I was asked recently why HDTV content (1080i, 720p) looks so good on 4KTV’s.  Shouldn’t HDTV appear as soft on 4KTV’s as SDTV looks soft on HDTV’s?  That is a good question and to start we have to go back in history (not too far) to begin to unravel this conundrum.

In the Beginning...
In the 1990’s HDTV was being birthed in labs around the globe.  In 1993, the ATSC in the U.S. standardized a new digital terrestrial broadcast system that could deliver an HDTV program via a 6MHz RF channel.

One aspect of this new system (now referred to as ATSC 1.0) is the infamous table of 18 different video formats—"infamous" in that it caused as much of a stir as the fact that ATSC abandoned analog for TV transmissions. What were the broadcasters and manufacturers going to do?  Were broadcasters going to produce content that was optimized for each format or were they going to agree to a common HD format?  Would the new HDTV sets be able to accept any and all of the video formats or just a select few? 

By the late 90’s the landscape looked like this:

Broadcasters:

• 1080i60 (CBS/NBC)
• 720p60 (ABC)
• 480p (Fox) (Fox switched to 720p in 2004).

Set manufacturers:

• Display 1080i60
• 480p60 or 480i60, which allowed for a common horizontal scanning frequency (note that there were some native 720p displays available)

With 720p content, the TV set had to convert the 1280x720p60 signal into either 1080i60 or 480p60. Both approaches required either upconversion or downconversion. 

But the tougher challenge that these sets faced was the conversion of analog NTSC (484i60) transmissions during the transition period from analog OTA TV to digital OTA TV. NTSC proved to be a challenge to convert to an HDTV display as it requires good demultiplexing from composite to component color, noise reduction, color space conversion (NTSC to ITU Rec 709) as well as re-scaling as the NTSC images are formatted in a 4:3 aspect ratio, not the 16:9 aspect ratio of HDTV.

One of the first manufacturers, Panasonic, recognized the need for an image processing chip that could do all the required image operations:  scale, upconvert, downconvert, de-interlace and noise reduce.  Known as the UFC1000 chip, it was used in some HDTV sets to enable the formatting of any of the 18 different formats in ATSC 1.0 to a common display set of parameters. This chip was also incorporated into a professional product known as the UFC1800 (for the 18 different formats!). Other manufacturers followed suit and added this type of image processing to their TV chip sets.

The Limits of CRT
While the HDTV sets of this era did a good job converting all the possible formats, the final display quality was limited by the abilities of the CRT (flat panels had yet to become a mainstream consumer product).  This helped in some ways as the CRT spatial response is gaussian and has a smooth roll-off response curve, thus hiding some artifacts and noise.  

On the other hand, it limited the maximum spatial frequency response, especially at peak brightness, to 500-600 lines. Also, ATSC 1.0 specified the use of MPEG-2 compression, which is limited to 8 bits for video and while MPEG-2 could reasonably transmit 1080i in approximately 18 Mbps, its compression efficiency is another limiting factor to delivering full HD resolution to the TV (in fact most 1080i compression at that time used a subset of 1080, 1440x1080 to save bandwidth).

With all the above issues, SDTV (aka NTSC) when presented on an HDTV set, was a significantly lower quality experience—better than VHS, but not as good as DVD. Viewers could readily discern the difference between standard definition on an HDTV display.

Flat Panels Arrive
During 2000-2005 the first generation of flat panel technologies became available in the TV market—initially LCD type flat panels followed by plasma types (PDP). These panels were larger and brighter than most CRT TV’s but were limited to 720x480p60. 

After a few years, the flat panels standardized on 1920x1080p60 as their HDTV format. The embedded image processing became more sophisticated and thus the internal format conversions, including de-interlacing, improved. While it could not make NTSC look as good as HDTV, it did make 480i60 digital imagery competitive with HDTV.  

Some of the technologies that were adapted for upconversion included:  Motion Compensated upconversion, Edge Detection and Smoothing and later Adaptive Resolution. By 2010, flat panels were taking the place of CRTs, NTSC was going away and the pictures, both HDTV and SDTV never looked better.

2008 was the dawn of UHDTV. Initially display manufacturers spoke of "QuadHD" panels, meaning that the panels had native pixels arrays of 3840x2160. When these panels become affordable enough to put into consumer products, they were branded "Ultra HD" (or UHD).

As these UHDTV’s became available, there was a call to produce content in this new format. The Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA) standardized UHD for Blue-ray discs in 2015. In 2016 Hollywood studios began to release movies in this format, which was very similar to the 4K spec for Digital Cinema (DCI). Broadcasting standards were limited to HDTV, although cable and satellite TV could deliver enough bandwidth for specialty channels or one-off broadcasts (such as the Super Bowl, Olympics or the World Cup).

For the most part, these new UHDTV displays upconvert the available HDTV programming into this new higher resolution format. In addition to the tools already available for upconversion, improvements to the image processing tool box include: HDR processing (Dolby Vision, HDR10+), Spatial Domain processing, neural network (aka AI machine learning), as well as advanced image compression that supports 10bit video (HEVC).  

