DHAKA, Bangladesh—Somoy Television, a news-based 24-hour television channel broadcasting nationwide in the Bengali language, has chosen Ikegami HD cameras and monitors for use at its studio headquarters in Dhaka as part of the network’s transition from 576i SD to 1080i HD production and transmission.

Somoy TV has operated successfully with Ikegami technology from the commencement of test transmissions ahead of its April 17th 2011 launch. 

The new purchase includes 10 Ikegami HDK-73 HD camera systems, 14 HLM1760WR HD monitors and two sets of HLM2460W HD monitors. Somoy TV's new HD facilities are scheduled to go live from Q4 2022.

Ikegami’s HDK-73 is a dockable multi-role high-definition camera designed for standard-dynamic-range and high-dynamic-range broadcast production. It is available as a complete system including CCU, connecting fiber, viewfinder and remote control. Image capture is to 2/3-inch 2.6 megapixel CMOS sensors, each capable of capturing full HD 1920 x 1080 resolution images with an extremely wide dynamic range of more than 600%, high sensitivity (F13 at 50 Hz) and high signal-to-noise ratio, Ikegami said. 

The HDK-73's sensors natively support 1080i/59.94 and 1080i/50, as well as 720p/59.94 and 720p/50 scan formats. Major features include full digital signal processing, advanced digital detail correction with independent horizontal and vertical correction of red, green and blue signals, and optional anti-moiré filtering. Hybrid log gamma processing is operator-selectable for HDR picture origination, enabling high-contrast scenes to be televised with full picture detail across the entire brightness range from highlights to shaded areas. Full digital signal handling is performed by a processor operating at up to 38 bit depth.

The HDK-73's dockable structure allows studio configuration with fiber base stations as well as self-contained operation with a camera adapter for wireless or onsite recording applications. A fiber adapter can be attached directly to the camera head without need for external cables. External devices such as wireless transmission or a solid state recorder can be attached for stand-alone operation, making the camera suitable for live sports, news gathering or field production, Ikegami reported. 

The Ikegami HLM-1760WR is a 17-inch Full-HD video monitor with very narrow front-to-back dimensions, light weight and low power consumption, Ikegami said. 

It incorporates an LED-backlit 1920 x 1080 pixel LCD 450 candela per square meter high-brightness display panel with 10 bit processing depth, 1500:1 contrast ratio, wide viewing angle, fast motion response, and high quality color reproduction. The monitor is equipped with a range of tools for use in broadcast production. Multi-format SDI, 3G-SDI, HDMI, Ethernet and VBS inputs are provided as standard.

The HLM-2460W incorporates a full 1920 x 1080 pixel high brightness and high contrast LCD panel. This has a wide viewing angle, fast motion response, and high-quality color reproduction, achieving real pixel allocation without resizing, Ikegami said. 

NEW YORK—HBO’s “Sex and the City” has gotten a make-over, with a newly remastered HD version of the series starring Sarah Jessica Parker debuting on HBO Max as of Friday, Feb. 12.

For the first time, “Sex and the City” will be available in 16:9 full frame aspect ratio, displaying the show in an extended frame for wide-screen viewing. The higher resolution also offers enhanced and richer color and additional depth not available in standard definition, WarnerMedia said.

“Sex and the City,” which aired from 1998-2004, was shot on film and mastered in standard definition. WarnerMedia says that over the past year the film negatives for the series were scanned 4K to create HD masters.

This upgrade comes ahead of the upcoming mini-series “And Just Like That …,” which reunites Sarah Jessica Parker, Kristin Davis and Cynthia Nixon as their iconic “Sex and the City” characters in the latest chapter of their lives. Production on “And Just Like That …” begins in New York this spring.

Here is a trailer highlighting the newly remastered “Sex and the City”:

WASHINGTON—Broadcasters should be required to provide a single HD feed of their television service before offering new ancillary or supplementary services, like Broadcast Internet, the American Television Alliance (ATVA) told the FCC.

This stance was raised in ATVA’s comments on the FCC’s “Promoting Broadcast Internet Innovation Through ATSC 3.0,” during which it also brought up the suggestion that the FCC should update its fees for ancillary and supplementary services.

ATVA, which represents cable and satellite operators, states that in 1997 the FCC required broadcasters to transmit in standard definition (it declined to require HD) and that they could devote as much of their spectrum to ancillary and supplementary services as they wished, as long as television remained the primary offering of TV broadcasters—“We expect that the fundamental use of the 6 MHz DTV license will be for the provision of free over-the-air television service.”

As ATSC 3.0 becomes available for broadcasters, it is estimated that a TV station would need as little as 8% to transmit a single SD signal. But if 90% of a broadcaster’s spectrum is used for something other than transmitting a TV signal, it is no longer ancillary, per ATVA.

With customers now expecting higher resolution programming, ATVA believes the FCC should now require broadcasters to offer and simulcast a single HD programming stream, so as not to derogate the primary service with ancillary services.

Another point raised in ATVA’s comments is that the current ancillary and supplementary service fees of 5%—which hasn’t been changed in 18 years—be revisited. The associations suggests the commission analyze what an appropriate fee level would be at this time as not to confer “additional unwanted structural preferences on broadcasters.”

ATVA stresses that it welcomes new ancillary and supplementary broadcast services, but that it thinks the rules need to be updated to maintain TV as broadcasters’ primary service.

ATVA’s full comments are available through the FCC ECFS. 

SAN BRUNO, Calif.—YouTube is no longer recognizing 720p as High Definition content.

Users of YouTube’s desktop site and mobile app are no longer seeing the HD badge next to the 720p resolution option. Instead, the platform now considers content in 1080p as HD.

Previously, content streamed at 360p or 480p was defined as "standard definition," with any content at 720p or above classified as HD.

During the coronavirus pandemic, YouTube lowered the quality of its streams worldwide, switching all content to SD.

This story originally appeared on TVT's sister publication TVBEurope.

Videosys Broadcast, a leading supplier of quality camera control systems, RF links and camera backs to outside broadcast providers has announced that it has supplied two DTC 4K AEON-CC digital video transmitter systems to Cloudbass, a leading provider of broadcast solutions.

Specifically designed for high-quality wireless camera applications the AEON-CC uses DTC’s next-generation HEVC encoder technology facilitating UHD images. The system consists of one single 4K transmitter unit from DTC coupled with a built-in Videosys Camera Control system. The advantage of the AEON CC with Videosys’ camera control receiver built into the unit is a reduction in the equipment count and the complexities that come when managing 4K transmission and camera control simultaneously.  

Cloudbass have been successfully using the systems on UHD, 3G and HD setups across a variety of live Outside Broadcasts, including both SKY Boxing and BT Speedway in UHD, on the British Touring Cars for ITV Sport, and The Lord Mayor’s Show for BBC Events.

Michael Beaumont, Technical Director, Cloudbass Outside Broadcast says, “This forms part of our £5.5 million investment plan. When we saw the AEON-CC 4K we decided this would be the best system to meet Cloudbass’ customer needs. We’ve been using Videosys camera control systems for many years and have worked very closely with the company on bespoke projects including the provision of onboard systems for British Touring Cars. Selecting Videosys to provide us with a 4K system was an obvious choice.”

Colin Tomlin Managing Director of Videosys Broadcast adds, “By taking delivery of the new 4K AEON-CC, Cloudbass has taken the lead in the UK with a 4K system. We are seeing an increased demand from our customers requiring 4K solutions and we have shown that we can deliver a complete system despite tight deadlines. We look forward to working closely together with Cloudbass on this and future innovative projects.

