. And

such developments are essential in today’s

maturing market.

To make their operations successful and cost-

effective, those companies already providing

their customers with hybrid DVB projects must

demand from manufacturers of STBs, and

associated equipment, innovative upgrade

solutions which capture the best of traditional

linear TV and combine it with the exciting – some

might say, thrilling – functionalities of network

PVR, VoD, catch-up TV and third-party services.

And the onus is surely on those equipment

providers, because the emergence and

expansion of OTT services is only set to continue,

and those who fail to meet the challenge –

whether STB makers or service providers – will

surely fall by the

wayside.

Of course, one of

the advantages for

new entrants in the

market is that they

can build on all the

development work

of the last few years

and use OTT to deliver

services without

actually incurring the

expense of owning

or building a network

infrastructure. Such

services can be

deployed globally

on an extremely

cost-effective basis,

enabling a whole host

of local and specialist channels to be accessed by

the worldwide audience.

But whatever the scenario, smart STB platforms

are essential for the advancement of today’s

versatile viewing experience, combining

traditional TV services with all that the internet

can readily provide.

Generation gapSo, what are the demands on STB manufacturers?

To begin with, there is an urgent requirement

for upgrades that incorporate the modern third

generation solutions for those companies already

operating in the IPTV environment. And that

means equipment that supports all the major

standards for both streaming and applications.

The first generation IPTV was mainly used in

DVB STBs with native DVB GUI and certain IPTV

extensions. The second generation offered

embedded middleware solutions with first

interactive functions like network PVR, VoD

and custom implementation of apps. Now, the

third generation solution allows operators and

Supplement30 TVBEurope

Setting the top standard for connected TV

‘There is an urgent requirement for upgrades that incorporate the modern

third generation solutions for those companies already operating in the IPTV environment. And that means equipment that supports all the major standards for

both streaming and applications’

As IPTV moves from purely linear products to a complete TV experience, Oliver Soellner, VP of business development and sales at ABOX 42, outlines what is required from today’s set-top boxes

In association with

systems integrators to quickly build modern and

advanced IPTV solutions. These latest generation

platforms are designed around HTML5 and

open standards, meaning operators are not

restricted to a proprietary STB platform. Utilising an

open approach allows the ready integration of

functionality such as third-party VoD applications

and cloud-based services and provides complete

control over user interface and upgrades.

Next, it has to be recognised that not all

operators have the same requirements in

order to fulfil the service to their customers. So,

manufacturers must provide units that can readily

be customised to meet unique demands. Put

another way, today’s STBs need to offer ‘smart’

solutions. And alongside that, bearing in mind the

amazing speed at which this section of the media

industry is expanding, the ability to produce such

solutions must be just as rapid. So, short production

cycles are essential.

Qs and AsOne of the keys to finding the right provider

of such equipment is to ask some pertinent

questions; and then demand proof that the

responses can be fulfilled.

For instance, it is worth asking for examples of

how economical and short set-up times have

already been achieved right across Europe

utilising that supplier’s kit.

Or how about enquiring about an innovative

IPTV set-top box platform, which is not only offering

the latest technology on the hardware side, but

also provides a complete solution to manage the

STBs in the field? This second point is becoming

increasingly more important for modern operators.

Another question might be: “What is your

experience in adaptive streaming, HbbTV and the

integration of multiple third-party TV apps that will

help in the speedy development of services?”

And, of course, we must never forget ‘the

cloud’. Does your potential supplier offer a

unique collection of software as a service (SaaS)

facilities for the installation, deployment and

operation of the STB deployment in the field and

to upgrade the functionality of those deployed

services over time? Of course, those companies

operating with existing networks do not need to

switch to new technologies overnight. However,

the time will come when changes will prove

necessary in order to provide customers with an

almost limitless choice for special interest ‘niche’

channels. And those extra channels will provide

added income for the operating company.

Single applicationModern hardware platforms are designed

to meet today’s requirements from a single

application project up to complex project

requirements of demanding IPTV, OTT and hybrid

DVB services. A smart STB product line should

offer the best price-performance and latest

technology for even the most challenging IPTV,

OTT, hybrid DVB and cloud TV services.

In fact, the latest solutions in this ever-

expanding – and innovative – field allow

operators, perhaps for the first time, to provide

a full TV experience to television receivers over

unmanaged internet lines.

At the end of the day, the user of IPTV, OTT and

hybrid DVB services must be in a position to

enjoy the same TV experience that is available

with traditional DVB-C or multicast IPTV. In

reality, viewing must be a seamless experience,

whatever the source of the programme.

Whatever solution is employed, the OTT DVB

solution must technically combine features

required for television using OTT protocols and

market-proven standard headend systems over

public internet. Such solutions will allow operators

to build and quickly roll out third generation

HTML-based IPTV services. And that will provide

consumers with what they expect – make that,

demand – from their viewing experience.


Supplement

‘The onus is on equipment providers, because the emergence and expansion of OTT services is only set to continue, and those who fail to meet the challenge – whether STB makers or

service providers – will surely fall by the wayside’

Case Study32 TVBEurope

Telecom Liechtenstein, member of the

Telekom Austria Group, wanted a complete

upgrade of its existing first generation IPTV

system in order to provide a platform for a new,

complete multiscreen experience.

To facilitate this, the first generation IPTV network

had to be seamlessly upgraded to a third generation

IPTV proposition with advanced first screen features

(provided by a modern STB platform) in combination

with a full multiscreen offering for mobile devices.

By choosing ABOX42’s Smart STB platform in

combination with Zattoo’s managed B2B Multiscreen

TV solution, Telecom Liechtenstein could manage a

smooth transition to an advanced TV solution that

allows them to outperform all traditional TV offerings

provided by cable operators or ISPs.

ABOX42 features Latest generation set-top box hardware

(ABOX42 M20-series) for advanced operator

requirements and with advanced performance

Modern HTML5 GUI (supported by the ABOX42

Developer IDE/SDK/Toolkit)

Support of HbTV Applications from German

and Swiss broadcasters

Support of third-party VoD services for SVoD

and TVoD solutions

Support multiple DRM Systems for telco grade

security and Hollywood approved content security

End-to-end lifecycle management and

software as a service of the set-top box for

secure updates and upgrades in the field

The user interface, middleware and headend

are provided by Zattoo as a fully managed service

Zattoo’s key features Rich multimedia EPG

Network PVR

Network time shift/pause TV

Restart TV

Seven-day catch-up TV

Unified UI for first and second screen

Mobile applications including full

PVR management

Branded UI for all screens

Next generation IPTV Telecom Liechtenstein’s IPTV refresh provides a recent case study of the work being done by ABOX42 in upgrading first generation IPTV systems to third generation interactive solutions

Telecom Liechtenstein’s IPTV network upgrade was enhanced to offer a complete multiscreen solution

In association with

ABOX42.com

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OTT, IPTV and Hybrid Smart Set-Top-Box Product LinesABOX42 Smart STB´s are latest technology based, operator proven and offer best in class price-performance

Smart SDK & Developer ProgramAdvanced ABOX42 Smart SDK speeds up customers development of IPTV Apps and IPTV & OTT projects

OPX TV ServicesModern and comprehensive OPX TV client and OPX Cloud TV services for IPTV, OTT and Hybrid operator projects.

OPX SaaS and Cloud TV Services Full Management of the Set-Top-Box deployment in the fi eld including health status information

TV Connect Asia, Singapore12. - 13. May 2015

TV Connect, LondonBooth #78

28. - 30. April 2015

ABOX42´s Industry BreakfastCrowne Plaza Hotel

29. April 2015 8:30 - 10:00

CommunicAsia, Singapore02. - 05. June 2015

ANGACOM, Cologne09. - 11. June 2015

In association with

Supplement34 TVBEurope

What was the catalyst behind the

company’s birth?

We have been providing B2C products in this

industry for many years, during which time many

international operators have approached us

looking for more advanced smart STB platforms,

directly because of our activities in the B2C

segment. More and more of these operators

were demanding modern and consumer

oriented products with more advanced features.

At the same time we recognised initiatives like

HbbTV (bringing new services to TV) gaining

ground in mature markets, so we decided

to form ABOX42 as a manufacturer of latest

generation smart STBs for the global operator

and telco market.

Has the company’s strategy changed since that

initial founding stage?

From a technical perspective our vision is still

unchanged. We wanted to move the project-

driven business of STBs, where every operator

project brings with it specifi c requirements for a new

‘smart platform’ approach, to one where ABOX42

develops a unique hardware platform which can

be shared by many operator projects with minimal

adjustments. You can compare our approach

with the transformation from embedded feature

phones to modern smartphone platforms, where

the software is making the difference, all based on a

powerful, scalable and mature hardware platform.

We started with an IP-only approach, focussing

on IPTV and OTT projects. Lately, we have also

been offering a full range of hybrid smart STBs

that can combine traditional DVB with IP-based

services and apps. On the product side, we started

with an advanced SDK that allows operators and

application developers to create applications and

integrate mature TV applications.

Since the end of last year, we have also been

providing a comprehensive solution with our OPX

TV services, the full TV user interface, and our

OPX middleware and backend services.

Our Smart STB platform can now be used as

a development environment for a modern TV

service or as a total solution to quickly deliver

new TV services with essential TV features.

What are the specifi c and most complex

technical challenges you have faced in

developing next generation IPTV solutions?

When we started ABOX42, we built up the

ecosystem with key stakeholders such as chip

set vendors, middleware providers and factories,

Chiefexecutive perspective

Matthias Greve, CEO and founder of ABOX42, concludes our supplement by refl ecting on the advances made in set-top box (STB) and IPTV solutions, and how his company’s business has adapted to changing market demands

and we are still a high volume, project-driven

business. Over time, we have redesigned the

entire supply chain and manufacturing process

to be able to handle continuous supply requests

and demand from operations in new businesses.

With regard to engineering, we design

hardware as well as the entire software platform

in-house, with the aim of having the most

modular and agile software platform, which can

easily be adapted to operators’ requirements.

What type of advances are we seeing with the

latest generation of IPTV and STB solutions, and

how different and developed are they from their

first generation iterations?

The first generation of IPTV products worked like

a traditional DVB receiver with IP input. The user

interface was ‘hard coded’ and the services very

limited. The second generation of IPTV solutions

brought new features, but were still built as

embedded middleware solutions, meaning that

any changes for operator projects were hard to

do, very costly and time consuming.