Viewing Distance
Now that we’ve finished our history lesson, let’s return to the question, "Why does HDTV look so good on 4K displays?" First thing to note is that oversampling, either in the camera or display, provides improved resolution in any down or upsampled image. How do we determine the resolution of a program that provides "sufficient quality" for good viewing on a UHD display?

HDTV was designed for a ‘3x picture height’ viewing distance (aka the "Lechner Distance"). 

At this distance, the field of view (FOV) is about 32 degrees.  This provides, at HDTV resolutions (1920x1080), approx. 120 cycles/degree of spatial resolution to the eye. 

As a reminder, normal vision, as measured by a Snellen Chart (the E chart) at 20/20, is 30 cycles/degree. Our eyes are able to resolve, in the Central Island of the Fovea up to 60 cycles per degree.  Psychovisual researchers have found that we have something they call "hyperacuity" which accounts for our eye-brain processing to see details beyond the physical limits of the retina. Depending on the context of the image, hyperacuity can be from 120 to 360 cycles/degree. For our purposes, lets say 120 cycle/degree is sufficient resolution for a display to re-produce the image’s spatial details.

UHDTV, having 4x the pixels, is designed for viewing at 1.5x picture height distance, or about a 62 degree FOV. This requires a full 3840x2160 image for the hyperacuity criteria of 120cycles/degree at the 1.5PH distance ("half a Lechner"). 

Two points to consider here: Are we watching at 1.5 picture heights?  For a 65” diagonal display, this is about 4 feet—not the typical living room viewing scenario of couch to wall of 8-9 feet. Also given that the Fovea region of the eye (the area of the retina with the highest spatial frequency response) represents a 6 degree FOV, sitting at 4 feet requires more head movements by the viewer to be able to track moving objects on screen than if viewed from 3 PH. This may not only be uncomfortable, but as well turning one’s head introduces motion blur with reduced resolution in the eye.  

The second point is if the screen is doubled in height so the viewing distance doubles to 8 feet (one "Lechner"), is this a reasonable assumption? Well, a double-height from 65” diagonal screen measures 130” (10.8 feet) diagonally, certainly not feasible for a typical house nor household budget!

Most of us view our TV’s at around 8 feet. A program in HD resolution provides "sufficient spatial quality" for our enjoyment of the program on a UHDTV. Does this mean that there is no benefit to watching in UHD?  There is of course, especially if you have larger displays and are viewing at a closer distance—but the differences are subtle. Also, UHD programs can come with improvements such as HDR (High Dynamic Range) and wider color (Rec 2020).

Compression and Production Standards
Are there other factors affecting the received resolution? Yes, video compression. While the compression efficiency of HEVC makes UHD possible to be delivered over ATSC 3.0 (the new digital terrestrial standard) as well as via the internet (OTT), satellite and cable, there are tradeoffs between the available bit rate, video complexity and resolution.  

Modern video compression algorithms use adaptive compression techniques that reduce spatial resolution to avoid annoying compression artifacts. When the available bandwidth over the internet drops, OTT distribution servers switch to lower bandwidth renditions that may have less than full UHD resolution.

What about program production? Movies are produced in 4K so UHD can be produced from the cinema master. Live production (mostly sports) has moved up to 1080p60, from which HDTV (either 1080i or 720p) can be extracted as well as upconverted to UHD for distribution.  

Some of these live events are also produced using HDR and wide color (the UltraHD Forum Guidelines define UHD as including 1080p60 with HDR and wide color.  Big event productions (recently the Olympics from Japan and China) were produced in UHD (either 4K or 8K) along with HDR and wide color, delivered in UHD over cable, satellite, and the internet as well as in HDTV.

In summary, there have been steady improvements in the image processing embedded in TV sets that convert all forms of video formats to be displayed on an UHD TV with sufficient spatial quality.  Viewing at home with a modern flat panel UHD TV, both native UHD as well as HDTV programs can be satisfying experiences.

SEATTLE—Ultra high definition is becoming ever more dominant as the sets become the de facto standard in consumer electronics and more UHD programming becomes available on cable, satellite and streaming sources. What’s this all about, and how does it relate to HDTV?

UHDTV is based on the specifications contained in ITU-R BT.2020, which specifies two resolutions: 8K, which is 7,680 horizontal pixels per line by 4,320 lines vertically; and 4K, which is 3,840 horizontal pixels per line by 2,160 lines vertically. Both resolutions have an aspect ratio of 16:9, the same aspect ratio as HDTV, and square pixels, which simply means that the pixels themselves are square, with an aspect ratio of 1:1, as are HDTV pixels.

While common practice in Europe, in the U.S.—before high definition came onto the scene two decades ago—networks and broadcasters refused to “letterbox” wide aspect ratio films onto 4:3 NTSC TV screens, which would leave black bands above and below the frame.