Despite the short time frame Videosys was able to deliver the complete 4K system to Cloudbass on time, ready to deliver 4K services to significant sporting events.

Videosys is showing its 4K transmission system at FutureSPORT 2019, at Chelsea Football Club on Tuesday 26th November 2019.

The studios at CTV Vancouver Island in Victoria, British Columbia recently went through a complete 16:9 SD to full HD upgrade which included re-wiring the entire station and replacing the control room switcher and studio cameras. The systems integration was performed internally by the Bell Media integration group (CTV Vancouver Island is owned by Bell Media).

After broadcasting in SD for 18 years, the equipment overhaul brought about a sudden and noticeable change to the station’s staff as well as viewers.

HXC-FB80 HD studio cameras, along with HXCU-FB80 CCU units and HZC-RCP5 camera remote control software were selected as the main studio pedestal cameras. Two cameras sit on Vinten pedestals and are equipped with Canon wide angle lenses. The cameras are used for CTV’s 5:00pm, 6:00pm, and 11:00pm newscasts.

The Sony FB80’s were brought in for testing after cameras from another vendor never properly white balanced during testing in the studio. “We contacted Sony after that, and they quickly brought in one of the HXC-FB80s for us to look at,” said Kyle Lancaster, director and multi-skilled journalist, CTV Vancouver Island. “We set it all up, had the cameras rigged up the same way, fired them up, white balanced them all, and it looked amazing – right out of the box without any tweaks. We put our new camera on TV that night and purchased three as part of our HD upgrade. Even before we upgraded, we could see the difference in color reproduction when we were just broadcasting SD.”

CTV mentioned that the true-to-life color reproduction was the first thing they noticed about the cameras’ performance. “It just pops on screen. The difference was immediate, and everyone was extremely excited about the change. We even got a few phone calls from viewers congratulating us on our new HD changeover,” said Lancaster.

“The color matching was excellent,” reported Kirk Duncan, multi-skilled journalist, CTV Vancouver. “There was barely any difference between the two camera settings and looks. Out of the box, they looked the same. That was my favorite thing about our new cameras – the ease with which they were set up and ready to go. The menus were easy to navigate. We went through and adjusted what we needed to change without additional assistance. We could figure it out, and everything really did look great right out of the box.”

As a small station without dedicated studio camera operators, ease of use is critical. “We don’t have the people to sit there and doctor the cameras with every shot,” explained Lancaster. We need cameras that you can white balance and are ready to go. Or add a couple of pre-sets and go. These cameras have been that for us and more. You’re able to pull them out, do your pre-sets and rest assured they’ll perform reliably every night.”

Thanks to the HZC-RCP5 software, the HXC-FB80’s can be controlled from remote locales as well as the local control room, which means the video supervisor for CTV nationally can digitally shade and color the cameras from CTV headquarters in Toronto. Optical filter wheels for neutral density and color correction can also be controlled using the application. Gamma functions enable the user to fine-tune tonal values as well as control contrast and detail.

When the cameras first arrived, the CTV video supervisor in Toronto tweaked the settings so that the new cameras were consistent with national CTV standards. He remotely adjusted one camera’s pre-sets for each newscast, and Duncan and Lancaster copied those presets to the other -FB80s. “We've got about four different recalls on each of the cameras. As we move the cameras around the studio over the course of each newscast, we can just recall the different settings that we need for each position,” said Lancaster.

The cameras at CTV Vancouver Island can also be controlled using the HZC-RCP5 camera control software running on a computer at the station. This enables the on-site technical director to control various camera pre-sets based on a specific set or shot and have access to all the shading and recalls. The TD switches and keys in graphics for the nightly newscasts from the Victoria-based control room.

“That's been a huge thing for us to be able to have our TD shade the cameras from his position,” said Lancaster. “On the virtual panel we see the shaders as they would appear if they were physical remote controls.”

The settings that CTV Vancouver Island employs are also affected by the facility’s giant row of windows. “At our studios, we’re shooting basically into a window,” explained Lancaster. “Our studio environment changes depending on the time of day or the weather. We needed a camera set up that could be easily adjusted to accommodate whatever changes nature may throw at us like cloud cover or a setting sun. The cameras can compensate for that and not make it as apparent that there’s a window behind our talent.”

Stand A41-7, NATEXPO, Russia, 5-7 November 2019: Cinegy, the global leader for broadcast playout software on premise, hybrid and in the cloud, will demonstrate its award-winning Cinegy Air PRO, Cinegy Capture PRO , Cinegy Multiviewer, as well as Cinegy Desktop and Cinegy Newsroom on the Bavarian Pavilion at NATEXPO in November.

Cinegy products can process mixed SD, HD, 4K/UHD and 8K formats - as well as handle HDR - for capture, playout, monitoring, news, editing, or MAM. All technology being shown at NATEXPO is available immediately.

In addition, Cinegy has now optimised its entire product line to be 8K-ready and deployed in the cloud. One of the early adopters of the open source SRT (Secure Reliable Transport) protocol, Cinegy has SRT baked into all technology, including the license, which removes any concerns about whether users have the legal right, proper subscription, or adequate bandwidth to deploy the software.

“We are proud of our reputation in this region and always value NATEXPO as a good opportunity to meet with existing, as well as new customers”, explained Tanya Zolotuskaya, Sales Manager, Cinegy GmbH. She added “This is an exciting time for our technology which matches the ambition of broadcasters in the region”.

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About Cinegy
Cinegy develops software solutions for collaborative workflow encompassing IP, capture, editing and playout services tools, integrated into an active archive for full digital asset management. Either SaaS, virtualizable stacks, cloud or on-premises, Cinegy is COTS using standard IT hardware, and non-proprietary storage technology. Cinegy products are reliable, affordable, scalable, easily deployable and intuitive. Cinegy is truly Software Defined Television. Visit www.cinegy.com for more details.

Media Contact:
Jennie Marwick-Evans
Manor Marketing
jennie@manormarketing.tv
+44 (0) 7748 636171

New product specialists join from broadcasters to enrich customer understanding

Cambridge, 7 October 2019: Underlining the importance of its solutions business, Pixel Power has added two new product specialists to the team. Tanya Schurawel and Toria Farrell both come direct from broadcasters, and will use their unique insights to help customers develop optimised solutions for automated production, graphics and playout.

Tanya Schurawel joins from Univision in the US, where she was most recently technical supervisor, animator and designer. With her strong technical and creative background, Tanya – who will be based in Florida– will engage with customers during the pre-sales period, ensuring their complex requirements are identified and satisfactorily met with Pixel Power’s virtualizable, modular systems.

Toria Farrell was previously a transmission controller at Red Bee Media/Ericsson. Toria began her career at the BBC as an EPG scheduler, and her career has seen her act as network director and playout director. Toria was a key member of the transmission launch team for the BT Sport launch in 2013, and became a senior playout director in 2015. She has worked within many client transmission areas from uktv and ITV to Channel 4, BT Sport and BBC World News. Based in the Pixel Power headquarters in Cambridge, she will work with customers to define software and virtualized playout solutions which enhance their businesses.

“As playout moves from large hardware installations to the almost infinite capabilities of software-defined, virtualizable solutions, broadcasters need to look at their operations and workflows afresh,” said James Gilbert, CEO of Pixel Power. “Vendors have an important role here, in translating a broadcaster’s business needs into innovative, practical and affordable technologies and workflows.