Our new third generation platform is completely

built around HTML5 and open standards. Our

customers are not tied into a proprietary STB

platform. With this open approach, our operator

customers can integrate third-party VoD

applications, cloud-based services and other new

functionality into their platform very quickly. The

operator has full control over the user interface and

upgrades of their services.

Where do you think the broadcast market is in its

understanding of the true meaning of IPTV and

OTT solutions?

Many operators and broadcasters have a good

understanding of the advantages of OTT and IPTV.

Nowadays, everything is possible in a technical

sense as the market continues to prove, so the

operator is now more able to concentrate on

shaping its business model around its services.

Do you think that OTT is seen by some to be a

greater advantage to new entrants to market?

Naturally, it offers great opportunities for new

entrants, but equally, it opens up new avenues of

exploration for broadcasters. Where do you see

the true business benefits of OTT and IPTV for both

incumbent operators and new entrants?

For new entrants in the market, the advantage

of OTT is the ability to deliver TV services without

owning or building a network infrastructure and

with very little fixed costs. New services can be

deployed cost-effectively on a global scale – an

example of which is Ethnic TV – where local TV

channels can be broadcast worldwide to people

who want to access domestic content from

wherever they are.

For existing, well-established operators, the

key advantage in using OTT/IPTV technologies

and modern solutions is that they can now react

to market needs and launch new features and

services more quickly over time. Within traditional

DVB networks, the rollout of new services took

years. With OTT/IPTV delivery and a modern smart

STB platform, it is much more cost-effective; since

internet technologies are built for easy and cost-

effective scalability and can be used even in lower

bandwidth networks, thanks to highly efficient

streaming formats (eg HEVC) and adaptive bitrate

technologies (eg HLS or MS Smooth Streaming).

Where do you see the next innovations in the

IPTV/OTT/cloud TV space?

For ABOX42, the next innovation will be integrating

DVB into OTT/IPTV. Operators with existing networks

do not have to switch entirely to new technologies,

but can gradually extend their service offerings.

For example, a cable operator can use the hybrid

DVB platform to offer new services via IP. The linear

television is still distributed via DVB-C. Network

PVR, network time shift, restart TV and catch-up

are provided via the IP connection. Even now it is

possible to freely mix DVB and IP live TV channels

in the same channel list, without any difference

in terms of user experience. Operators can have

an unlimited number of special interest channels,

which do not occupy bandwidth on the DVB-C

network, but only use bandwidth when accessed

by the user. These new services mean new income

streams for operators and a unique service offering

in competitive markets.

Also for DVB-T/T2 markets, hybrid DVB is a great

way to extend services. DVB-T is used for free-to-

air channels and pay-TV can be handled via the

internet. We see more and more projects that

make use of a ‘best of both worlds’ strategy.

How markedly do you think the TV industry as we

know it today will change in the next five to ten years?

Consumers in the future will demand much more

control of where and especially when they watch

their preferred content. So, I believe that time shift,

network PVR and full catch-up TV for all channels will

be mandatory for viewers in a couple of years. What

is also pretty clear is that once TV habits change

and people start to explore new ways of consuming

content, there is no way back. Users come to expect

these new features and the freedom of watching

preferred content at any time.

How fast these new technologies are launched

is a TV rights issue as the technical solutions are

already in place today.

What should media entities be factoring in to their

business models and strategies to ensure they

remain competitive and relevant in a future digital,

mass-IP-enabled marketplace?

Since the user wants to decide when, where and

what they consume, TV operators need to be more

flexible with time shift, network recording and catch-

up TV. When the user gets such a diversity of access

to TV content (e.g. Netflix), the operators have to

deliver a competitive solution, where the user can

decide according to his or her preferences.

Coming back to the company’s progress, and

your role within that, what elements of ABOX42’s

development to date satisfies you the most as

founder and CEO, given the increasing rate of

change in the industry, and the competition

you face?

We are very happy that our decision to build a

flexible software foundation for our Smart STBs

and our modular cloud TV/SaaS platform was

exactly the right decision at the right moment in

time. Our customers need flexible solutions and

a solid hardware platform that can be deployed

quickly. We get more and more enquiries from

operators who consider current suppliers too

inflexible to handle projects in the new fast

moving consumer environment.

Supplement TVBEurope 35April 2015 www.tvbeurope.com

Matthias Greve, CEO and founder, ABOX42

“For existing operators, the key advantage in using OTT/IPTV

technologies is that they can now react to market needs and launch new features

and services more quickly over time”

ABOX42´s

INDUSTRY BREAKFAST29 APRIL 2015 08:30-10:00CROWNE PLAZA HOTEL - next to ExCeL London / TV Connect

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Hosted by ABOX42, key stakeholders of our industry will share their experience and future view on modern first screen Set-Top-Box platforms, new multiscreen TV solutions and the challenges of a fast changing TV landscape.

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ABOX42´s Industry Breakfast29 April 2015 - 08:30 - 10:00

Crowne Plaza London - Docklands Royal Victoria Dock, Western Gateway, London, E16 1AL

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I N V I T A T I O N

ABOX42.com

hosted by during the

hosted at


This year’s January edition of TVBEurope

outlined some sobering statistics

surrounding gender imbalance in business,

citing the 2013 Interbrand annual list, which

revealed that only 19 per cent of FTSE 100

board members are female. Sue Thexton, SVP

of Brightcove, estimated the even bleaker 1:50

female to male ratio in the broadcast industry.

With the gender pay gap at an all-time low,

according to the CMI’s National Management

Salary Survey 2014, members of the sisterhood

could be forgiven for thinking that all is doom

and gloom.

However, speaking as a woman who

has not simply survived, but thrived in the

broadcast industry, I wanted to paint a more

positive picture. Throughout a ten-year career

spanning everything from licensing, production,

playout and satellite through to transcoding,

advertising, transmission, digital and post, I have

encountered many talented women touching all

areas of the broadcast chain.

Now in the fortunate position of working for an

agency that is 60:40 weighted towards women,

and the only employer that I have ever worked for

to have a female member of the board, I thought

that the time was right to give ten women that

have inspired me throughout my career a voice

and show how, through their success, they are

bucking the broadcast business trend.

Abigail Walmsley, sales manager, SES ASTRA Walmsley’s technical

knowledge and business

tenacity, combined

with her ability to read

people and understand what their business

objectives, are what makes her, in my eyes,

‘the full package’. She describes being sales

manager at SES ASTRA UK as her “ideal job” and

spends most of her time in high-level negotiations

with current and potential clients who want to

rent space on SES transponders. With millions of

pounds at stake, Walmsley readily admits that

this is what makes her career so stimulating.

“I’ve always loved the cut and thrust of selling.

You have to know your product inside out and

backwards, as well as the technology that

enables everything to happen.” As one of a very

small minority of women working in this side of the

business, Walmsley has inspired me by smashing

the satellite industry glass ceiling.

Anne-Louise Buick, head of portfolio marketing, Ericsson TV Compression

Buick’s technical knowledge

of the industry is as broad

as it is deep. In the time that

I’ve known her, she has led

the marketing drive at IP

technology manufacturers,

vendors and manufacturers

to the broadcast industry. Her ability to understand

and explain the often complex product portfolios

she looks after is always something that I have

admired about her, as well as her brilliance with

building relationships with stakeholders at all levels.

Now head of portfolio marketing at Ericsson

TV Compression, Buick says: “Compression

performance (delivering unrivalled video and

picture quality at optimum definition, while

protecting bandwidth) is the absolute mantra

within the Ericsson TV Compression business. This

belief and investment in quality over bandwidth,

achieved through an established, market leading

product portfolio is a marketer’s dream.”

Ten inspirational women in the broadcast industry

Sophie Wilson, director of sales and marketing at PHA Media, draws attention to the hugely successful women in our industry and recognises their important contributions to the broadcast sector

Feature

The gender imbalance in broadcast was discussed at BVE in a session hosted by Sadie Groom, far left


Clare Bramley, independent broadcast media advisorWith over three decades

of broadcast experience,

Bramley’s success in vast

technical and operational

management roles, while

remaining a brilliant down-to-

earth person, has inspired me

enormously. Following a career in TV production,

marketing and as CEO of a number of start-ups

building a business plan that supported the

government’s Local TV vision, she co-founded

Comux UK, the local TV multiplex operator based

in Birmingham.

Comux was rewarded with £25 million of funding,

beating the BBC’s proposal. Within nine months, the

new network was operational, and today 16 local

broadcasters are currently on air, with many more to

follow. With the network built, she was the obvious

choice to manage the launch of Birmingham’s Big

Centre TV, which went on air this February. Bramley

says she loves a challenge and that “assembling a

brilliant team, making the technology do you want it

to do and getting the content right is the key to the

success of a well managed media business.”

Debbie Mason, founder and CEO, MasonMediaMatrixWith over 25 years of

experience, Mason’s

phenomenal entrepreneurial

success makes her a great

role model in commercial

production. Mason co-

founded Kudos in 1991, one

of the leading UK indies that was later acquired by

the Shine Group in 2007 for $60 million. She went on

to form a joint venture with Elisabeth Murdoch in

2006 to launch PTV in the US.

As MD of Digital Interactive Television Group,

Mason created and launched the BAFTA-winning

first fully interactive TV channel in the world,

AVAGO, which was sold to Gala Bingo in 2006 and

went on to launch in excess of ten channels onto

the Sky platform. After a recent stint at HandMade

Films, Mason has returned to MasonMediaMatrix,

the digital media consultancy she founded in 2005

specialising in developing brand concepts for

global multi-platform exploitation.

Mason’s philosophy for success is “you must

be true to yourself” and she gives women in the

industry three pieces of advice: “Remember that

we are the smart ones: we don’t need to keep

proving ourselves to others. Age is a great thing:

it gives you wisdom and knowledge. Always look

outside the box!”

Emma Riley, head of business development, dock10I came across Riley when

she was head of production

technology across Tinopolis

Group and was impressed by

her commitment to finding

new workflows to maximise

content output. With ten

years of production experience under her belt,

Riley worked on some very high profile projects but

moved into a more technical role after working on

a file-based production in 2009. Today, Riley has

become the go-to person for her ability to apply

technical solutions to the creative process, heading

up the dedicated development team across

dock10’s post and technology services and leading

them through to launch.