This was done because when letterboxing was experimented with, it resulted in many calls from viewers. Thus, when theatrical films were transferred to video, they were “panned and scanned,” so that the most important parts of the film image filled the TV screen and the excess was discarded. With the advent of HDTV, letterboxing of wide-screen film features became the standard practice.

A WIDE SWATH

Rec. 2020 specifies only progressive scan frame rates, which makes great sense in light of the fact that all advanced displays are progressively scanned by their nature, and interlaced images must be deinterlaced before they’re displayed. The frame rates specified include 24p, 25p, 30p, 50p, 60p, 100p and 120p, plus the fractional frame rates 23.976p, 29.97p, 59.94p and 119.88p.

The inclusion of fractional frame rates recognizes the installed base of television distribution facilities and the vast quantity of U.S. legacy programming available at fractional frame rates, including analog NTSC, digital NTSC and ITU-R BT.601 component digital video. The use of the 59.94 Hz rate facilitated the Rec. 601 digital video sample rate of 13.5 MHz for both 59.94 and 50 Hz systems, as 13.5 MHz is exactly 6x2.5 MHz, the NTSC horizontal line rate is exactly 2.25/143 MHz and the PAL horizontal line rate is exactly 2.25/144 MHz.

Thus there is an identical number of samples per line in the two systems, and it would not work if NTSC had 60 Hz parameters. So, as I wrote a decade ago in these pages, the fractional frame rates are still not going away in the foreseeable future.

PULLDOWN STILL NEEDED

Before we leave frame rate, we note that one of the frame rates of UHDTV, as well as HDTV, is 24p, (actually 23.976p). ATSC includes the ability to transmit 1920x1080 at 23.976p video, while the HD receiver has the ability to add 2/3 pulldown and display the images at 29.97 interlaced or 59.94 progressive frames per second.

While there is no mention of pulldown in Rec. 2020 or the Ultra HD Forum guidelines, it is essential to add pulldown; otherwise, viewing 24p images would result in highly objectionable flicker. Film sourcing has been used on television for many decades, and 2/3 pulldown has always been used to reduce flicker. In this way, the TV viewer is exposed to 59.94 large-area light flashes per second, which is sufficient to eliminate flicker even when watching a TV screen in a brightly-lit room.

When film is projected in a dark theater, each frame is double-shuttered, resulting in 48 large-area light flashes per second, which is sufficient to eliminate perceptible flicker under those conditions. Motion artifacts of 2/3 pulldown are, incidentally, essential to the “suspension of disbelief” when watching a film source on TV.

59.94 Hz video, as seen in pure video recordings, produces what is popularly referred to as the “the soap-opera effect,” while 2/3 pulldown is achieved by displaying alternate 24 Hz film frames in a 2/3/2/3/2/3… sequence. That is to say, the first film frame is displayed twice, the second frame three times, the third frame twice, etc. The resultant judder artifacts cause problems with some camera pans, etc., but it is essential to the display of 24 Hz film on television, and every filmmaker is very much aware of it.

‘FILMMAKER MODE’

We will concentrate on 4K resolution, as this is the current state of the art available to the consumer. As is apparent, 4K resolution is about twice the 1920x1080p HD resolution. In addition to resolution, the other enhancements brought about by UHDTV include frame rates, as discussed above, and colorimetry.

The UHD Alliance, a consortium of broadcasters, vendors and Hollywood studios, in their most recent guidelines, specify that UHDTV content masters and distribution channels shall use Rec. 2020 color space, which incorporates a much wider color gamut than the ITU-R BT.709 color space, which is used in HD. The reader may find diagrams showing the gamuts of both color spaces online.

Here is how various color spaces compare with CIE 1931 color space, which includes all colors the human visual system can perceive:

• ITU Rec. 709 covers 35.9% of CIE 1931
• Adobe RGB covers 52.1% of CIE 1931
• DCI-P3, the digital cinema color space, covers 45.5% of CIE 1931
• Rec. 2020 covers 75.8% of CIE 1931

Additionally, Rec. 2020 specifies color bit depths of 10 and 12 bits, although the UHD Alliance currently specifies only 10 bits, plus High Dynamic Range per SMPTE ST 2084.1

This brings us to the concerns expressed by a consortium of film producers, who are calling for an easy way to set a UHDTV set to “Filmmaker Mode” as laid out in techcrunch.com:

• Turn off all motion-smoothing effects
• Turn off noise reduction, sharpening and other after-the-fact processing effects
• Automatically display the media in its intended aspect ratio/frame rate.
• Turn off overscan, unless required by the video
• Set the white point color to the widely used D65 standard

Addressing these points—the first two, related to motion smoothing, noise reduction, sharpening, etc.—are not part of Rec. 2020 or the UHD Alliance, and probably should be shut off as a matter of course, unless the content cries out for them. The set should also display the content in its intended aspect ratio, as is the current practice in HDTV distribution.