“Tanya and Toria, because of their extensive and current experience in broadcast and online transmission, are great assets in these discussions,” Gilbert added. “I’m delighted they have joined the Pixel Power team, helping us – and our customers – go from strength to strength.”

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About Pixel Power, a Rohde & Schwarz Company
Pixel Power develops software-defined, virtualizable, solutions for broadcast playout, automation, master control, graphics & branding used in linear television channels, OTT and VOD. Our award-winning branding and promotions systems, graphics-enabled master control switchers and sophisticated switchable graphics production systems allow producers to deliver dynamic live and pre-recorded content for any SD, HD, 4k, mobile, online or interactive application.

Pixel Power has 30 years’ experience of engineering prowess and dedication to customer support that has made it the industry’s first choice in graphics, branding and playout. With more than 2500 installations worldwide, customers including market-leading broadcasters such as BBC, Ericsson, ITV, SWR, WDR, TV2 Norway, Danmarks Radio, TV5 Monde, CBC, Disney, Discovery, ESPN, ViaSat and Sky.

Recently acquired by Rohde & Schwarz GmbH, Pixel Power corporate headquarters are in Cambridge UK with regional offices in Grass Valley California and Dubai UAE.

Pixel Power can be contacted online at www.pixelpower.com.


Pixel Power Contact:
Name: Ciaran Doran
Title: Exec VP
Email: cdoran@pixelpower.com
Tel: +44 7775 581301

PR Contact:
Name: Jennie Marwick-Evans
Company: Manor Marketing
Email: jennie@manormarketing.tv
Tel: +44 7748 636171

WAYNE, NJ (August 28, 2019) – JVC Professional Video, a division of JVCKENWOOD USA Corporation, today announced WGTD-FM, a nonprofit radio station owned by Gateway Technical College in Kenosha, Wis., is using three GY‑HM250SP 4KCAM sports production streaming camcorders and a ProHD Studio 4000S sports production and streaming studio to produce coverage of local high school sports on Facebook Live. The station began using the new JVC system a few weeks into the 2018 football season, and produced this season’s first game on Aug. 23.

All coverage is streamed to Facebook Live in 720p, with the station rotating game coverage between several venues. For the upcoming football season, the production crew will be located in the press box at each field, with two cameras positioned in the “crow’s nest” outside the press box and the third on the field. The GY-HM250SPs are connected to the Studio 4000S via HD-SDI.

“The cameras are absolutely incredible,” said Troy McDonald, digital director and development specialist for the station. “They are lightweight and easy to use. The picture is so clear – people are impressed.”

In an effort to find a new revenue stream, the station decided to explore new ways to find an audience by covering Kenosha and Walworth County high school football and basketball. With its classical, jazz, and news programming, the radio station attracts an older audience that creates a challenging sales environment.

WGTD tested the idea using iPads as cameras that were wirelessly connected to a master iPad running iOS-based switcher software. The system relied on cellular service, so there were a lot of connectivity issues. “It was just not pretty,” admitted McDonald. “It’s a miracle we generated an audience to prove the concept.”

McDonald said the integrated replay system in the Studio 4000S was a huge selling point. A dedicated replay tab offers a preview of every camera, and allows the operator to easily produce slow-motion replays with dynamic camera switching and freeze frame options. “It lets us have that feature that heightens the drama and keeps viewers engaged,” he explained. “The software is so easy to use. It’s made a huge difference for us.”

With the previous system, football scorekeeping was done manually, and the crew did not even attempt to keep score for basketball. Now, game coverage includes lower-thirds with names and logos. The crew also brings a SportzCast Scorebot to every game, connects it to the scoreboard, and receives automatic scoring updates to the 4000S wirelessly. “The graphics through the 4000S have added a whole other layer to what we do – and it’s great,” McDonald said.

WGTD covers one game per week during the regular season, plus playoffs. The station also partners with Indian Trail High School in Kenosha, which has a communications program, to coordinate paid student production crews. During the year, students also produce local commercials that run during breaks in the sports coverage. McDonald said the student crews gain valuable experience, while the local student athletes get recruiting footage that looks professional.

The first fully integrated Facebook Live professional camcorder in the industry, the GY-HM250SP includes an integrated 24x dynamic zoom lens with optical image stabilizer, integrated sports graphics, dual XLR audio inputs, and support for a variety of file formats and frame rates. Both the 4000S and the enhanced CONNECTED CAM Studio 6000S, a new six-input model that supports NDI® and SRT streaming protocols, feature include an integrated audio mixer, four layers of DSK, and production switcher with automated switching mode and choice of transitions.

ABOUT JVC PROFESSIONAL VIDEO
Headquartered in Wayne, New Jersey, JVC Professional Video is a division of JVCKENWOOD USA Corporation, a wholly-owned subsidiary of JVCKENWOOD Corporation. The company is a leading manufacturer and distributor of broadcast and professional video equipment, as well as D-ILA front projection systems. For more information, visit JVC’s website at http://pro.jvc.com or call (800) 582‑5825.

IBC 2019, 13-17 September, Stand 7.A01: Cinegy, the global leader for broadcast playout software in the cloud, has announced that it will showcase the full scope of its 8K recording, capture, archive, and encoding capabilities during IBC 2019.

On its IBC stand, Cinegy will feature the eye-popping Sharp 8M-B80AX1E 8K displays, the first 80-inch 8K professional display to be mass produced. The Sharp 8M-B80AX1E has 33 million pixels (7680 x 4320), four times that of 4K UHD and sixteen times the resolution of full HD.

Cinegy CEO Jan Weigner said, “Earlier this year we announced that our entire software-defined television product range is now 8K capable. We had an opportunity to thoroughly test and confirm those capabilities on Sharp’s new 8K displays at their Hamburg offices.

“We connected a small PC running our Cinegy Player 3 software and played 8K clips that had been filmed by a Sharp 8K camera and the results were astonishing. I can confirm that Sharp’s 8K displays are the only ones to date that legitimately display a true 8K picture using existing NVIDIA graphics cards on a Cinegy software-powered PC or workstation.”

Peter Heins, Senior Product Manager, Visual Solutions, Sharp Information Systems Europe, further clarified, “We are proud to be working with Cinegy, showcasing our latest addition to Sharp’s 8K ecosystem. We are delivering on our vision to charge the world with 8K, offering resolution that transforms our ability to display reality and Cinegy is uniquely positioned to take advantage of this vision. The new 80-inch 8K display will support new and exciting business applications that rely on ultimate image precision and clarity, and we look forward to seeing the benefits of our collaboration with Cinegy.”

In addition to showcasing real-time 8K imagery on its stand, Cinegy will also feature other 8K-ready products that are expanding Cinegy software’s appeal in enterprise IT and professional AV markets.

Weigner added, “All of this is to clearly illustrate, rather than just talk about, the fact that working in 8K from end to end – in real time - has never been easier. Affordable 8K SDI cards are readily available, Sharp’s display is the current 8K benchmark, and our software, in combination with our Daniel2 GPU codec, eliminate any obstacles to 8K production. Furthermore, by bringing the Daniel2 codec to Adobe Premiere for Windows and Mac, we open up the world of 8K production to millions of existing Adobe users.”