Riley feels strongly about encouraging more

women into roles traditionally occupied by men

within the industry. “Female producers outnumber

men and the quality of UK TV output is a credit to

their hard work. However, in roles where creative

people operate technology, men are not just the

majority, they are dominant. Few women are senior

in large indies and even fewer sit on the board of

any broadcast company. I believe we need to

encourage women, both at the bottom and at the

top, to strive not to accept the status quo.”

Helena Brewer, founder and managing director, Redberry Media Since our paths first crossed

in 2007, the year that BSkyB

closed the EPG gates,

Brewer and I have worked

together on numerous

channel launches with her

providing indispensable

advice on everything from teleshopping to script

development. The line that I often quote about

Brewer is that she contributed to the first Ofcom

Broadcast Code, having transferred from the ITC

at an interesting time when five regulatory bodies

became one. She held a number of diverse roles

throughout her career at Ofcom.

However, there’s a big difference between writing

and issuing the rules and applying them, and Brewer

has turned from gamekeeper to poacher. Now

running her own business, she offers a wide range of

channel launch services: securing Ofcom licences,

liaising with platform providers, arranging playout

and capacity, setting up scheduling systems,

dealing with PRs and advertising sales houses, and

acquiring or commissioning content. In her words

“from the moment you hear the words ‘I want to set

up a TV channel’, a new adventure begins”.

Over the last 12 months, Brewer has gone back

to her compliance roots, delivering training courses

and workshops in countries as far flung as Pakistan.

Lesley Marr, COO, Deluxe Media Europe, member of the IBC Conference Committee, UK Screen Association board directorI first saw Marr speak about the

opportunities and challenges

facing manufacturers on a

panel at the IABM annual

conference in 2013. Bright,

articulate and an eloquent

orator in technical and

operational granularity as well as macro industry

trends, Marr stood out for me as a rarity: a C-level

exec for a top company who is also female. I later

spoke with her and she said that while sitting on

stage, she had counted five women among

the predominantly male audience, one of

which was me.

As COO for Deluxe Media Europe, along with

a skilled team of over 300, Marr is responsible for

running the operations and technology teams

across multiple sites for broadcasters, studios,

and production companies. Her career started in

production, followed by creative post and VFX.

After working at Quantel she held several senior

management positions in broadcast operations at

Sky and Technicolor and has sat on the board of the

IBC Conference Committee for a number of years.

Marr is passionate about supporting young talent,

especially women, to help develop their careers,

particularly in the technology implementation

operational management side of broadcast.

Sadie Groom, managing director, Bubble & Squeak Groom tells a great story of

how, at the age of eight, she

saw a businesswoman in full

shoulder pads eating on her

own while going through some

paperwork. Her mum said how

lonely she must be, while she said: “I want to be

her when I grow up”. Taking this ambitious streak

throughout her career, Groom founded Bubble

“Female producers outnumber men and the quality of UK TV output is a credit

to their hard work” Emma Riley, dock10

& Squeak, a PR, marketing and

events company specialising in

the broadcast industry, in 1999.

Groom’s dedication to relentlessly

encouraging women to play

a major role in the industry has

been a massive inspiration to me.

“I meet women all of the time

who are very well qualified but

don’t have the confidence to put

themselves forward,” she says. “This

is something I want to change as

well as the perception that females

in the industry are ‘PR girls’ who

scan badges at tradeshows and

organise parties.”

Groom is on the board of

Women in Film and Television

and participated in its mentor

scheme, and has facilitated panels

on women in broadcast at IBC2014

and BVE 2015.

Sally Jones, playout manager, Globecast I have

watched

Jones become

instrumental

in the

construction and growth of

Globecast’s central media

hub, taking the leadership

reigns for media management,

VoD preparation and playout

operation. This has led her to

actively overseeing the launch of

more than 80 channels since she

joined in 2006. One of Jones’ skills

is her ability to engage with all

areas of the business, recognising

the synergy between commercial,

technical and operational teams.

She is an intuitive manager who

has fostered a team of 30 talented

and motivated individuals. Jones

recognises the different priorities

and technical requirements of

each customer, building a core

relationship and affinity with their

brand, while matching the right

workflow and technology for

each individual project. Jones

is a great inspiration, not just for

calm and thorough leadership

and direction, but the fact that

she is one of a very small minority

of women occupying such a

senior role in the operations side of

broadcast technology.

Tess Alps, chair, ThinkboxA fellow of the

RTS, a member

of BAFTA,

Women in Film

and Television

Outstanding

Achievement

award winner 2007 and

Haymarket’s 2013 Media Industry

Leader of the Decade, Alps truly

is a doyenne of the broadcast

industry. A lively and quick witted

speaker who is able to deftly

respond to increasing attacks on

TV, I have witnessed Alps explain

how TV is changing at events, on

various platforms and in print over

the last ten years.

After university, Alps fell into

advertising by accident, ending

up as an ITV sales director before

joining PHD. In her 13 years there,

she played a variety of roles

including setting up Drum, one

of the first and most successful

brand content specialists. She left

in 2006 to set up Thinkbox as its first

CEO. Thinkbox is the body owned

by the UK broadcasters whose

role is to help advertisers get

the best out of today’s diverse,

multi-platform TV. Much of her

career has been spent trying to

get money from brands into the

broadcasting ecology.

TVBEurope 39

Feature

“I meet women all of the time who are very well-qualified but don’t have the confidence to put themselves forward”

Sadie Groom, Bubble & Squeak

Matthew Goldman, senior vice president technology, TV compression at Ericsson Ultra high definition (UHD)

can be described as an incremental set of user

experience improvements. The first is one of

simply more pixels. 4K delivers twice the number

of horizontal pixels and twice the number of

vertical pixels, but what about improving the

quality of each pixel itself?

In order for UHDTV to truly take off, the TV

industry must deliver enhanced services to

consumers and offer genuinely enhanced

images. The reason that 4K UHDTV offers

the potential for a more immersive viewing

experience is due not only to the higher image

resolution (four times more than HDTV) but also

a range of other factors which include higher

frame rates (double that of today’s 1080i HDTV),

wider colour gamut and higher sample bit depth

(10-bit versus today’s 8-bit).

One key challenge the industry faces in bringing

about true 4K UHD is ensuring that quality of

content is preserved throughout the various stages

of delivery. To ensure the requisite high level of

picture quality, acquisition/master 4K UHDTV video

compressed signals require 4:2:2 chroma sampling

and 10-bit depth for all content. This ensures

consistency of colour fidelity through the many

encode, decode and re-encode stages, and

through multiple editing stages.

Higher frame rates than those used for

standard definition (SD) and 1080i HD are

required to represent fast motion, such as is

common with sports, without excessive motion

blur or motion judder. Large 4K UHD screens

necessitate 50-60 frame rates at present because

there is more spatial movement for the viewer.

Higher frame rates help to compensate for the

greater angular change caused by fast motion

displayed on these larger screens, ensuring that

visual artefacts are minimised.

The future may dictate higher frame rates of

up to 120fps in later phases of the technology,

as this will further enhance resolution on fast

motion. However, the challenge facing the

industry is to bring this about while managing

significant additional costs for production and

post production.

Another possible development could come

in the form of high dynamic range (HDR), where

a viewer can distinguish a wider range of detail

between the darkest and brightest images.

Unlike humans and modern cameras, today’s TVs

do not have a huge perceptual dynamic range.

For example, this can affect the way in which

objects within dark shadowy areas appear on

screen during a sunny outside broadcast.

Further exploration into the development of

this area is important because HDR may turn out

to have the greatest impact on the TV viewing

experience. Unlike 4K spatial resolution, HDR’s

perceptual benefit is not limited to 4K spatial

resolution or large screen size; it has the necessary

versatility to enhance the picture quality on

a tablet or mobile phone, as well as the main

living room TV. If the TV industry does opt to go

down the path of HDR (and this appears to be

the trend), 10-bit sample depth (as opposed to


In search of definition The challenges facing widespread adoption of UHD

Our TVBEurope 2020 conference on 30 June will bring together some of the leading lights from the world of 4K and UHD to discuss the current business case for UHD acquisition, production and delivery, and identify the strategic imperatives for companies at all stages of the production chain as we head towards 2020. Ahead of the conference, we begin the UHD debate by inviting a selection of perspectives from across the industry as to the current barriers to the widespread adoption of UHD, covering areas such as infrastructure, piracy, and content creation. By James McKeown, executive editor, TVBEurope


Feature

today’s use of 8-bit sampling for TV signals) is the

minimum necessary to represent HDR.

Just as the human visual system recognises

a wider dynamic range than current TV, it can

also see a wider colour gamut than the colour

space currently used in HDTV, Recommendation

ITU-R BT.709. UHDTV colour space is defined in

Recommendation ITU-R BT.2020; it reproduces a

greater range of colours than current HD colour

space (Rec.709) and this will give more realistic

colour perception.

There are still a number of other technical

barriers to overcome, including cost and

bandwidth efficiency. It is therefore the case

that implementations of HEVC encoders need

to happen in order to enable 4K UHDTV to the

home/consumer devices. Its arrival has helped to

solve a number of compression issues by offering

the potential to halve the bitrate of H.264/MPEG-

4 AVC, making the delivery of ‘true’ 4K UHDTV

a realistic prospect. Ericsson lab research shows

that a high performance encoder that can

achieve a halving of existing bandwidth takes

about ten times the processing power than that

of MPEG-4 AVC. For 4K UHDTV, there is also four

times as much spatial resolution and twice the

temporal resolution compared to HD, making a

total of 80 times the processing power compared

to HD MPEG-4 AVC.

It’s clear that the industry needs to address a

number of factors and bring them together in an

end-to-end ecosystem to enable consumption

expectations to be met with dramatically

enhanced user experiences, and to allow a large

array of new business models to be brought into

this next generation of television.

John Ive, director of business development and technology, IABMAcquisition and distribution

There is every indication that

UHD/4K television is here to stay and will not be

consigned to cinema-only applications, as with the

likes of 3D. From the television manufacturers’ point

of view, they are well poised to take advantage

of the trend, with Gartner forecasting that by 2018

at least a third of television sets produced will be

UHD. However, while broadcasters are focusing on

UHD/4K (leaving 8K for the longer term future), there

are significant obstacles in both the acquisition and

distribution of this higher resolution content.