Suggesting “turn off overscan, unless required by the video,” would seem to be covered by the suggestion about aspect ratio, but it is unclear what “unless required by the video” means. The D65 white point is a part of both the Rec. 709 and the Rec. 2020 color spaces. Finally, as explained elsewhere in this article, it is a bad idea to display anything at 24fps, as this generates way too much large-area flicker under any viewing conditions.

One last point. There have been at least a few people who have inquired as to whether it is time to eliminate fractional frame rates in the U.S. I refer you to my article “Will the End of NTSC be the end of 59.94?” in the Jan. 9, 2008, issue of TV Technology. That article still stands, as evidenced by the inclusion of fractional frame rates in the Rec. 2020 standard. As has been true since NTSC was specified in the 1940’s, today’s television technology developments are informed by and based on what came before.

Randy Hoffner is a retired broadcast network executive and long-time contributor to TV Technology.

OYSTER BAY, N.Y.—Shipments of 4K TVs worldwide this year will exceed 102 million units, representing more than four in 10 flat panel TVs shipped, according to a new forecast from market research firm ABI Research.

By way of comparison, 4K TVs accounted for a third of units shipped in 2017, it said.

“As expected, 4K is quickly becoming the standard for TV sales,” said ABI Research industry analyst Khin Sandi Lynn.

The forecast is part of ABI Research’s new “Media Devices: UltraHD, 4K, HDR, 8K, HEVC” report.

According to the report, flat panel TVs are now found in 85 percent of households worldwide, which has slowed growth in the category. However, the transition from HD to 4K Ultra HDTV is expected to spur heightened growth, especially as 4K content becomes more widely available to viewers.

[Read: Bigger Is Still Better (At Least In The Living Room)]

“Just like HD before it, hardware technology reached the market far before any content did, placing an impetus on content creators and providers to catch up, while also allowing for a time of transition,” said Lynn.

Netflix and Amazon Prime are streaming 4K content, and pay TV providers, such as Russia’s Tricolor TV, are launching 4K movie channels. In the United States, Verizon and Frontier Communications are testing 4K services.

“Better visual experience and availability of 4K content together with declining price points are driving 4K TV set shipments,” said Lynn.

By region, Asia-Pacific will represent 37 percent of global 4K TV shipments this year. The Chinese market, where several low-cost 4K models are sold, is the main driver in the region.

When combined, the North American and European regions will account for nearly half of all 4K TV shipments in 2018, the research organization predicted.

The compounded annual growth rate for 4K flat panel TVs will achieve 17.3 percent, reaching 194 million unit shipments in 2022, it said.

As 4K TV becomes the norm, questions about HDR and its numerous flavors will become the focus, Lynn added.

More information about the new report is available on the ABI Research website.

HERTFORDSHIRE, U.K.—New research from Futuresource Consulting projects more than 100 million 4K UHD televisions will be sold worldwide this year, returning consumer demand for TVs to positive growth.

According to the consultancy’s latest “Worldwide TV Market Report,” the recovery of several markets is linked to 4K UHD models, which are expected to lift trade value by 5 percent, or $85 billion. “Consumers increasingly want larger screens, and this is playing nicely into the 4K UHD proposition,” said David Tett, market analyst at Futuresource Consulting.

Last year, China and the United States saw fall offs in TV sales, but a significant mix of large screens and 4K UHD sets will turn around the declines in 2018. More than 75 percent of sets sold in the two markets this year will be over 40 inches, said Tett. Interest in 4K UHD is growing in Western Europe as well. The consultancy projects that by 2022, 44 percent of households in Western Europe will own 4K UHD sets.

High dynamic range is also becoming a factor on the 4K UHD landscape. Some 60 percent of 4K UHD sets sold this year will include HDR. While HDR10 is the most commonly found solution, HDR10+, HLG, Advanced HDR and Dolby Vision are also available and creating some confusion among consumer, said the report.

[Read: 2018 To Mark Starting Point For 8K Displays: IHS Markit]

With the installed base of 4K UHD sets growing, viewers are tuning into 4K content. There has been “a significant step up in the proportion of 4K UHD TV owners who say they have watched this content at home,” said Tett. The growth is not solely stemming from an increasing number of SVOD subscribers accessing 4K content, but also from the “growing choice of content” on linear TV, he said.

The growing appetite for 4K UHD sets and content isn’t the only trend Futuresource noted. Large vendors vying for premium TV sales are incorporating voice assistant technology into their sets. Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa technology is being built into sets from LG, Hisense, TCL and Vizio, and Samsung will use its own Bixby assistant in 2018 QLED sets.

Another trend is the use of QLED or OLED display tech in larger screen sets. “The two largest TV vendors are currently on opposing sides. Samsung is the driving force behind QLED, and LG is OLED’s primary backer,” said Tett. The consultancy forecasts 41 percent CAGR between 2018 and 2022 for these display technologies, which translates into about 8 million sets shipping with OLED or QLED in 2022.