Cinegy will demonstrate its 8K capabilities on in Hall 7, Stand A01 during IBC 2019. For more information, visit www.cinegy.com

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About Cinegy
Cinegy develops software solutions for collaborative workflow encompassing IP, capture, editing and playout services tools, integrated into an active archive for full digital asset management. Either SaaS, virtualizable stacks, cloud or on-premises, Cinegy is COTS using standard IT hardware, and non-proprietary storage technology. Cinegy products are reliable, affordable, scalable, easily deployable and intuitive. Cinegy is truly Software Defined Television. Visit www.cinegy.com for more details.

About Sharp Information Systems Europe
Sharp Information Systems Europe (SISE) is a division of Sharp Electronics Europe, which offers a unique portfolio of award-winning document management and display solutions to help organisations transform the way they engage with information. Sharp’s industry-leading MFPs and large production systems sit at the heart of integrated applications for digital transformation, while our display solutions include innovative video walls, digital signage displays and interactive flat panel displays for collaborative presentations. Our mission is to develop new products that support individual expression; creating life enhancing experiences that let you be original. For more information, please visit www.sharp.eu


Cinegy PR Contact:
Jennie Marwick-Evans
Manor Marketing
jennie@manormarketing.tv
+44 (0) 7748 636171

PARAMUS, N.J.—Having recently transitioned to an entirely 4K studio facility, KLCS-TV, Los Angeles PBS affiliate, decided to go with Sony for its server, selecting the company’s PWS-4500 live production server.

The PWS-4500 can be configured as an HD production recorder or as a fully-featured replace server supporting 4K and HD formats, as well as SDI and IP interfaces. It supports HDR natively in 4K/HD and it can record content in 4K and HD simultaneously. Additional recording features include the ability to record four 4K/eight HD video signals and 16 audio channels; recording of multiple channels; and record data with 10 bit and BT2020.

Other features for the PWS-4500 include the PWS-110MG1 Media Gateway that creates workflows for archiving files recorded on the server to networked storage or removable media; three 4K streams can be backed up over a 10GbE network in real time. The station also says that server will help them prepare for when they can broadcast in ATSC 3.0.

KLCS is able to interface the PWS-4500 with its Sony XVS-6000 switcher, which is used to control the playback directly.

KLCS-TV broadcasts 24/7 to more than 15 million viewers in Los Angeles and surrounding Southern California areas.

IBC 2019, 13-17 September, Hall 7 Stand A01: Cinegy, the global leader for broadcast playout software on premise, hybrid and in the cloud, will demonstrate the multiple advantages of the inclusion of Secure Reliable Transport (SRT) as well as the 8K capabilities of its entire product range at IBC 2019.

Cinegy Head of Product Management Lewis Kirkaldie said, “SRT is an extra bit of magic that breaks the restrictive chains of having to establish connectivity by plugging in a cable somewhere. Through SRT, the ability to ensure a signal gets to and from where it needs to be is now both feasible and widely available.

“What that means is that with SRT you can locate content, tools, and services wherever your business needs them, be it in the cloud, on rented virtual machines, on-prem, or at remote data centres.”

Cinegy’s view is that the maturity of SRT opens the door to a sizable range of new applications while vastly simplifying existing ones.

“SRT is a massive liberator,” further explained Kirkaldie. “SRT makes system design so much easier. You can design exactly what you want to deliver, with precisely the results you need, irrespective of inputs, outputs, or location. There is no longer any reason to compromise your business goals due to connectivity or bandwidth limitations.”

SRT is baked in to Cinegy software, including the license, which removes any concerns about whether users have the legal right, proper subscription, or adequate bandwidth to deploy the software.

In the case of 8K, Cinegy has optimised its entire product line to be 8K-ready and deployed in the cloud. The new Cinegy Multiviewer, in addition to being 8K capable, has had its already impressive GPU optimisation further improved. This makes the Multiviewer even more powerful and flexible when paired with Cinegy Air PRO Playout and Cinegy Capture PRO Ingest.

The twin benefits of increased scalability and efficiency in Cinegy Air PRO are equally beneficial features for Cinegy Capture PRO. Using the same hardware, both systems are not only capable of capturing 8K in 10-bit at up to 60, but also four channels of UHD/4K.

Cinegy products can process mixed SD, HD, 4K/UHD, and 8K formats - as well as handle HDR - for capture, playout, monitoring, news, editing, or MAM. All of the products displayed at IBC 2019 are available for immediate deployment.

###

About Cinegy
Cinegy develops software solutions for collaborative workflow encompassing IP, capture, editing and playout services tools, integrated into an active archive for full digital asset management. Either SaaS, virtualizable stacks, cloud or on-premises, Cinegy is COTS using standard IT hardware, and non-proprietary storage technology. Cinegy products are reliable, affordable, scalable, easily deployable and intuitive. Cinegy is truly Software Defined Television. Visit www.cinegy.com for more details.

Cinegy PR Contact:
Jennie Marwick-Evans
Manor Marketing
jennie@manormarketing.tv
+44 (0) 7748 636171

Exploration into the endangered habitats of bears and the global crises that threaten the species recently aired in a landmark broadcast event for South Korean audiences. In January 2019, leading domestic television network MBC broadcast “Bear,” an episodic nature documentary series exploring the impact of climate change and urbanization on pandas, grizzlies, polar bears and beyond. This marked the first simultaneous broadcast of HDR and SDR programming in South Korea, providing audiences with UltraHD HDR displays the opportunity to view the engaging wildlife documentary in more vibrant and vivid hues in a wider dynamic range.

The Seoul-based broadcaster’s first foray into high dynamic range transmissions was in 2018 for the Russian World Cup. For broadcasting “Bear,” MBC required a solution capable of transmitting content from an HDR source to HDR and SDR destinations concurrently. To manage the workflow, MBC enlisted AJA’s FS-HDR real-time HDR converter and frame synchronizer to run UltraHD HDR to HD SDR conversion, enabling real-time broadcast to audiences in either format. Based upon the HDR and resolution capabilities of their televisions, viewers could watch either version of the program at the same moment in time.

Throughout production on “Bear,” FS-HDR was tapped for gamma conversion of BT. 2020/BT. 709. “The HDR to SDR gamma conversion with FS-HDR is perfect, without any bandings in the highlight area. This allowed me to achieve a more natural grading feel, closer to how the human eye views color in real life,” noted MBC’s Chongmo Ki. “FS-HDR’s diverse array of adjustable parameters enables more accurate conversion, and the fact that I can control all parameters from my laptop is especially convenient.”

MBC is currently in production on an upcoming documentary entitled “Humanimal,” a nature series which will explore the relationship between humans and wild animals coexisting together in shared environments. Produced in HDR, the documentary will once again be broadcast to audiences simultaneously in HDR and SDR, and MBC intends to use a similar workflow powered by FS-HDR for real-time conversion. Throughout production on the series, MBC also hopes to explore AJA’s new HDR Image Analyzer as a solution for color grading monitoring and analysis.

About FS-HDR

FS-HDR, a 1RU, rackmount, universal converter/frame synchronizer, is designed specifically to meet the High Dynamic Range (HDR) and Wide Color Gamut (WCG) needs of broadcast, OTT, post and live event AV environments, where real time, low latency processing and color fidelity is required for 4K/UltraHD and 2K/HD workflows. Developed in partnership with Colorfront™, the FS-HDR’s HDR/WCG functionality is powered by Colorfront Engine proprietary video processing algorithms.

About AJA Video Systems, Inc.