One of the main challenges in acquisition

is that, at the moment, there is a shortage of

video-centric UHD cameras on the market

that can be used in television production. The

UHD/4K cameras that are available are designed

more for use in filmmaking. When it comes to

television production, however, there are different

challenges and, as a result, different facilities are

needed. One of the key differences is the not-so-

humble zoom lens. Live television production relies

on large zoom lenses but these become difficult

to manufacture, and tend to increase in both size

and expense as the resolution increases.

Another challenge lies in the fact that the majority

of terrestrial, satellite and cable broadcasters have

HD-SDI infrastructures that cannot be used for 4K/

UHD video. As a result, new standards would be

required, which would then necessitate further

infrastructure changes. This leads in to the obstacles

associated with distributing the content. Terrestrial

broadcasters face challenges in both the current

transmission format, as well as the bandwidth with

www.tvbeurope.com April 2015

Feature42 TVBEurope

which they broadcast (spectrum). As it stands,

many are grappling with space constraints in

broadcasting HD so adding 4K/UHD content is not

currently viable.

Alex Terpstra, CEO, Civolution Preventing piracy of Ultra HD content A recent report from

Bloomberg stated that

usage of illegal movie

streaming website Popcorn Time in the US

has tripled between July 2014 and January

2015, and now accounts for one-ninth of all

torrent traffic in the country. Popcorn Time

also got a mention in Netflix’s January letter to

shareholders, which stated that ‘Piracy continues

to be one of our biggest competitors’. Through

ubiquitous broadband internet, video streaming

technologies and inexpensive OTT boxes or free

smart TV apps, these illegal alternatives now

enable a high-quality experience on consumers’

brand new UHD TV set sitting in the living room.

These references show that piracy continues to

pose a serious threat to Hollywood and regional

producers. The advent of expensive premium

UHD content makes improved content protection

all the more important for the studios, prompting

them to mandate a higher level of content

security in last year’s MovieLabs specifications.

The MovieLabs specifications confirm that

traditional solutions such as Conditional Access

and Digital Rights Management have become

insufficient in this connected world. Operators

will need to implement additional content

protection solutions, especially for the highest

value programmes such as new studio releases

and premium sports programming.

By ensuring that operators can trace each

(UHD) content copy to its original subscriber

recipient, forensic watermarking provides the

missing piece of the content protection puzzle.

It enables operators and service providers to

pre-inform subscribers that their content copy

was made unique and can be traced back

to them at any time, discouraging subscribers

from illegally re-distributing their content. In case

of premium sports programming, this tracing

operation can even be done in near real time,

disrupting the pirated stream while the game is still

on. Hollywood studios have already been using

forensic watermarking heavily in pre-release

scenarios for about ten years; subsequently,

they also mandated the technology for digital

cinemas. With the UHD revolution upon us, the

studios are repeating this playbook for pay-

TV and streaming to ensure the safety of their

valuable content. Operators are advised to take

this requirement seriously, to ensure that they

will have access to the best content on offer

in the era of UHD.

Chris Wagner, executive VP marketplace strategy at NeuLion Filling the UHD content void

The price gap between

HD and UHD screens is falling every week and

UHD screens are beginning to fly off the retailers’

shelves. But once you’ve got your beautiful new

UHD screen home, what can you watch? The

same old TV shows delivered via OTT, which you’ve

probably already seen in HD, just won’t cut it.

2015 will see TVBEurope attend and cover

more of the key events on the broadcast

media industry calendar. Following the

successful redesign of TVBEurope, we

have developed a more comprehensive

list of features for each issue over the coming year, and will be launching a

dedicated section covering the latest

developments in OTT, multiscreen, and TV Everywhere: TVBEverywhere. Our Opinion and Analysis and Features

sections will deliver the big stories

every month; Workflow will continue our bedrock coverage of UHD, 4K, IT/IP infrastructures, and pre and post

production insights; and our Business

section will provide a regualr analysis of the marketplace, and all of the key M&A activity. Our Audio for Broadcast

coverage will now be present in every

issue and major sports/live broadcast events will be reported on throughout the year.

For all advertising and sponsorship

opportunities, contact the sales team:

Europe Ben Ewles: +44 (0) 20 7354 6000,

[email protected], or Richard Carr: +44 (0) 20 7354 6000,

[email protected],

USA Mike Mitchell +1 631 673 0072,

[email protected]

EDITORIAL PLANNER 2015

Issue Date Exhibitions/ Events Coverage FeatureAudio for

BroadcastSports/Live broadcast

May• NAB review

• TVBE conference review

• Satellite TV focus

• Audio for broadcast special

• Sound mixers forum

• Sound

mixers forum• 2015 UK election

June• Angacom focus

• TV Connect insights

• OTT multiscreen

• Acquisition focus: lighting for TV

• Audio & out-

side broadcast• Summer of sport OB focus

July• Channel in a box forum

• Broadcast 2020: visions of the future

August • IBC preview

• Broadcast graphics forum

• IBC product preview• Mics/ mon-

itors/ consoles• Wimbledon 2015

September • IBC show issue• Quality control forum

• IBC show issue: product showcase

October• Audio for broadcast special

• IP technology forum

• Broadcast

audio feature

November • TVBAwards • Acquisition focus: all encompassing

• Transcoding forum• Rugby World Cup 2015

December• Media Asset Management forum

• Archiving and storage roundtable


Feature

Having worked with some of the most prominent

names in global sports and entertainment to

offer 4K content on any internet-connected

device, we see premium sports content being

a key driver for OTT and VoD service providers,

and allowing consumers to watch live and

on-demand games and footage from the NBA,

NFL, NHL and more in 4K will be an important

and highly sought after differentiator in this

competitive market.

However, there are still some hurdles to

overcome before sports can move wholesale to

4K. For example, rights contracts may have been

negotiated without mention of 4K coverage and

some re-tooling may be required to enable 4K in

the distribution chain, particularly in acquisition.

Yet, there are many promising signs. The

technology exists today to stream live video

from the event in 4K and deliver it to consumer

devices (we recently live streamed an NBA game

in 4K at 50fps over the public internet at 15Mbps

using DivX HEVC with MPEG-DASH), and it’s up

to the content industry to use these tools to offer

consumers the UHD video services they crave.

With broadband speeds steadily increasing for

most consumers, OTT in 4K is going to become

more and more important to consumers who

want something great to watch on their new

UHD devices. This creates a perfect opportunity

for sports rights holders to make a mark before

the rest of the content world gets its act together.

Graham Cradock, co-founder and CEO, Xylostream TechnologyIn my view, the industry

has built up a strong and

recognisable brand in UHD

but unfortunately is yet to reach consensus on

a standard ‘set of ingredients’ for the future

offering, which is causing delay and confusion.

We are now at a crossroads where the options

are to either add value to the Ultra HD brand

with HDR and HFR beyond 60fps, or use each

feature independently, potentially fragmenting

the market and creating further confusion. I see

the strong consumer response to UHD TV sets in the

market as confirming a significant interest in UHD

and that consumers are perceiving a significant

‘wow factor’ in UHD at 50/60fps and 10-bit colour

on the high bandwidth content used in demos in

the store. However, the only beneficiaries of an

on-going fragmentation of UHD features will be the

faster movers in OTT, such as Netflix, who can more

easily deliver content in multiple formats to suit the

end device. To retain a role in the development

of UHD, the broadcast and TV industry need to

rapidly establish a standardisation pathway so that

transmissions can begin but include a roadmap

for incorporating the new features. Properly

encoded video at today’s UHD spec provides

both an initial ‘wow factor’ for consumers as

well as a strong platform for the next few years

while the industry standardises the even more

immersive facets such as HDR and HFR which will

be applicable to some content but probably

unnecessary for much of the viewing experience.

Ultimately, the success of live UHD services

lies in the selection of appropriate encoders

because this is the last point in the chain that

affects viewers’ picture quality. Preserving the

‘wow factor’ of current or indeed future UHD

is simply not possible if the encoder itself is

compromising picture quality.

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Audio has always been an emotive part

of the TV and cinema experience and

for too long a neglected one. For film

directors like George Lucas, a movie is 50 per

cent composed of audio; for Danny Boyle the

soundtrack comprises 70 per cent. Audio in

theatres is gradually being transformed to match

the higher-fidelity of digital 3D and 4K cinema

projection with investment by exhibitors in

immersive sound systems like Dolby Atmos

and Barco Auro.

Moves are now afoot to bring home audio

quality on a par with the pictures displayed on

larger UHD screens, although the 40-year-old

5.1 surround-sound format has considerable

life in it yet.

Atmos is an object-based audio format

that adds dedicated height channels to

the usual surround sound channel mix. Each

piece of audio is encoded as a sound object

targeted at a specific point in three-dimensional

space and rendered to fit the equipment

and the room. Atmos has been licensed by

AV vendors who are including it in home

cinema receivers and processors. Among

them are Denon, Marantz, KEF, Onkyo,

Yamaha and Pioneer.

Cinemas require at least 36, and up to 64

speakers, many of them mounted in the ceiling

to work with Atmos. Home cinema enthusiasts

may have set-ups which work with seven to

eight speakers but most of us make do with the

in-built television set speakers with the possible

addition of a sound bar.

An Atmos soundtrack can be squeezed

onto a Blu-ray disc or into the existing Dolby

Digital Plus technology used by streaming

services including Netflix, which means an

existing Blu-ray player or streamer should be

able to handle it.

A growing number of movies like Transformers:

Age of Extinction and Gravity are being

mastered in immersive audio, and these can

also be repackaged for the home complete

with Atmos soundtrack on Blu-ray Disc.

The UHD Alliance which formed in January

includes studios (Disney, Fox, Warner Bros.),

consumer electronics brands (Samsung, Sony,

Panasonic) as well as Dolby and Netflix. Its goal

is to establish standards around UHD. The focus

has been on high dynamic range, but its remit

includes 3D immersive audio too.

InnovationsDolby’s is not the only approach. DTS is about

to launch its own object-based audio format

for home and theatre called DTS:X. It reportedly

has manufacturers including Krell, Anthem and

McIntosh onboard plus many of the brands

already signed to Atmos.

DTS:X is based on Multi-Dimensional Array (MDA)

an open object-based audio creation and

authoring platform which supports both channel

and audio objects and adapts to any speaker

quantity and configuration.