More information is available on the Futuresource Consulting website.

BOSTON—I had the pleasure of being part of the 2016 NAB Show Super Session “4K, UHD, HDR and More: The Future of Video.” In a very large conference room completely full of attendees, my co-panelists and I—under the astute direction of TV Technology’s Deborah McAdams—talked about a variety of Ultra High Definition (UHD) related topics, describing the state of the industry with regard to UHD as well as opining about what we thought were the important issues to tackle and where we thought the industry was heading.

(L to R): Deborah McAdams, Mark Schubin, Robert Seidel, James DeFilippis and Matthew Goldman

“Ultra HD,” of course, means much more than just higher spatial resolution (4K and 8K), even though that is to what many in the industry and consumers equate it. It includes four other image as well as immersive audio technologies. The four other image technologies are high dynamic range (HDR), wide color gamut (WCG), deeper sample bit depth (higher number of coefficient bits for the digital samples), and high frame rate (HFR). All of these technologies combined create a much more realistic and immersive TV viewing experience than today’s conventional HDTV, without requiring any special head gear (such as that required for the near-totally immersive virtual reality techniques that are also a new exciting area of discussion).

BANDWIDTH CONSTRAINTS

As is typical, pre-produced content is ahead of live TV broadcasting for delivering UHD, with Ultra HD Blu-ray discs and some on-demand or over-the-top services already providing both 4K and HDR. This should not be a surprise: it’s much easier to implement new services when one controls both ends of the ecosystem, with only a passive delivery pipe in between. All post-production is done in advance, with the receiver/player/rendering/etc. acting on the content, unchanged by the delivery mechanism, whether via wire, wireless or “sneaker net.” With live TV broadcasting, there is no advanced post-production; all is done in real-time. Live changes (such as logo insertion, lower thirds, graphic overlays, picture-in-graphics, squeeze & tease, cross-fades for interstitials, or country-specific format conversions, etc.) could occur at each “node” along the live broadcast chain. Another major factor is available bandwidth; there simply may not be sufficient bandwidth to delivery UHD services, especially for the technologies that require a lot more bandwidth than today’s conventional HD services do. Lastly, there may be regulatory restrictions impacting new services over certain networks, such as over-the-air broadcasting, that prevent economically-viable transmission of UHD services.

As previously mentioned, all of the five image technologies combine to give a much more compelling visual user experience than today’s conventional HDTV, so if a content/service provider is able to offer a UHD service that includes all five, then fantastic. Definitely offer this compelling, much more realistic TV viewing experience. Consumers will be thrilled.

However, what if bandwidth constraints prevent the content/service provider from offering “full UHD,” so to speak? Should the provider just resign itself to continue with today’s conventional HD service? Absolutely not. The combination of HDR + WCG + 10-bit sample depth (which many of us refer to as “HDR+”) has been shown in numerous demonstrations to have fantastic “wow” factor for consumers. And the good news is, depending upon the HDR+ scheme chosen, the bandwidth increase over conventional TV (what’s now referred to as standard dynamic range + narrow color gamut + 8-bit depth) is minimal, in the general range of zero-20 percent when using the new HEVC video compression at direct-to-consumer bitrates… most definitely the Best Bang for the Bit. Compare this to 4K resolution: Even with the best video compression available today (HEVC), 4K resolution still requires somewhere around 250 percent the bandwidth of conventional HD (also coded using HEVC, for apples-apples comparison). And since the “bread and butter” of revenue still will be the conventional HD service, this bandwidth requirement most likely will be in addition to the existing service (that is, simulcast will be required).

IS 4K NEEDED? WHY NOT 1080P?

So in the case of bandwidth constraints, why not transmit in 1080p HDR+ and achieve the “wow” factor of HDR+? All 4K TVs upconvert 1080p to 2160p (4K) and the newer UHDTVs (4K + HDR+) will display an HDR+ image if the incoming stream has HDR+ coded, regardless of the spatial resolution. Many consumers may not even realize that the image was upconverted to 4K: An oft under-discussed issue is that the proper viewing distance for the human visual system to resolve 4K resolution is approximately 1.5x the picture height of a 16:9 display, whereas HD resolution can be resolved in full as far back as 3x the picture height. In most TV viewing environments today, consumers are sitting back from the display about 2.5-3.5x the picture height, therefore not really “seeing” much difference between HD and 4K.

Ericsson has done “unscientific” experiments at trade shows over the past two years, with two equal size flat screens side-by-side and we asked attendees which image they preferred (without telling them what they were looking at). Almost 100 percent would select the 1080p HDR display over the 2160p SDR display (and this was done at the proper viewing distance). This unscientific experiment is just one of many that have shown the “wow” factor of HDR+ to consumers, regardless of screen resolution.