Since 1993, AJA Video has been a leading manufacturer of video interface technologies, converters, digital video recording solutions and professional cameras, bringing high-quality, cost-effective products to the professional broadcast, video and post production markets. AJA products are designed and manufactured at our facilities in Grass Valley, California, and sold through an extensive sales channel of resellers and systems integrators around the world. For further information, please see our website at www.aja.com.

Insight TV, the world’s leading 4K UHD HDR broadcaster and producer of native UHD content, is launching a series of new shows that will offer motorsports fans a thrilling look at the lives and stories behind some of the world’s most talented racers on two and four wheels.

Launching on 1st March on Insight.tv, the Speed Seekers series will give fans the inside track on Moto2 motorbike world champion, Franco Morbidelli in Morbidelli Rising; show F1 veterans, professional drivers and amateurs battling to endure the epic Spa 24 Hours race in Endurance: 24 Hours at Spa; provide neck-craning action from the globetrotting Bolddog freestyle motocross team in FMX Nomads; and show celebrity supercar owners racing each other in Fast and Famous.

Morbidelli RisingThe 2018 Moto GP motorbike season kicks off with lots of anticipation and excitement for new rider and rising star, Franco Morbidelli, who is joining for his rookie season. The series charts the 18 months before Franco’s Moto GP track debut, revealing the mentoring and relationship with motorcycling legend Valentino Rossi, his home life, the nerves and pressure leading up to his first race, as well as their intense training sessions at ‘The Ranch’.  The series highlights Insight TV’s continued successful production partnership with Monster Energy.

Endurance: 24 Hours at SpaGo behind the visor and step into the lives of the drivers competing to win one of motorsport’s toughest races: the ‘Total 24 Hours of Spa’ in Belgium. This new show, produced inhouse by Insight TV, goes behind the scenes, featuring personal stories of world class amateur and professional drivers – including F1 legend Rubens Barrichello – from six leading teams who fiercely battle to last 24 hours at this notorious circuit.

FMX NomadsViewers will join Dan Whitby, Samson Eaton and Arran Powley to experience the globetrotting, day-to-day life of the high-flying Bolddog freestyle motocross team. With the latest event in their nomadic schedule taking them to the outskirts of Amsterdam in the Netherlands, the crew are faced with the challenge and added danger of combining their show with drift car drivers Luke Woodham and Steve ‘Baggsy’ Biagioni. The show was produced inhouse by Insight TV.

Fast and FamousIn Fast and Famous two celebrity supercar owners are pitted against each other to race their cars on a real race track. But there’s a catch… the host of the show also happens to be an accomplished race driver who will train the celebrities in their quest to reach the chequered flag first. The celebrity who clocks the fastest time wins the grand prize and the honour of being the fastest famous petrol-head.

Viewers can also find a host of additional motoring content on Insight.tv, including Road to Gymkhana Grid, Close Proximity, Graveyard Carz, MTB Heroes, Dangers of Darkfest and many more.

Frank le Mair, Executive Producer, Insight TV says, “This new collection of shows will give motorsport fans and viewers a racer’s view of the skill, danger, determination and speed involved to compete in some of the most exhilarating, exciting and demanding events in world motorsport. Exploring the lives and stories behind talented riders competing in Moto GP, endurance racing and freestyle motocross, along with showcasing the world’s fastest celebrity speed fans, viewers will be treated to spectacular, hair-raising motorsport action from across the globe.

“Motorsports communities have always been an important part of Insight TV’s show library, and these new programs demonstrate to all speed seekers out there that Insight TV is top of the podium for storytelling and adventurous content.”

Insight TV, the world’s leading 4K UHD HDR broadcaster and producer of native UHD content, has signed a distribution deal with major telecoms operator, T-Mobile B.V. Subscribers across the Netherlands will have access to Insight TV’s thrilling and authentic HD content via T-Mobile’s popular Thuis (Home) service.

T-Mobile Thuis customers, will be able to watch Insight TV’s ground-breaking shows including: Travel With a Goat, Road to Gymkhana GRiD, King of the Hammers, THRU, Breaking Limits, DarkFEST and many more.

Robert de Lint, TV Content Manager T-Mobile Netherlands said, “We are proud to be able to add Insight HD to our T-Mobile Thuis Entertainment package: this Dutch channel with an international look-and-feel delivers original and challenging content, which fits our profile perfectly. To celebrate this introduction we offer Insight HD to all of our T-Mobile Thuis with digital television customers for free this month.”

Natalie Boot, Director of Media Sales, Insight TV adds, “Insight TV strives to provide high quality content to viewers across the world via linear, SVOD and AVOD platforms. We are delighted to announce this latest partnership with T-Mobile Netherlands and look forward to sharing further distribution deals in the coming weeks.”

NEWARK, N.J.—Panasonic today announced the AG-CX350 4K handheld camcorder designed for use at sporting and other live events as well as in newsgathering and IP production.

The camcorder, optimized for 4K/HD production, leverages an integrated lens and supports 4K 10-bit 60p capture, HDR recording and supports RTMP/RTSP/RTP protocol for live streaming as well as NDI|HX-ready IP connections (license required) for live switching with a production switcher, including the Panasonic AV-HL100 Stream Studio.

Weighing 4.2 pounds (body only), the CX350 uses a 1.0-type MOS sensor with about 15.03 megapixels in UHD/FHD. The camera can capture UHD (384x2160), Full HD (1920x1080) and SD (720x480).

The CX350 supports 10-bit 4:2:2 color sampling with ALL-Intra (400Mb/s) and LongGOP (150Mb/s) recording formats, which can be recorded in UHD at up to 29.98/25p and Full HD up to 59.97/50p. The camera also offers a 10-bit HEVC codec supporting UHD up to 59.97/50p with bit rates of 220Mb/s. The 10-bit HEV can be natively decoded and played by computers with 7th Generation or later Intel Core i7 CPUs. All formats and compression rates can be recorded to SD cards.

The camera’s integrated lens offers a wide angle of 24.5mm at the wide-angle setting with minimal distortion. It comes with a 20x optical zoom lens (24.5mm to 490mm). Panasonic’s Intelligent Zoom function supporting 35x for HD and 24x for 4K is available. Five-axis hand-shake correction is employed for both HD and 4K shooting.

Supported gamma modes including HD, SD, Filmlike, 1/2/3 Film-Rec, Video-Rec and HLG (Hybrid Log-Gamma) for HDR capture. Variable Frame Rate recording ranging from 1fps to 60fps is available for spots shooters. Super Slow motion can be achieved at 120fps/100fps (59.94/50Hz).

The AG-CX350 will be available in late February with a suggested list price of $3,995.

More information is available on the Panasonic website.

Tokyo, Japan, November 1, 2018 – Given a mandate from the country’s Ministry of Information and Communications Technology, Nepal Television, the national broadcaster of Nepal, must fully upgrade to high-definition by January of next year – which also marks the broadcaster’s 34th anniversary.

By January 31st 2019, Nepal Television will be running three HD studios, replacing all of its current equipment from SD to HD. As of that date, all new equipment must be installed and on-air so that Nepalese viewers can enjoy HDTV broadcasts from the country’s national broadcaster.

The selection was made in October to work with FOR-A’s Southeast Asia office to fulfill the networks’ quick turnaround, future 4K upgrade path, and budgetary requirements. Nepal Television will utilize two FOR-A HVS-2000 2 M/E video switchers for two of its studios, one HVS-2000 3 M/E video switcher for a biggest production studio, and dual-channel FA-9520 signal processors for frame synchronization, color correction, and up/down/cross/aspect conversion. The Nepal Television has been using HVS-390 video switchers in two studios, including one regional studio in Kohalpur.