At CES 2015, visitors to the Fraunhofer IIS booth

saw progress in building a new audio system

based on the recently completed open MPEG-H

Audio standard and promoted by Fraunhofer,

Qualcomm and Technicolor as the MPEG-H

Audio Alliance.

The system includes object-based audio

that allows viewers to adjust the sound mix to

their preferences, boosting hard-to-understand

dialogue or creating a ‘home team’ mix of

sports broadcasts. The institute has developed

a prototype encoder for live broadcasts from

stereo up to 3D sound in 7.1 with additional

tracks for interactive objects including

commentary in several languages, ambient

sound or sound effects.

Fraunhofer also demoed a prototype of

a 3D sound bar, enabling consumers to

experience high quality immersive audio

without the complexity of adding new speakers.

Historically the audio broadcast chain

was designed around a pre-defined listening

set up and environment; stereo speakers in a

quiet environment. However, audiences are

no longer consuming content in this way,

but increasingly on mobile phones, tablets

and headphones.

There is considerable development in this

area too, not least by the BBC where research

is intended to establish a data driven future

audio format. Unlike stereo or 5.1, such a format

would be abstracted from the listening system,

using a combination of scene description

data and audio data, for example audio files

accompanied by data describing their position

in space or movement.

Feeding into this, BBC R&D has been

investigating binaural (or spatial) audio for

some time. This is a production technique

that mimics natural hearing cues created

by the head and ears. Unfortunately current

binaural systems, according to the BBC, have

quality issues that do not allow the audio to

be adequately scaled up to a broadcasting

standard; at least, not yet.

Unsurprisingly Fraunhofer, developers of the

mp3 standard, are also active here. Its Cingo

software is embedded in smartphones including

Google Nexus devices, to deliver a surround

sound listening experience over stereo speakers

or headphones. At CES it introduced a height

component and its work with the Samsung Gear

VR headset to deliver 3D spatial sound that

incorporates head movements.

On that note, Sound Labs is marketing

what it bills as the first smart 3D audio

headphones. Neoh uses motion sensors that

deliver multipoint sound sources in 360-degrees

‘comparable to the latest generation of

cinema surround sound’. The headphones are

targeted at virtual reality applications and are

also fitted with head tracking sensors, which

Sound Labs claims can interpret even the

smallest movement to recreate realistic

three-dimensional sound.


Immersive audioAudio development is finally catching up with immersive visual experiences in cinema, UHD TV, mobile and virtual reality, writes Adrian Pennington

‘For film directors like George Lucas, a movie is 50 per cent composed of

audio; for Danny Boyle the soundtrack comprises 70 per cent’

The vexing issues around navigating the

UHD ecosystem would seem like nothing

if consumer sets all required advances

upgradable for small cost increments.

At a SMPTE seminar designed to evolve into a

training course, Sky chief engineer Chris Johns

began a look at UHD essentials, standards

supporting UHD deployment, and acquisition,

post and sharing UHD content with the assertion:

“We need a ‘wow factor’. With 3D you could

see it and with HD from SD you could detect

the difference, but what is it now? It is the

realism: we want to feel part of it. We want

the 4K feel.”

On the trek to what makes the quality

experience, we have to consider viewing distances

(from 1.5 screen height to 0.75 screen height with

UHD 2) and then start with resolution. Johns quoted

an EBU test that identified a difference perception

over HDTV of ten per cent. The big negative

was that resolution difference was hardly

perceptible at 2.7 metres.

This equates to confidence limitations and

the recognition that resolution alone is not

enough and might not justify the 50 per cent

increment in data rate.

Johns stated, “We want better not more pixels,

higher pixel depth,” and he moved onto NITS

rated lighting differences in images.

“We have got to get closer to speculative

highlights. Dolby’s Pulsar, (with its 4,000 NIT peak

output) is used by the Hollywood post houses, but

content viewers are bright and what we really

want is the blacks blacker,” he added.

Carrying black levels through the ecosystem and

adopting OETF as the curve replacement takes us

into a new world where the changes are subtle but

profound. ADR luminance plus natural luminance is

a range we are missing out on, and this led Johns to

luminance levels. Direct sunlight is 1.6 billion NITS and

sunlight on clouds is equivalent to 1 million NITS.

“Dynamic range is complicated, both hard to

define and agree. The issue is to replicate part of

shooting with what you see at home,” said Johns.

“The work is just starting. Sky has four Mistika

systems but no monitor to assess the output.”

Referencing the NITS scale issues, Johns’

presentation partner Prinyer Boon, engineering

director at Dolby Europe, added: “There are health

issues around brightness. Does photosensitive

epilepsy (PSE) enter the frame again?”

Beware the staccato effectJohns moved to frame rates and shutter angles.

“Shutter angles create crisper pixels. Shutter is good

but you can get a staccato effect (juddering) so at

Sky we will not use more then 180 degrees.”

His reference evidence here was a BBC

document based on 750fps: this proves that

shuttering can sharpen high motion shots, but

comparisons between 180 degrees and 270

degrees confirm 180 is obviously better because

of the shape of the pixels.

Johns added: “Shutter is crisper but there is the

bigger gap, so it could cause judder. And light

issues impact on shuttering as a value.”

Next came the colorimeter issues. “Eyes see

colours we have got to create to match. We

need to push colours outside REC 709.

The rationale for enhanced colour gamut is key.

We need to go beyond standards as they exist to

offer wider and more vivid colours.”

The bad news is that grading screens are a

big minus area and currently tests are all based

around REC 709. UHD cannot exist and grow

without HEVC and the data rate will jump at

each perfection level.

Johns said. “The elements for UHD are coming

together in small steps. We need more and

better pixels, HFR, HDR, more colours, and

immersive audio.”


SMPTE seminar shines a light on UHD

George Jarrett reports from SMPTE’s Navigating the Ultra High Definition (UHD) Ecosystem seminar held at EEF’s Broadway House in Westminster in February

“We look for a different set of challenges, and the Ryder Cup had the issues of multiple cameras, very long cable runs, and a hostile environment” Chris Johns, Sky

Chris Johns: “The elements for UHD are coming together in small steps. We need more and better pixels, HFR, HDR, more colours, and immersive audio”

“It would be interesting to do a very dark lighting test. Plenty of work needs to be done because we want to be pixel

perfect. Every time we do a trial we learn something new, and for every trial we

have new technology to deploy” Chris Johns, Sky

Turf war number oneBoon is a system architect with strong

connections to ETSI and the DVB. His core

message up front was that there are mountains

to work through in terms of code and specs

to comprehend UHD systems. Standards-wise,

there are different gaps, and interchange and

interoperability are the drivers.

“The UHD ecosystem turf war number one

concerns all the standards organisations that

control all the interfaces,” he said.

“There are eight organisations involved

and a lot of these were set up for giving

a commercial advantage to indigenous

companies. It is only recently that people

realised we live in one big world.”

He reviewed the status and essence of

literally every standards initiative out there –

in the process raising the prospects for object

audio, and the need of a new baseband spec –

and concluded: “Colour gamut and HDR

are complicated discussions, but hopefully

the technical specifications will be cleared

in mid-2016.”

The UHD ecosystem must be a collaborative

development. Referencing Android he

added: “It takes an organisation of that

size to go it alone.”

UHD is cumbersome to rigJohns covered the issues around acquiring,

shaping and sharing UHD content using Sky’s

multi-vendor supported experimental shoot at

the Ryder Cup at Gleneagles.

“Sky wanted to accelerate the use of UHD,”

he said. “The things we learnt were that single

sensor cameras reduce the depth of field;

there is no 4K viewfinder and no trust in focus,

so we only used it to rack through to the point

of focus; we worked with REC 709 and had

to manipulate that range; and, there was the

question of how do you manage the live image

not to lose anything in the shadow areas?

“The free roving radio camera was a

challenge for the 4K bandwidth required. An

F-55 was cannibalised and a runner collected

the card. This is nothing like the desired live fibre

link,” he added. “UHD is cumbersome to rig.

Conversion was out of sync by one frame and

we only spotted one quadrant out of sync once

the image moved. Log and RAW capabilities,

and grading are all desired.”

He also referred to the quad issue reducing

mixer capabilities, file transfer to post taking

ages, and the bit rates (Sky stuck to 120).

“HEVC was still young, and although the

gold action impressed there was no wow factor.

You know what you can get away with now

as you know the bit rates. We have got to

find fast download ways to make it work in

production,” he said.

Large sensor cameras are great for movies

and docs and the dynamic range can be fixed

in post with a grade, but this does not apply to

live production. Sky wants the RAW footage, but

there is a plethora of camera out formats.

“A lot of work in the standards industry is still

trying to find where the best images come from,

and the consumer probably doesn’t want 4K.

He wants better pictures,” said Johns.


Feature


Flip around the natural orderThis led to the subject of camera ranking on the

issues of resolution, sensitivity, noise, exposure

range and recording format; the EBU, Sky and

the BBC are leading a project to define what a

camera has to be.

The purpose of perfecting the course

continued with a section on NHK and 8K and

things such as 4K offline, and the scary factor of

transferring data around. A number of company

white paper submissions were mixed in, along

with discussion about Bayer filtering, using proxies

to create an EDL when you have RAW, AVB

over Ethernet, and gamut mapping algorithms

(there are three new SMPTE projects for large

colour volumes).

Johns mentioned a task force on networked

media production flow, and issues around mixing

UHD metadata. The seminar wrapped with a

look at DVB-S2X, new work by the Pro MPEG

Forum, HEVC dual-layer coding (to fill in the HDR

element), a paper on HEVC and HDR as that

dual layer submitted by Vanguard/Dolby (bit

stream data): HDR is data movement intensive.

Upcoming is the DVB profile of MPEG-DASH, the

fast maturing BBC project for the IP delivery of 4K.

Netflix is a big player and big influence (and will

use Dolby Vision).

Johns suggested we should look to Sky and

the BBC for the wow factor. “There is constant

experimenting and with HDR and HFR we are

closer to the consumer than ever before.

HFR and HDR will transfer to mobiles. It is easier

to put the interfaces into the home than putting

them into a broadcaster. Flip around the natural

order of things,” he said.

Talking again about Sky’s trials, he added: “You

would not use the same sport twice. We look for

a different set of challenges, and the Ryder Cup

had the issues of multiple cameras, very long cable

runs, and a hostile environment,” said Johns.