So what about HFR? Like 4K resolution, HFR requires lots of changes in the studio and post production facilities. Its impact is also related to how fast or complex the scene motion is, so it’s extremely useful for high motion sports and nature documentaries, but doesn’t do anything much at all for “talking heads” and other low motion content. While there are examples of specialty content being shot at HFR—for video, this is defined as anything higher than 50 or 60 fps (country TV-standard specific), but it typically refers to 100 or 120 fps today—wider use of HFR likely will not occur for several more years to come, so it is not so big an issue for today.

In summary, if a provider is able to offer a UHD service that contains all of the five image technologies than definitely do it. This is just so much better than today’s conventional HD. However, if bandwidth constraints prevent “full UHD” from being delivered, the Best Bang for the Bit is definitely 1080p HDR+… with much of the “wow” factor and a far superior user experience over today’s conventional HD.

Matthew Goldman is the senior vice president of Technology, TV & Media Strategy for Ericsson.

FREMONT, CALIF.—“Ultra high definition” has been defined. The UHD Alliance this week released specifications for UHD, along with a logo identifying devices capable of displaying Ultra HD content.

The Alliance developed three specs that cover devices, distribution and content. All three require a resolution of at least 3840x2160 (not quite 4KTV); 10-bit color depth, BT.2020 color gamut and high dynamic range according to SMPTE ST 2084 EOTF.

There are two HDR spec options for displays: A combination of peak brightness and black level of either more than 1,000 nits peak brightness and less than 0.05 nits black level, or more than 540 nits peak brightness and less than 0.0005 nits black level. Devices also must display more than 90 percent of P3 colors to meet the requirements for the UHD Alliance logo. With regard to mastering, 100 percent of P3 colors must be displayed, and HDR is set at more than 1,000 nits brightness and less than 0.03 nits black level.

The specs focus on image quality and make no specific recommendation for immersive audio.

The year-old Alliance, comprised of 35 member companies (listed below), said that it has designated “multiple, independent centers around the globe to handle testing” to ensure compliance with the specs.

The UHDA specs and the associated licensing terms are available from the organization.

UHDA Member Companies
DirecTV
Dolby Laboratories
LG Electronics
Netflix
Panasonic
Samsung Electronics
Sony
Technicolor
The Walt Disney Studios
Twentieth Century Fox
Universal Pictures
Warner Bros. Entertainment
Amazon
ARRI
Dreamworks
DTS
Fraunhofer Gesellschaft
Hisense
HiSilicon Technologies
Intel
Koninklijke Philips N.V.
MStar Semiconductor
Nanosys Inc.
Novatek
NVIDIA
Orange
Realtek Semiconductor
Rogers Communications
Sharp
Shenzhen TCL New Technology
Sky U.K.
THX
Toshiba
TP Vision Europe B.V.

LAS VEGAS—Although the sponsors’ name has changed, one of the stars of CES 2016 promises to remain the same as it has in recent years: Video and the myriad devices used to view it. And although TV set sales are slowing down, optimistic forecasts persist for 4K ultra high-definition screens.

Consumer Technology Association President Gary Shapiro and Karen Chupka, senior vice president for CES and corporate business strategy for CTA unveiled the association’s name change from “Consumer Electronics Association” last month. The show will now be referred to as “CES.”

Demonstrations of the next-gen ATSC 3.0 broadcast technology will pop up on the show floor and in private suites, while the FCC chairman will explain his rush for the broadcast spectrum auction, which may affect 3.0’s market timing.

More than 450 exhibitors list “video” among their product lines at the 2016 show yet the traditional TV giants will focus on significantly different screens at the annual consumer electronics extravaganza. LG is expected to demonstrate a two-sided “rollable” screen, Panasonic will showcase its “value-priced” 4K/smart TV sets and Chinese TV makers will expand their big-screen line-up. Yet much of CES’ screen focus will be mobile and portable devices.

WHAT’S IN A NAME?
CES, which is expected to attract nearly 180,000 attendees during its Jan. 6 to 9 run at the Las Vegas Convention Center and surrounding environs, will be a conundrum filled with contradictions. This is the first major event since the sponsoring organization swapped “technology” for “electronics” as its middle name (now the Consumer Technology Association or CTA) in November and opted to label this event “CES” rather than the “International Consumer Electronics Show” of yore.

“World over, it is CES,” said CTA President and CEO Gary Shapiro about brand recognition of the show when the association announced its name change.

Although the CES centerpiece will be the products from nearly 3,700 exhibitors, the hundreds of ancillary conference sessions and the growing presence of the content industry (about 25,000 attendees) will inevitably shift the techno-economic impact of the event. Vast exhibits and presentations about wearables, automotive electronics, health and wellness technology will overwhelm the audio-video debuts, which were once CES’ highlight.

Video will still be highly visible, albeit often focused on streaming ventures.

“TV and content are really strong,”said Karen Chupka, senior vice president for CES and corporate business strategy for CTA. “We have at least 100 exhibitors showcasing 4K UHD TV,” plus new exhibits for 4-K Blu-ray and smart TVs.