Nepal Television will also upgrade the master control room (MCR) and program control room (PCR) for its two national channels (NTV and NTV PLUS) to full HD. Nepal Television will use two FOR-A MFR-3000 routing switchers - one in the Master Control Room and one as a redundant router. In the program control room, FOR-A’s MFR-1616 routing switcher will serve as the upstream router, the HVS-100 as the on-air production switcher, and FA-9520’s for all signal processing.

“FOR-A is known for the ruggedness and reliability of its product range and its modern design,” said Mr. Chinta Mani Baral, HOD, Engineering and Mr. Hari Prasad Bhandari, Chief of Studio Transmission and Maintenance of Nepal Television. “From video switchers, to routing switchers to signal processing, we were able to deal with one premier manufacturer in Japan, which was a big benefit to us. They’re able to meet our pricing and tight turnaround time and make sure we’re fully HD by January 31st 2019. We expect to enjoy a mutually beneficial relationship with FOR-A for a long time.”

About FOR-A

Cypress, CA, October 19, 2018 – As a demonstration of the company’s continued commitment to the Latin American region, FOR-A® will highlight three of its most popular products – the HVS-490 and HVS-100 switchers and FA-9600 signal processor - as part of its participation at CAPER 2018, occurring from October 24-26th at the Costa Salguero Center in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

FOR-A will exhibit within the CAPER stand of partner SVC (Sistemas de Video Comunicación) in Booth D-10. The theme of this year’s booth is “No Boundaries.”  

“CAPER has traditionally been an extremely important part of our marketing strategy,” said Mario Rodriguez, FOR-A Latin America Sales Manager. “It allows us to connect with key customers from nearby South American countries, such as Chile, Uruguay, Paraguay, Bolivia and Ecuador. There are many who may not be able to get to Las Vegas for NAB or Amsterdam for the IBC, and CAPER is an ideal location and time for us to meet up and show them all the new technology we have that will benefit them now and in the future.” 

The HVS-490 live HD/4K-UHD, multi-effects production switcher is designed for use in any live environment, including mobile shoots, events, and in-house corporate productions. Event memory and macro functions make it easy to set up quickly for live performances. And FOR-A’s MELite™ technology eliminates the need for multiple switchers in a multi-monitor staging scenario.  

With integrated frame synchronizers and multi viewers, the HVS-490 reduces the amount of equipment required. Using multiple control panels, the system enables several operators to work on separate tasks. Using optional input and output expansion cards, the HVS-490 supports 40 inputs/18 outputs, 36 inputs/20 outputs or 32 inputs/22 outputs, including two-channel HDMI outputs. In 4K, it allows 10 inputs/six outputs, nine inputs/six outputs or eight inputs/seven outputs. It also has 16 channels of 2.5D DVE as standard and can be optionally expanded to a maximum of 32 channels.  

The FA-9600 multi purpose signal processor supports 4K, 12G-SDI, HDR and Wide Color Gamut. The unit features dual channel frame synchronization, extensive professional video format support, color correction, up/down/cross conversion, and offers 12G-SDI and HDMI terminals - opening the door to 4K production. The FA-9600 is ideal for use in mixed HDR/SDR environments, including production studios, live staging productions and mobile OB and up-link production trucks. The energy-efficient unit is a convenient 1U size, and the signal processor’s newly developed color processing circuit provides strong support in HD/4K production.  

The HVS-100 video switcher with Thunderbolt™ 2 I/O expansion cards will also be on display at CAPER. The HVS-100 is controlled via any tablet, handheld or laptop type device with a web browser as opposed to a ‘hard’ control panel. With its Thunderbolt 2 I/O expansion cards, users can transfer video content with a single cable through computers and interface with other devices, such as character generators, virtual studios and/or file-based/IP products. One cable allows transmission of 4 HD signal lines.   

In addition to the HVS-490, FA-9600, and HVS-100 w/HVS-100TB2 Card, a range of new FOR-A equipment will also be on display: the Insight Multi-Channel Video Server, ClassX content creation and graphics playout solution, MCC-4K motion-compensated universal standards converter, and Fujitsu IP-HE950 real-time video transmission gear.  

  2018 marks the 20th year FOR-A has participated at CAPER. FOR-A enjoys long-term relationships with several prominent Latin American broadcasters, including: Artear, Canal 7, Telefe, TyC Sports, Canal 9, ESPN, DirecTV, and FoxSports. 

* Thunderbolt is a trademark of Intel Corporation or its subsidiaries in the U.S. and/or other countries.

SAN JOSE, CALIF.—Chinese Television System will bring the 29th Summer Universiade sporting event to viewers in HD and UHD via a contribution and distribution system from Harmonic. CTS will receive a Harmonic transmission system to provide live HD video content, as well as HEVC-encoded UHD, for IP network distribution to its television networks.

The Harmonic technology will be used to cover the events various stadiums and facilities and the opening and closing ceremonies. The C&D system enables CTS to capture video at the front-end of the broadcast chain and deliver a UHD experience with high-resolution and high-frame rate technology. The C&D workflow includes the ViBE CP3000 contribution encoders, ViBE CP6000 contribution platforms, ViBE 4K UHD encoders and ProView integrated receiver-decoders. The workflow supports HEVC UHD and AVC HD 4:2:2 10-bit compression and decompression.

The 29th Summer Universiade is a worldwide multi-sport event for university athletes organized by the International University Sports Federation. It will take place in Taipei, Taiwan from Aug. 19-30.

CHESEAUX, SWITZERLAND—Nagra and Samsung teamed up to make encrypted pay-TV services—ala 4K and HDR—easier available with its TVkey software, which is getting its first commercial deployment with German satellite operator HD+. With the TVkey, consumers are expected to be able to access the 4K and HDR services directly on their TVs without a set-top box or second remote.

The TVkey content security approach meets Hollywood requirements for protection of 4K and HDR content, according to Nagra’s press release.

A promotional effort for the TVkey will allow buyers of compatible Samsung TVs in Germany to receive HD+ TVkey for free by registering on the HD+ website; this also entitles them to a free six-month HD+ subscription.

“By integrating our latest content protection technology alongside open standards, such as USB and HbbTV/HTML5, we not only ensure excellent security, but also deliver a feature-rich, operator-branded user experience directly to the consumer’s TV,” said Pierre Roy, executive vice president and chief operating officer of Digital TV at Nagra.

BALTIMORE—For Jeff Halapin and Kerry Plackmeyer, the news about getting an upgrade at WBAL’s eight-year-old HD studio was akin to getting a great Christmas present—a gift that was up and operating before the first Christmas trees appeared in Baltimore department stores.

Stan Stovall, left, and Donna Hamilton take a break on WBAL-TV’s recently refreshed HD set during the evening edition of 11 News. So it was a great day when Halapin, director of engineering, and Plackmeyer, the station’s assistant director of engineering, were informed by station manager Dan Joerres that WBAL, as well as WTAE, in Pittsburgh, would be the first stations in line in the 30-station Hearst chain to get an HD set refresh.

While WBAL built its original HD set in late 2008 (“WBAL Joins the HD News Ranks,” Feb. 18, 2009), with this go ’round the requirements shifted, as only parts of the technical operation needed to be replaced.