“For UHD production sport is the worse case

scenario, and if you can do a live sport event in

UHD everything else becomes a little easier. I am

not sure anything we have seen so far has had

the wow factor, even the World Cup with Sony.

It looked good, but there is always one step

we need to take.”

As a potential course, ‘Navigating the UHD

Ecosystem’ was incredibly dense and the

insertion of many commercial white paper

elements was confusing. But the return of a

SMPTE structure in the UK three years ago after

an 81-year gap, and the support of industry

leaders like Johns and Boon, suggests the

course can be created and kept fresh

with standards updates.

Prinyer Boon:“Colour gamut and HDR are complicated discussions, but hopefully the technical specifications will be cleared in mid-2016”


Just when you thought 450-plus video

production, distribution and transmission

formats were enough, some bright sparks

came up with a whole batch more under the

‘UHDTV’ banner. On the serious side though,

standards bodies such as SMPTE and ITU are trying to

keep ahead of developing 4K and 8K technologies

from TV and professional camera manufacturers

who want to give consumers the best possible user

experience (or ‘wow factor’: see Figure 1).

As UHDTV1 and 2 are broadcast initiatives

we will ignore the wider issues of programme

distribution to the end user via transmitter, cable,

satellite, IP technologies and picture compression

quality, and focus on the infrastructure

requirements within broadcast itself. The UHDTV1

and UHDTV2 initiatives correspond to the 4K

equipment being developed now and 8K

offerings being designed for delivery over the

next five years. These are being introduced in

three different phases:

Phase 1: 4K images up to 60fps and ITU-R BT.709

Colour Space

Phase 2: 4K images up to 120fps, High Dynamic

Range and ITU-R BT.2020 Colour Space

Phase 3: 8K images up to 120fps

The UHDTV1 and UHDTV2 video formats define

the number of pixels, lines, frame rate, colour

space, colour component sample rate (i.e. 4:2:2,

4:4:4, etc.), the data rate, the data link type

(copper or fibre) and number of links which results

in a large number of possible combinations. But

what does this all really mean in practice?

The basic differencesFundamentally, the technical differences are

physical image size and raw data rate:

UHDTV1 (defined in SMPTE ST 2036-1 “Broadcast

Television”) is 3840 pixels by 2160 lines with a 16:9

aspect ratio. Typically originating as 4K at 4096 x

2160 (defined in SMPTE ST 2048-1 “Digital Cinema”)

with a 19:10 aspect ratio. For 4:2:2 at 50fps the

data rate is 8 Gbps.

UHDTV2 is 7680 pixels by 4320 lines (originating

as 8K at 8192 x 4320). For 4:2:2 at 50fps the data

rate is 33 Gbps.

Figure 2 shows how the data rate increases

dramatically depending on the format, bit depth

and frame rate.

Physical interfacesThere are a number of physical interfaces

available that employ both existing 3G

technologies as well as new 6G and 12G

technologies in combinations such as 4 x 3G-SDI

(SMPTE ST 425-5 and ST 242), 2 x 3G-SDI (SMPTE

ST425-3), 1 x 6G-SDI (SMPTE ST2081-1, 10), 2 x

6G-SDI, 2 x 6G Fibre, 4 x 6G-SDI, 1 x 12G-SDI (SMPTE

ST2082-1, 10), 2 x 12G-SDI, 4 x 12G-SDI and 1 x 12G

Fibre, to mention just a few being considered.

With these technologies come more

challenging physical connection requirements.

For example, 6G-SDI and 12G-SDI connectors

and cables are high specification and more

specialised, with the higher SDI clock rate

problems like return loss, connector shape,

connection tightness, cable bend radius and

many other RF factors becoming important. With

high speed optical data transfer, factors such as

reflectance (optical return loss), cable quality

and optical coupling become important.

Note that SMPTE ST 2082-10 includes both

2160 and 1080 line source image and ancillary

mapping for 12G SDI.

Square Division versus 2 Sample InterleaveSome early adopters have employed a Quad Link

(4 x 3G-SDI) implementation to transfer the image

as four quadrants of the 3840 x 2160 image using

the Square Division approach instead of using the

two sample interleave method defined in all UHDTV

specifications. The 2 Sample Interleave method

uses four sub images and alternates the samples

every two pixels and every line instead of splitting

the image into four quadrants (see Figure 3).

Improved colour dynamic rangePhase 1 of 4K and UHDTV1 uses ITU-R BT.709

YCrCb, RGB or XYZ colour spaces typically

associated with HD-SDI, 3G-SDI and 2K-SD

formats. Phase 2 requires a new colour space

model (ITU-R BT.2020) that extends the existing

colour gamut and allows a more realistic colour

rendition to coincide with next generation

cameras and screen technologies. This will be

mandatory for UHDTV1 at frame rates above

60fps and for UHDTV2. This will also require a new

Colour VANC Packet ST 2048-1 (see Figure 4).

Greater number of potential audio channelsThe new physical interfaces specified for UHDTV1

increase the number of potential audio channels

Feature

By Alan Wheable, senior technical author, PHABRIX Ltd

Demystifying UHD 1 and UHD 2

Figure 1: Relative images sizes

Figure 2: UHDTV1 and UHDTV2 formats supported by PHABRIX Qx

‘One significant challenge for Phase 2 will be the conversion from one colour

space to another’


that can be used. For example:

4 x 3G-SDI supports up to 128 audio channels

at 48kHz

12G-SDI supports up to 128 audio channels at

48kHz (or 64 at 96kHz)

In practice, how these additional audio

channels are going to be used is dependent

on how flexible equipment manufacturers

will make their products and what the

industry requires. Support for 22.2 surround

sound (included in SMPTE 2036-2) is one

configuration being considered, and in

addition, object-oriented audio is

another hot contender.

Copper versus fibre?When SD-SDI was first devised as an interface to

carry a square wave signal over 75 Ohm coax,

the cable infrastructure and equipment suddenly

had to handle frequencies up to the 7th harmonic

(945 MHz) of the fundamental frequency. With the

advent of 12G-SDI this would suggest a frequency

of 42 GHz. In practice, however, the cable drivers

themselves will not be able to deliver this, so the

signal will effectively be almost sinusoidal.

The data rate of the SDI interface affects

how far the signal can be carried. Equalisers

available today typically provide the following

performance using Belden 1694A cable:

SD-SDI is 450m

HD-SDI is 220m

3G-SDI is 180m

6G-SDI is 90m

12G-SDI is 60m

As you can see, it may not always be practical

to distribute UHDTV signals using copper cable. With

copper links, the physical infrastructure

itself – i.e. patch bays, connectors and patch

cables – will have a dramatic effect on the quality

of the SDI signal which will further reduce the overall

Figure 3: Square Division versus 2 Sample Interleave


Feature

distance. Early adopters experimenting with 12G

using Belden 1694A cable have had consistent

and useable results with 3G and 12G connectors.

Fibre distribution may be the only viable approach

for anything other than local interconnection of

devices, as 12G single mode fibre distribution today

will allow UHDTV1 signals to be sent up to 2km.

Note that multimode fibre distribution is limited to

approximately 100 metres. The interconnection of

choice may be down to budget.

Conversion and interconnectionLike the introduction of 3G, there will probably never

be a single format or interface in use within broadcast

for UHDTV1 and 2, so early adopters will have to

manage the conversion between formats and

interfaces at each stage in the production process.

Although some of the proposed interfaces and

standards are technically possible, they may in

practice be too expensive or impractical at this

time. Very early adopters are using square division

format over 4 x 3G interfaces, as this can be

achieved using existing infrastructure. As equipment

using 12G technology becomes available, this

approach will be superseded. Fibre is likely to

be adopted for long distances and copper for

local connections as this provides the simplest

connectivity at each broadcast stage.

There will be interconnected islands of copper,

fibre and IP within the broadcast chain where

there are implementation cost and technological

advantages to do so. Techniques such as

Mezzanine Compression, typically with a four-

to-one compression, may reduce the need for

high bandwidth links. And like 3G-SDI, people will

choose the formats and interfaces that best suit

what they are trying to achieve artistically and

technologically. However, this potentially makes

life challenging for everyone downstream who

will have to ‘shoe horn’ all of the potential formats

into the chosen distribution format adopted by

each organisation and by the industry as a whole.

One significant challenge for phase 2 will be the

conversion from one colour space to another.

The whole drive from equipment manufacturers is

the ‘wow factor’, which is considered to require

high resolution, high frame rate and high dynamic

range. With the later schedules for phase 2 of

UHDTV1 in 2017, I personally wouldn’t rush to

buy a 4K television just yet (I remember buying an

HD Ready TV just before Full HD arrived).

Figure 4: Improved colour dynamic range


TVBEverywhere

TV is no longer regarded as the first screen in

the home, but this does not mean it is dying

a death. The television screen is still the

place where families tend to gather, although TV

consumption has changed significantly since the

proliferation of mobile devices.

TV viewing habits have evolved from first

screen dedication to general screen agnosticism,

with nearly two thirds of audiences (64 per cent)

now using a mobile device while watching TV.

This surge in multiscreen usage and increased

demand for content consumption has led to a

boom in consumer multitasking, with over half

(56 per cent) of second screeners actively using

smartphones, and a third (31 per cent) using

tablets, while simultaneously watching television.

By 2017 it is anticipated that 417 million

Europeans will own mobile devices. Last year

almost 140 million Europeans used smartphones

to access digital media content and more

than 50 million used tablets. Consumers are

increasingly media-stacking – using multiple

screens while watching TV for unrelated tasks

– to fill time during ad breaks (42 per cent),

or because the TV content is ‘not interesting

enough’ to hold their attention (28 per cent).

In addition, almost one in four (24 per cent)

Europeans are now media-meshing – using a

mobile device to gather more information

about the programme they are watching – and

14 per cent use these devices to interact directly

with TV content.

So what does this continual and significant

evolution of TV consumption mean for brands?

Open all hours The sheer volume of accessible, online content

24 hours a day is driving TV viewers to increasingly

watch digital media when, where and how they

want. Subscription Video on Demand TV (SVoD)

and Video on Demand (VoD) has also fuelled the

dramatic change in TV consumption, with more

than 59 million European households expected

to subscribe to SVoD services by 2020.

Screen agnosticismFrom mobile devices to smart TVs, consumers

are watching TV across a wide array of screens.

These connected devices provide consumers

with a platform to stream TV content or SVoD

and VoD at the click of a button – freeing them

from restrictive TV network timetables. A quarter

of worldwide internet users now stream video

online daily via a digital device.