“It’s an exciting time for screens because so many people are trying to figure out how to put their content on multiple screens,” she said. As a result, “content is really the big story” at CES, according to Chupka. Reflecting the focus on non-broadcast video, CES keynoters include Netflix co-founder and CEO Reed Hastings and YouTube’s Chief Business Officer Robert Kyncl. NBC Universal CEO Stephen Burke will keynote the “C Space” program, a fast-growing conference and exhibit program at CES’s newly added third major venue in Las Vegas. C Space is the CES experience for creative communicators, brand marketers, advertising agencies, digital publishers and social networks, CTA said.

Chupka also pointed out that Turner Broadcasting will do a live National Basketball Association program from the convention floor. TV ventures will punctuate the Las Vegas landscape, ranging from a Scripps Networks hospitality tent in front of the main convention center to an audition for “Shark Tank,” the Emmy Award-winning ABC hit show.

Among the broadcasters attending CES will be members of the Pearl TV consortium, according to Ann Schelle, managing director of the alliance of major broadcast groups that is exploring next-generation digital media platforms.

“Pearl TV members will be coming to Las Vegas to see the latest consumer technology innovations,” Schelle said, “not only in television but also in a variety of mobile devices and automobiles that will populate the show floor. We anticipate seeing ATSC 3.0 demonstrations, as well, to begin to educate CES attendees about the forthcoming move to advanced television and the advantages of better video, more choices, integration with the Internet, advanced emergency alerting, and other benefits.”

ATSC 3.0 will be on display in Samsung’s and other booths as well as in private demonstrations, according to several sources. (See “Sinclair Demos HDR 4KTV Over ATSC 3.0 in Vegas.”) The CES show floor will be dotted with other breakthrough devices, such as the rollable LG screen that uses organic light emitting diode, or OLED technology, to enable flexible, thin, light and double-sided screens. Since the expected demo is still a prototype, details of LG’s plan for a working television are not yet available.

POLICY AND INNOVATION
As CTA increasingly focuses on public policy issues that impact innovative technologies and security and privacy, CES is packing its agenda with industrial and regulatory giants. In addition to keynotes from the top executives of Intel, Samsung and General Motors, the agenda includes all of the commissioners from the Federal Communications Commission and the Federal Trade Commission, who will take the stage on opening day. FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler and FTC Chairwoman Edith Ramirez will each sit down with CTA’s Shapiro for a 30-minute “SuperSession” discussion. Later that day, all four other commissioners from each agency will participate in a two-part “Commissioner Roundtable” as part of the CES Innovation Policy conference track.

FCC Commissioners Mignon Clyburn, Jessica Rosenworcel, Ajit Pai, and Michael O’Rielly will begin by discussing allocating more licensed and unlicensed spectrum for mobile broadband, improving the accessibility of consumer technologies, increasing broadband adoption and speeds, fostering competition and innovative service offerings for consumers and other topics related to technological convergence and communications.

For the second part of the roundtable, FTC Commissioners Julie Brill, Maureen Ohlhausen, and Terrell McSweeny will address emerging policy issues surrounding the Internet of Things, balancing data privacy with consumer adoption of new services and potential upcoming regulatory reform. “This is a great opportunity for CES attendees to hear how the FCC and FTC’s top regulators view their agency’s role in enhancing competition, stimulating entrepreneurship and supporting the kind of disruptive innovation on display at CES,” Shapiro said.

Opening day will also include “Industry Innovators and Government Join Forces,” during which U.S. Chief Technology Officer Megan Smith and Deputy Director for Technology and Innovation Tom Kalil will lead a discussion with global industry trendsetters to examine entrepreneurship, “smart cities” and other issues.

TV’S ROLES
At a “CES Unveiled” preview in New York last month, which included holiday sales forecasts, CTA Chief Economist/Senior Research Director Shawn DuBravac explained that TV sets are slipping in the sales ranking of the Big 5 categories.

Consumers have “less interest in TVs,” DuBravac said, compared to smartphones and tablets, where total spending levels will be higher this season. He said that only 17 percent of consumers plan to buy a new TV set this year, compared to 24 percent during the 2014 holiday shopping season. CTA’s data show that 84 percent of U.S. households now have at least one LCD TV.

Among potential TV set buyers, Internet connectivity is a primary factor. Du-Bravac’s data showed that 78 percent of shoppers want a smart TV, up from 63 percent a year ago.

Despite the overall lackluster forecast for TV set sales, appetite for UHD sets continues to grow, with 59 percent of TV set shoppers in a new CTA survey saying they expect to buy a UHDTV for the holidays.

Despite the lackluster forecast, appetite for UHD sets continues to grow, with 59 percent of TV set shoppers in a new CTA survey saying they expect to buy a UHDTV for the holidays. This year’s expected sales of 4.5 million 4K TV sets is nearly triple the 2014 level, and DuBravac estimated that 8.9 million sets will be shipped in the U.S. in 2016 and just over 13 million in 2017. More significantly, shoppers have mixed views on how big their 4K sets should be. Nearly 80 percent want screens smaller than 60 diagonal inches (reflecting the price and available space), while 35 percent want screens larger than 60 inches, according to CTA’s study. (Since that sum is well over 100 percent, clearly some viewers want screens of all sizes.)