A local college was given the old equipment in exchange for moving it out of the studio—which took three days to complete. It took another eight days for Halapin, Plackmeyer and company to complete the infrastructure and video prep work to get the 66-foot by 44-foot studio ready for the update.

The result? A project that has “raised the bar for HD sets, not just for Hearst, but within the industry,” said Halapin, noting that upgrades could take place at other Hearst stations in 2017.

PREP WORK

Back at WBAL, it was first things first, as the previous equipment was removed and moved to nearby Morgan State University, which is also based in the city. Next, Halapin, Plackmeyer and company got the studio ready for the new install, which included the removal of many remnants, some of which had been in the studio for decades.

“First, we removed legacy cabling, junction boxes, old pulleys and anything else that wasn’t active,” said Plackmeyer. “Then we cleaned the grid, tore down the ram-board and painted the floors.”

The next step was removal of the incandescent lighting, in favor of the LED florescent DeSisti and Lupo technology, which raised the color temperatures from 3,200 to 5,000 kelvins; in addition, a large portion of the set now features lightboxes around its perimeter that allow for the changing of the colors (orange for the Baltimore Orioles during baseball season, purple for the Baltimore Ravens after the NFL kicks off, etc.). They are controlled from the grid with DMX technology.

The set also has new desk lights that match the florescence of the walls, and “are similar to what’s used on ‘The Today Show,’” Halapin said.

The refresh at WBAL-TV, Baltimore, has “raised the bar for HD sets, not just for Hearst, but within the industry,” said the station’s director of engineering, Jeff Halapin. Pictured are long-time market anchors Stan Stovall and Donna Hamilton.THE DESIGN AND BUILD

Another difference during the recent install, as opposed to the first one, was that WBAL acted as its own system integrator, instead of subbing that part of the job out as it had in 2008. “That’s because of we have a highly competent technical team,” said Halapin.

Devlin Design Group of Crested Butte, Colo., contracted for the design/build. Key additions to the set included two monitor walls from Primeview—a 1x6 and a 2x2 each of which consist of six and four panels, respectively, that run with extreme 3.5mm bezels, and are driven by a Vizrt graphics engines.

“When we moved back into the finished product, all we had to do was move cables and the KVM transceivers,” Plackmeyer said.

But, as noted, not everything was updated during the refresh. For instance, the station’s three Sony HCG 1400 cameras remain, as do their Vinten FP 188 pedestals (which were installed in 2011); and the contents of the control room, which features a 70-inch Barco cube monitor wall, Sony 8000G switcher and a Wheatstone D-10 audio board, are still intact.

“We keep the graphics equipment the same at every Hearst station because we want that standardization,” Halapin said.

During construction, news programming was presented from a few points under roof, mainly originating inside the newsroom and from a temporary green screen area that is usually used for commercial production that lies adjacent to the project area. There were various temporary connectivity points around the station, as well.

“We started from scratch last time. Everything was new,” Halapin said. “This time, while it still took us 300 hours in planning, it was just the set. Everything was drawn out in advance, even the temporary stuff.”

A DONE DEAL

Halapin remarked that, while the refresh marked a major event in the station’s technical history, it wasn’t as momentous and the 2008 project. “This was a much easier transition,” he said, “especially because the station was able to acquire the necessary funding from corporate on the first swing.”

While Plackmeyer’s perspective was a little different since he was working for WBAL Radio in late 2008, the refresh marked a major point in his career, too. “I love big projects,” he said, recalling the 12–16 hour days that he and the rest of the crew put in during the busiest days of the refresh.

“I’m real OCD and I want everything right,” he said, “but despite the size of the job, I’d be glad to do it again.”

SHENZHEN, CHINA—Users can now shoot and live-stream HD, VR and panoramic stills and video directly from their iPhones with the release of the Insta360 Nano camera from Shenzhen Arashi Vision. What the company says is the “world’s first” HD camera for an iPhone, the camera can clip to an iPhone 6, 6s, 6 Plus or 6s Plus and provide 360-degree panoramic image or video upload to Facebook, Twitter or other social media sites.

For more information, TVT’s sister publication TVB Europe has the full story.

NASHVILLE, TENN.—RFD-TV, a national TV network dedicated to the rural and western lifestyle, is going HD on through Mediacom Communications. Mediacom will make the networks HD offerings across its entire national footprint.

The two sides have worked together since 2002, when Mediacom became the first cable system to distribute RFD-TV.

According to Mediacom, it serves about 1.3 million customers in markets primarily located in the Midwest and Southeast.

ALEXANDRIA, VA.—As described in the initial installment of this article on the movement by radio amateurs or “hams” to digital video transmission, hams have been experimenting with television since the 1920s, and as a group are acutely aware of technological developments in this area, as many are employed in the TV broadcasting, R&D and manufacturing sectors. Through the years, hams have always been quick to try out new technologies including microwave, satellite, digital communications, and most recently, high-definition television.

Mike Collis, WA6SVT

Mike Collis is one of those HD adopters. He’s a California ham (station call sign WA6SVT) who’s been involved in amateur TV since 1976 during his high school days, and recently ventured into high definition. (He’s also transmitter supervisor at a commercial television operation.)

“I moved into high definition about two years ago,” Collis said. “The incentive was the higher clarity pictures.”

Collis is in a fairly unique position in terms of keeping track of the segment of the amateur operators involved in television, as he’s co-publisher of Amateur Television Quarterly, a niche publication dedicated to news of amateur TV experimentation that’s read by more than 400 hams. It was a report of HDTV experimentation by a fellow ham that led Collis to make the shift to high definition.

“I was inspired by Jim Andrews who was doing HD with a Drake 64-QAM cable TV modulator,” Collis said. “I purchased a Drake unit [and went on-the-air with this].”

Collis can’t say for sure how many of his readers are testing the high-definition waters, but is aware of amateur HDTV activity in various parts of the United States, including both northern and southern California, Ohio, Kentucky and Arizona.

One of the most active of these is the aforementioned Jim Andrews (station call sign KH6HTV). He’s a retired electrical engineer and spends his time just about equally in Maui, Hawaii and Boulder, Colo. His experimentation with analog television on the ham bands (amateurs are allocated several chunks of RF spectrum real estate in the UHF and higher frequency bands) also goes back to the 1970s. However, the DTV bug eventually bit, with Andrews making his initial move about five years ago.

Jim Andrews, KH6HTV
FIRST STEPS IN THE REAL OF ZEROS AND ONES TV
“I’d always had an interest in TV,” Andrews said. “And as the whole industry was transitioning to digital [back in the 1990s], I knew that amateurs needed to keep up with what was going on.

His first move was to evaluate the least complicated path to DTV.

“I consider myself an analog engineer with a microwave background and knew there was no way I was going to design my own circuits to do the digital processing. So I became an ‘appliance operator’ [in ham jargon, someone who elects to purchase ready-made equipment, rather than fabricate their own]. I decided to identify available digital [modulation] equipment and then add RF amplification of my own design to get on the air.”

Initially Andrews investigated the commercial ATSC encoding gear that U.S. television stations were installing, but quickly experienced sticker shock.

“All I found was the really expensive stuff made by Harris and others,” Andrews said. “They were all way too expensive. I was really frustrated by the prices; I wanted something down in the $1,000 price range. In 2011, I discovered a digital modulator made by Drake, a company that supplies equipment for cable system head-ends. This was the DFE 24 which sold for about $1,200. It provided 64-QAM and wasn’t intended for over-the-air, but I decided to try it. I soon discovered that QAM didn’t really work well with multipath as it was intended for a really perfect transmission path. There was no correction circuitry to accommodate a poor transmission channel.”