The future of ads Distracted TV audiences – who multi-task and

screen-stack while watching TV or during the adverts

– are making advertisers work harder to capture

and retain audience attention. Advertisers need to

adapt and shift to reflect the changing behaviour

of viewers. As a result, advertisers are utilising video

advertising to capture online viewers’ attention on

platforms such as YouTube, and similarly brands are

adopting TV syncing technology to recapture TV

viewers’ attention on second screen devices. The

ads synced to the second screen – which often

contain interactive elements – allow media-meshing

consumers to interact and engage directly with

brands, helping to drive uplift and awareness.

The deepening dependence on mobile

devices will only serve to further fuel the evolution

of TV consumption, as well as content syncing

technologies, to retain viewer attention. As

a result TV viewing behaviour will continue to

change as we know it.

‘Almost one in four (24 per cent) Europeans are now media-meshing – using a mobile device to gather more

information about the programme they are watching’

The changing behaviour of television viewers

.com

SEE US AT

#C8043NABNEWZ

for less.for those who demand more...

Dr Andreas Schroeter, co-founder and COO at wywy, examines the shift in TV viewing habits

Gonzalo: As the technology has matured, VR sets

evolved from being very ‘computer like’, meaning

the intentional display of the fact that they have

been created digitally, to seamlessly combine

virtual sets with synthetic imagery, 3D graphics and

real characters. So now, with the latest advances in

workstations and GPU technology, the challenge is

more on the creative side – to be able to replicate

reality in a realistic manner. But this also involves lens

calibration, lens emulation, advanced rendering

and careful perspective matching between

all elements, adding depth of fi eld and other

advanced effects to simulate reality.

Halperin: Today’s multi-channel, multi-

platform environments hold many challenges

and simultaneously many opportunities

for broadcasters. Changes in technology

mean that broadcasters encounter constant

movements in multi-format intelligent

capabilities. Many broadcasters produce and

present shows in SD, and many have switched

The reality of virtual setsThis month we return to the increasingly important topic of virtual reality. Philip Stevens moderates the forum of industry experts


Virtual Sets Forum

Thierry Gonzalo, Brainstorm Multimedia

Haim Halperin, Orad Hi Tech Systems

As Virtual Reality (VR) is becoming more commonplace, so there is a growing need for greater understanding of the technology. Just what are the challenges? Do enough designers understand what is required? And beyond that, what are the next innovations? Those giving their views on these and related topics are (in alphabetical order) Mark Bowden, senior product manager at ChyronHego; Thierry Gonzalo, product manager, Brainstorm Multimedia; Haim Halperin, virtual studio, augmented reality, and tracking product manager, Orad Hi Tec Systems; Luke Harrison, technical product marketing manager, RT Software; and Gerhard Lang, chief engineering offi cer, Vizrt.

What is the most challenging aspect when it comes to

creating a VR broadcast environment?

56 TVBEurope www.tvbeurope.com April 2015

to producing in HD 720p or 1080i. Broadcasters

are constantly fi ghting to deliver native HD

content and blend multi-format capabilities.

The future integration with 4K compression

techniques, impressive as it is, will increase

the demand from broadcasters to expand

their capabilities even more. The demand for

innovative real-time virtual studio graphics

capabilities, with enhanced photorealism,

continues to grow.

Harrison: Finding designers that understand

real-time remains a challenge. Whilst there is a

glut of skilled 3D designers in the industry, they do

not always have enough experience of real-time

delivery. But perhaps the biggest challenge is

moving to photorealism, which is still beyond a

lot of VR systems despite the massive increase

in render capabilities over the last fi ve years or

so. Sets rendered in post for fi lm, or even games

can look fantastic, but maintaining this at frame

rate is still a challenge. The other issue is probably

the challenge of image-based tracking.

Removing the need for expensive electro-

mechanical sensor systems is desirable from a

cost, infrastructure and

support point of view.

Lang: You can

divide the challenges

related to VR

broadcasts into those

which are creative

and those which

are technical. A

successful virtual set

depends a lot on the

creative ideas and

how valuable they

are for telling a story.

These ideas need to

translate into stunning graphics, camera angles

and storytelling in general. Technically speaking,

cameras, tracking systems, keyers, lighting and

the overall green screen studio need to operate

with accuracy and stability. The challenge is

to get all the small parts working together. If

any one of these parts fails, the result will be

a domino effect which will lead to a less than

impressive end result.

Bowden: The biggest innovation is the ability

to move away from cameras that are on fi xed

pedestals. We are now seeing VR on Steadicams,

jibs, and even ‘sky-cams’. The ability to work

with these cameras and offer a much freer

and broader perspective is opening up a new

degree of VR usage in live productions.

Gonzalo: Apart from the continuous increase

in processing power and image quality, possibly

one of the most signifi cant developments was the

introduction of Brainstorm’s patented TrackFree.

This is a camera-tracking independent technology,

which combines in a single virtual camera the

precision and higher quality of the most complex

tracking system with the fl exibility, freedom and

ease of use of modern trackless systems like EasySet

3D. TrackFree can use both internal chroma keying

software and external chroma key hardware –

even in the same production.

Luke Harrison, RT Software

What do you see as the most important innovation

aff ecting VR in recent years?

Virtual Sets Forum

Harrison: The advent of GPU

processing has greatly increased the

ability to provide more sophisticated

keying, rendering and tracking.

The developers at RT Software

have been squeezing hardware

performance for all they can by

using a lighting technique called

Physically Based Rendering (PBR)

which can mimic tiny surface details

and complex lighting based on

real world physical properties. The

advent of image based tracking

allows camera movement to be

recognised without the need for

mechanical sensors allowing VR or

AR to be used in situations otherwise

impossible – on a stadium spider

cam, for example.

Lang: The most important

innovation we’ve seen is probably

the way rendering power has

changed. It’s now faster and more

powerful at the same time as

becoming increasingly affordable.

We’ve also been impressed with

the many types of tracking systems

which have become available.

These advancements have made

the use of virtual set technology

much more accessible and resulted

in more interest for broadcasters

to use this as a storytelling tool. This

has grown more predominantly

in sports and news production. It

should defi nitely also be mentioned

that we now have 4K immersive

production from a one-box solution.

This means we can handle live

video, graphics and keying from

a single box.

Bowden: For us, it’s very important.

We have a deep level of integration

between all our platforms that

enables them to pass data from

virtual worlds into the real world and

back again. To achieve this, we lean

heavily on the implementation of our

own protocols in all of our software.

Gonzalo: The more powerful

and effi cient the combination

of the rendering platform and

the 3D graphics software, the

more advanced imagery will be

achievable in real time. Realism is

about advanced rendering and

precise perspective matching, so

the more power we have, the more

polygons, textures, effects and

impostors we will be able to include

in a scene in real time.

Halperin: The heart of virtual

studio production is its rendering

platform. Orad’s HDVG video

rendering platform allows the

broadcaster to easily render

sophisticated graphics whether

used for background/foreground

or the videos used inside the

set. The HDVG that is equipped

with standard high quality PC

components offers a dedicated

I/O board designed for real-time

graphics and establishes a direct

connection between the I/O board

and the graphics board.

Lang: Choosing a rendering

platform does make a big difference

so making sure the right one is

in place is important. Our focus

when developing Vizrt’s rendering

platform, Viz Engine, was always on

building a platform that’s fast to work

on and with which to make updates.

But something that might be even

more important in a rendering

engine is that we’ve got great built-in

video support for clips, live video and

streaming sources that renders out

the virtual set in real time. So the Vizrt

platform is really directed towards

content producers that handle live

dynamic content.

Harrison: Lens calibration is

extremely important and often

glossed over by end users and

even some suppliers of VR. Each

lens has its own characteristics

which vary not just between lens

models, but also between each

lens, and furthermore, may change

over time and use. RT Software’s

lens calibration process allows the

TVBEurope 57

Virtual Sets Forum

How important is the choice of

rendering platform?How crucial is lens calibration?

VR software to accurately ascertain the fi eld of

view (FOV) of the real lens and the lens distortion

characteristics at that FOV. If the FOV is incorrect,

then the virtual objects will appear to drift in

relation to real objects as the lens is panned or

zoomed. Lens distortion is greatest at the edges

and corners of the frame. If this distortion is not

compensated for accurately, then drift will be

increased as virtual objects approach the edges

and corners of the frame. For drift-free VR and,

more importantly, AR – virtual objects in a real

scene – the lens calibration needs to accurately

describe the FOV and the distortion characteristics

across the complete range of zoom and focus

of the lens. The rendering software needs to

render the scene accordingly taking this FOV and

distortion into account.

Lang: Lens calibration is crucial in order to

get the motion and zoom levels of the camera

to match up with the graphics. If it’s not done

right the result won’t look very good. Vizrt has

developed some great tools for speeding up

the process of calibrating the lenses. These

solutions provide good calibration and speed up

set-up time.

Bowden: It’s realistic with the right support. As

these systems become more embedded into

and on to cameras, we will see VR and AR move

to domains in which they previously would have

been impossible. One example in which AR is

already being deployed very quickly is on the

sidelines of stadiums during breaks in play. Our

Virtual Placement software enables this with no

setup time and no sensors on the camera.

Gonzalo: Not many years ago this was

an impossible task, but today all we need is

Trackfree and a fi xed camera. Furthermore, with

a tracking system based on image recognition,

such as Ncam, any environment is valid for VR

or Augmented Reality.

Halperin: Given the right technology, portable

VR is defi nitely a possibility, though not for

every type of environment. Perhaps it is more

appropriate for small/mid-sized broadcasts

that are searching for a high-quality, low-

maintenance virtual studio solution. Orad’s

Virtual Studio in a Box solution offers just that. It

is able to manage four live cameras, provide

programme and preview, and manage all

types of tracking technologies, integrated

chromakey and internal delay.

Lang: Portable VR has become something that

producers want more and more and it’s already

available with Vizrt products. Fox, for example,

has produced some stunning visual images using

Vizrt tools twinned with Ncam tracking systems.

Ncam provides tracking information from two

small cameras that are fi xed to the main camera.