Despite this limitation, Andrews took to the air on the amateur 70 centimeter band (420 to 450 MHz) by adding a 10 Watt RF amplifier of his own design and an antenna that provided an EIRP of about 100 Watts. With this simple system he was ultimately able to achieve a transmission range of some 75 miles (He’s quick to offer that the ham operator on the receiving end of the link was using an antenna with some 27 dB of gain and that the path between the stations was “true line-of-sight”).

Andrews continued to experiment with 64-QAM DTV transmission, but recently discovered encoding gear more suitable for over-the-air applications.

“In the spring of 2014, I saw an article in Amateur TV Quarterly about some U.S. hams using some DVB-T gear made by a Taiwanese company, HiDes,” said Andrews. “They were reporting distances of up to 175 miles. I bought the gear described and ran a lot of field propagation tests which showed that it was far superior to my CATV modulator. This was the way to go!” 

With the improved performance of the DVB-T unit, Andrews soon made the step to high definition.

IT’S NOT JUST ABOUT EXPERIMENTATION
So besides propagation and distance experimentation, what else has Andrews done with his DTV transmission capability? As service to the community is one of the tenets upon which amateur radio service was founded, it wasn’t long before he and other Boulder-area hams made their digital capability available to area law enforcement operations. 

“We have a really active ARES (Amateur Radio Emergency Service) group in the Boulder,” said Andrews. “We’ve been providing our services to the Sheriff’s Department since 1990, covering public protests, large fires and the like. We’ve also gone out on SWAT calls to provide video coverage to the sheriff’s command center. They don’t have their own coverage capability, and there is no [law enforcement] RF allocation for this either. They turn to the ham radio community for this.” (He noted that several hams were employed in the Sheriff’s Department communications unit.)

“And after I’d gotten into the DVB-T stuff and found out how well it worked, we did a demo for the University of Colorado Police Department in connection with their home games,” said Andrews. “It really outperformed the analog system we’d been using. The police chief was pretty well blown away with the high-definition images. They allocated $10,000 to make a transition to digital HD.”

Andrews explained that the department relies on volunteer assistance from the ham community to staff camera positions and operate the new HD gear. The money went for purchase of additional DVB-T modulators, receivers and RF linear amplifiers, as the hams were able to provide four independent transmission channels for the law enforcement operation. He noted that high-definition coverage had expanded to other University events too.

The Boulder, Colo., ARES group has been providing video linkage for local law enforcement groups for some time. Here a member sends back HD images to assist with crowd control efforts.

“We assisted with a 10K footrace last Spring,” said Andrews. “And most recently we helped with the presidential candidate debate held there.”

He added that the area emergency operations center had been activated for this event, with FBI and Secret Service agents involved.

“We heard that the commanders in the ops center were glued to the pictures provided by our group as they were far superior to the images being generated by the FBI team. This was a real pat on the back for us!”

A GROWING AMATEUR HDTV COMMUNITY
Andrews says that it’s now fairly easy to get on the air with HDTV, with a complete equipment package running in the neighborhood of $1,000.

“That’s exclusive of cameras, but HD camcorders are dirt cheap now,” he said. “Modulators are down in the $300 range and an RF amplifier with a 50 dB gain and 3 W output runs about $375. You can get a suitable antenna for between $50 and $100. A receiver can be purchased for about $150, but a lot of people are using $10 DVB-T ‘dongles,’ basically software-defined radios which do the decoding and spit the data out to a computer.” 

This price point has made HDTV readily accessible to the ham community, with the number of HD-enabled operators continuing to increase.

“In the Boulder area we now have at least a dozen hams that are very active,” said Andrews. “All use DVB-T. The real ‘hotbed of amateur TV’ is in southern California. They have actually created a network of repeaters on mountain tops that extends into Nevada and Arizona.”

HAM DIGITAL STANDARDS
Andrews noted that the push to DTV via the DVB standard in amateur radio circles was originally centered in western Europe and in Australia, explaining that the DVB-S (satellite) standard was favored due to the availability of inexpensive DTV satellite receivers. According to Andrews there’s no clear consensus as to whether DVB-S or DVB-T is best suited for amateur work; both systems continue to be used. 

He noted that his introduction to DVB-T was essentially painless with the HiDes gear purchased.

“No mods were necessary at all. I used it right out of the box,” he said. “It’s frequency synthesized to address a really broad market. It’s also not channelized—not on standard channels. Channelization is programmable via a USB computer connection.

“You can set the bandwidth from 2 to 8 MHz, he said, noting that the company had responded to ham requests to provide the 2 MHz (and narrower) options. “You can’t do HD at this bandwidth though. It actually supports operation down into the hundreds of kilohertz.”

The ARES group stays busy in volunteering their services to campus police at the University of Colorado. Members are seen here checking out one of the antennas installed on a University building.

When asked about trying out ATSC DTV, Andrews stated that he had finally discovered a modulator selling for less than $1,000.

“I probably would have gone this way if it had been available when I started,” he said. “However, in the meantime, I have a lot of information about the superiority of DVB.”

So what about the movement to 4K and the developing ATSC 3.0 digital standard?

Andrews says that some of the Boulder area hams have expressed interest in UHD and have already purchased 4K receivers.

“I’m sure that the amateur TV community will move in that direction. However, I think cost will be the limiting factor. $1,000 is probably the ‘magic’ threshold for most ham budgets. They will not start experimenting with 4K until the price of modulators drops to the vicinity of $1,000, and as for ATSC 3.0, I haven’t really been keeping up with the developments.”

James O'Neal is the technical advisor to TV Technology. 

MONTREAL—Featuring a new suite of Grass Valley products, Brazilian network TV Globo affiliate, TV Liberal, is making the switch from SD to HD. The transition includes upgrades to that stations’ infrastructure and playout capacity, as well as streamline news and live production capabilities.

Among the products that TV Liberal has acquired is the NVision 8280 router; the NV9000 control system; a Karrera K-Frame S-series production switcher, with support for 1080p and 4K; two Kaleido-X and Kaleido-MX multiviewers; two K2 SAN storage systems; a GV Guardian monitoring system; eight CopperHead 3200 systems; and a variety of multiprocessors, embedders, fiber systems and fiber cables.

These new installations position TV Liberal for future 4K operations over a 10 Gbps IP network.

DUBLIN – A recent report from Research and Markets, which is based out of Dublin, covered the broadcast switchers market and its expected growth from 2014-2020. The report revealed that systems that were compatible with HD made up about 75 percent of the market, and according to Research and Markets, that number is not expected to shrink over the next five years.

The increasing demand for HD broadcast for things like sporting events and music programs has led to a global increase of HD satellite broadcast subscribers. This has resulted in the creation of more HD channels. As of 2013, there were 4,500 HD channels available. By 2019 that number is expected to exceed 7,500 at a compound annual growth rate of nine percent.

Inversely, the demand for SD is expected to decline over the same period. The markets for 3D and 4K, however, are expected to go up and help grow the broadcast switchers market.

The global broadcast switchers market was valued at $1.28 billion in 2013 and is expected to grow 6.7 percent from 2014-2020. However, the lack of standardization in content distribution and high cost of broadcasting equipment may inhibit the growth of the market, according to the report.

To read the full report, click here.