This has been a huge advancement in making

the total system more portable and fl exible. Users

are no longer dependent on tracking systems

that take lots of time to install. When the tracking

system is mounted on the camera itself it’s quicker

to start using virtual elements together with a live

camera feed. You can now also run Viz Engine on

a laptop which gives you a very strong rendering

capacity with attached Matrox video cards using

a thunderbolt connection.

Bowden: Yes. The most important tenet of VR is

to make it look real. Anything that is designed

to ‘trick’ or ‘fool’ the viewer should be as

photorealistic as possible. Once you start to

move away from a realistic look and feel you risk

losing credibility with viewers.

Gonzalo: In Brainstorm, we work with Real

Time Virtual Sets. One of the big advantages of

our software for VR designers is that objects and

textures that are placed on the background of

the environment need less polygonal resolution

than the ones placed at the forefront.

Harrison: Yes, there are basic considerations.

Technically, you should try and keep the polygons

low, although tOG-VR makes an effi cient use of

the GPU there is no point in taxing the renderer

with something that you will never see. To create

a feeling of reality, keep virtual objects located as

they would be in the real world, use foreground,

middle and background objects to create depth

and pay attention to the scale of objects. You

want good white and black values in your virtual

environment – black, white and everything in

between. A useful tip is to check your scene in

black and white, if possible, to see how your

values are working. Lastly, design with the brand

in mind keeping your colours to a handful

making sure they work together, and keep the

noise down. Unless you want the viewer to look

at something that is not the presenter, keep the

animated elements to a minimum.

Lang: Getting the idea right is of course

crucial. If the basic idea is not entertaining

or aids storytelling, a virtual set will be of little

help. The graphics themselves need a high

degree of sophistication. One of Vizrt’s newest

implementations helps by integrating with

Maxon’s Cinema 4D, making it easier to design

sets within the programme.

Bowden: I believe that we will continue to see

the proliferation of more intelligence in VR and

in studios in general. Depth-sensing cameras,

cameras with an awareness of their location in

the studio and what they’re ‘looking’ at, and

intelligent switchers will all enhance the world of

VR over the coming decade.

Halperin: We believe that making VR light,

compact, scalable and more affordable is what

the future has in store. Adoption of 4K is another

important challenge. We have challenged

ourselves and our technology providers to continue

and improve camera tracking technologies, as this,

along with expanded graphics capabilities, are the

heart of the VR revolution that took broadcasting

by storm over a decade ago. Integration with

multiple systems that are part of the production

workfl ow requires greater fl exibility, and a wider

range of choices to display and manage content

will be key to future developments.

Harrison: Firstly, the move to fl oating point

frame buffers allows set rendering to provide

10- or even 12-bit resolution. This, combined with

a full shader-based pipeline, paves the way to a

fully photo realistic set. Secondly, image-based

camera tracking, with either the aid of targets in

the camera’s fi eld of view or existing set features –

the AR case – negates the need for sensors on the

camera. Whilst such systems currently exist, none

are yet completely 100 per cent reliable. Vendors

such as RT Software are looking at object tracking

to allow presenters to seamlessly merge with the

virtual environment by automatically altering

keying priority as they move in front and behind of

virtual objects using depth keying.


Virtual Sets Forum

Just how realistic is ‘portable VR’ – the ability to create VR in any environment?

Are there basic considerations to which designers of VR environments need to adhere?

What is the next major development on the VR front?

Gerhard Lang, Vizrt

Mark Bowden, ChyronHego

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Despite the competitive challenges

from over-the-top (OTT) players, the

vast majority of consumers still favour

‘traditional’ service providers, according to

recent research by Amdocs, a provider of

customer experience solutions. It also shows

that while customers value their service

providers’ customer experience, network quality

and brand reputation, churn remains high within

the industry.

The Amdocs Customer Experience Spotlight

2015, an independent research study conducted

by IE Market Research (IEMR) on behalf of

Amdocs, highlights the importance of providing a

superior customer experience in order to retain as

well as attract new customers, such as including a

carrier-grade Wi-Fi strategy to combat the threat

of emerging players in the mobile market and

offering multi-play bundles to win market share.

The global survey was conducted among 8,450

consumers in 17 countries.

Key findings include:

Churn persists within service provider industry:

While 63 per cent of respondents stated they

would recommend their service provider, citing

customer care/experience (89 per cent) and

high-quality internet connection and coverage

(59 per cent) as the top reasons for their

endorsement, 50 per cent of respondents said

they had been with their current service provider

for less than a year.

Customers prefer ‘traditional’ service

providers: 80 per cent of respondents would

not consider switching to OTT disruptors if these

players offered mobile connectivity. The top

reasons were: privacy and security issues, lack

of trust and potential network quality issues.

Global variations were significant: the majority

of APAC and emerging markets were more likely

to consider OTT disruptor services, while mature

markets in Europe and North America proved

more loyal.

Customers desire innovative and new

personalised services: More than half of the

respondents stated that they would switch

mobile subscription plans for a plan that included

additional communication services (e.g. home,

internet, TV) with almost the same number of

respondents saying they would switch if they

were able to choose the bundle components.

The multi-play opportunity remains

unclaimed: Although more than half (52 per

cent) of respondents subscribe to four services

(broadband, TV, mobile, fixed line), only one per

cent has a single quad-play provider. Triple-play

penetration was also low (nine per cent).

Carrier-grade Wi-Fi will drive loyalty: Among

the 62 per cent of respondents with a mobile

internet plan, 71 per cent use Wi-Fi more

frequently than their mobile connection.

“With changing customer expectations

and the ever-increasing threat of disruptive

competitors, service providers are required

to adopt a new strategy by taking a multi-

dimensional view of customer experience,”

said Chris Williams, head of global marketing

at Amdocs. “By leveraging their customer

experience strengths and exciting customers

with innovative, personalised and multi-play

bundles, as well as shaping the quality of

network experience through real time network

visibility and control carrier-grade Wi-Fi

strategies, service providers have a tremendous

opportunity to lead in the new world of

customer experience.”

Data Centre

Taking a multi-dimensional view of the customer experience

Amdocs looks at how telcos/cable TV companies compete on customer service with OTT players

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Despite one third of UK fi rms banning public

cloud from the workplace, its use appears

endemic, unmanaged and unstoppable,

according to a new survey commissioned by

Connected Data.

The survey of 100 UK businesses revealed stark

concerns about the safety of the public cloud

services, such as Dropbox, Box and Amazon

for sharing confi dential data. However, despite

this caution, the fi ndings demonstrate that most

employees’ activity via these platforms generally

goes unmonitored and unchecked in 64 per cent

of businesses.

The vast majority (90 per cent) of IT decision

makers believe that sharing sensitive data in the

public cloud poses some level of risk.

However, despite this inherent mistrust, only

one third (33 per cent) have banned staff from

using public cloud. Of the fi rms that do ban the

use of public cloud at work, over half (58 per

cent) admit they would not know whether their

employees are using it anyway.

Other key fi ndings include:

Over two thirds (69 per cent) of businesses

questioned believed that public cloud services

were being used by some proportion of their

workforce regardless of company policy (with 29

per cent suspecting over half their employees of

doing so)

More than a quarter (27 per cent) rank use of

public cloud as the greatest risk to their company

data, above lost devices (25 per cent), hacking

(14 per cent) and malicious staff behaviour (18

per cent)

Meanwhile, well over a tenth (13 per cent)

of UK fi rms admitted they had lost or had

confi dential data exposed due to staff sharing

it via public cloud. Worse, an additional 19 per

cent could not be certain whether this had

happened to their business or not.

The survey results go on to reveal that little is

being done to protect organisations or staff

against careless behaviour.

Nearly half (48 per cent) of those companies,

which believe they are at risk, have not added

guidelines to a staff manual

Even fewer fi rms provide training (36 per

cent) or tools (39 per cent) on the topic of fi le

and data sharing

Staff at UK fi rms who break rules about public

cloud usage in the workplace could be in for a

big shock. More than a fi fth (22 per cent) of the

fi rms interviewed said staff would be instantly

dismissed for using public cloud while 40 per cent

would issue staff a written warning.

The survey also looked at the drivers behind

cloud usage. It found that the main reason

employees risk using the public cloud is because

they need to access fi les across devices (54 per

cent). Ease of use was considered the second

highest driver (48 per cent).

Dr Geoff Barrall, CEO of Connected Data,

commented, “While we shouldn’t be overly

surprised at the levels of mistrust in public cloud,

we should be concerned by a growing pattern of

employee behaviour that puts sensitive company

data at risk. Penalties to staff are serious, yet the

need to share fi les across different devices is

leading them to break company policy and put

their jobs on the line. The survey highlights how

important it is to address this dilemma before

more company data is lost or exposed.”

Transport to the private cloudThe survey coincides with the UK launch of

Transporter for Business, the industry’s fi rst

private cloud appliance from Connected Data.

Transporter for Business allows users to sync

and share fi les privately. By offering employees

the cloud features they enjoy and require,

Transporter eliminates the temptation to use

unauthorised public cloud solutions that could

put sensitive business information at risk.

Transporter for Business enables organisations

to keep cloud data on-site without having to

pay recurring monthly fees, manage storage

capacity limits or replace legacy storage

systems. Available in a variety of confi gurations

ranging from 8TB to 24TB, it delivers a fast and

secure private cloud experience through intuitive

hardware that is fully controlled by the end user.

Transporter for Business enables up to 150 users

per device to create and share company fi les

with an unlimited number of colleagues, all in

complete privacy. All products in the Transporter

for Business family also work together, so

businesses can simply add new Transporters to an

existing network when additional storage or user

capacity is needed.

Barrall concluded: “Whilst we know employee

behaviour cannot be changed overnight, there

is a way to keep data safe and give employees

the work tools they need. Private cloud solutions

enable companies to take full responsibility

by protecting their sensitive data whilst

enabling their employees to do their jobs

as effi ciently as possible.”

Perceptions of the public cloud

Data Centre

One third of UK fi rms ban staff from using public cloud services, reports Connected Data

“Private cloud solutions enable companies to take full responsibility by

protecting their sensitive data whilst enabling their employees to do their jobs

as effi ciently as possible” Dr Geoff Barrall, Connected Data

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Ben EwlesSales ManagerTel: +44 (0) 207 354 6000Email: [email protected]

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James McKeownExecutive EditorTel: +44 (0) 20 7354 6002Email: [email protected]

SALES EDITORIAL

TV Technology Europe is the leading product and technical resource for the broadcast media professional. Providing independent coverage of

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