Adding to the UHD buzz will be announcements, such as one expected from DirecTV (now part of AT&T) that it will add more 4K programming to its line-up. The satellite TV provider has been testing UHD sportscasts for more than a year and recently said it has the capacity to carry 50 UHD channels at 30 Mbps in addition to its current HDTV and standard definition channels.

The UHD frenzy at CES comes amidst significant upbeat signals. For example, late last month, Samsung Electronics revealed that it sold more than $1 billion worth of TV sets in North America during October—a new monthly record. Samsung said that 4K UHDTV sets represented 51.2 percent of its third quarter 2015 U.S. sales.

TV manufacturers are also starting to specialize. For example, LG’s line-up includes two HDTV sets with built-in Roku capability, of which a “limited-time” version was made exclusively for sale at Best Buy stores during the holiday shopping season. Roku has introduced 4K-capable streaming players and has TV alliances with several other brands. LG has indicated that the Roku deal is solely for “entry-level” models and that it plans to use its own webOS platform for its core smart TV sets.

C SPACE, DIGITAL HOLLYWOOD AND RELATED TECH CONFERENCES
High dynamic range video, virtual reality and countless other TV technology issues are on the week’s agenda, which is jammed with more than 40 conference tracks plus seminars run by CTA and dozens of affiliated and independent groups. Mature sectors such as video and audio are not as prominent as they once were. Even the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers at its annual International Conference on Consumer Electronics is devoting its entire agenda to consumer healthcare, fitness and personal diagnostics.

The Advanced Imaging Society will run three-session conference about high dynamic range, high frame rate, 4K and virtual reality on Thursday. The sessions are intended to identify “which technologies are in the driver’s seat,” according to event organizers. Presentations from 20th Century Fox, Netflix, Dreamworks and Dolby will examine technical standards as well as Hollywood’s HDR and VR playbook plus 2016 industry forecasts.

C Space, now in its third year, will focus on advertising, marketing and digital media. The agenda explores the relationship between brands, agencies, media and technology partners, with an emphasis on the shifting relationship of technology with innovation.

At the Variety Entertainment Summit, seven sessions will delve into OTT Entertainment, Content Monetization and Digital Audience Engagement. Speakers include executives from Disney/ABC Television Group, Fox Networks Group, Discovery Communications, Hulu and Sony Pictures Entertainment. A keynote conversation within the conference will feature TV host and producer Ryan Seacrest and iHeartRadio Chairman and CEO Bob Pittman.

The venerable Digital Hollywood features more than a dozen sessions this year, spread over three days. “The Future of TV: From Primetime to Multi-Platforms” will hear from NBCUniversal, Starz, Deloitte and other media/business executives. Other sessions will explore “Original Video Programming: Internet TV Goes Mainstream,” “Content and Monetization” and “The Disruption of Internet TV: Programming Everywhere.”

David Leibowitz, CH Potomac

David Leibowitz, managing partner of media and technology firm CH Potomac, will moderate the Internet TV session; he’s focused on the growing challenge of navigating programs across platforms.

“The growing array of over-the-top, ‘TV Everywhere,’ and ‘skinny bundle’ cable packages has made it more difficult for users to find what they want to watch across these offerings,” Leibowitz said. “While universal search is the ‘holy grail’ in solving this problem, competitive interests among the largest providers have complicated making universal search a reality.”

For the “Broadband at CES” conference on Tuesday, just before the show opens, organizer Team Lightbulb has included a session about “5G: Incremental Change or the Next Revolution.”

Despite the “stricter credentialing” (as Chupka calls the show’s attendee ceiling), CES’s attendance will probably be comparable to the 176,676 people who attended the 2015 show. About 30 percent of the attendees—nearly 48,000 people—will come from outside the U.S., Chupka said.

The show has already set a record as the largest show of its kind ever, occupying 2.3 million square feet of floor space in all venues. The start-up section at the Sands called “Eureka Park”—mostly small booths for new and early-stage companies—will have more than 500 exhibitors, about 25 percent more innovators than last time.

“Everyone is going to be blown away by the technology and by the opportunity for people to be looking at more things on more devices,” Chupka said.

To register for the 2016 CES, visit www.cesweb.org.

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December 21, 2015
“CES 2016 Implements New Security Measures”
Bag checks, body screening and increased security personnel added for conference.

AsiaSat’s new UHD channel to be uplinked from Tai Po earth station in Hong Kong.

MUNICH & HONG KONG—The Asia Satellite Telecommunications company has teamed up with Rohde & Schwarz to deliver a free to air Ultra HD channel to AsiaSat 4. Operating at 122 degrees east and with a high-power C-band footprint, AsiaSat 4 can distribute the UHD channel from New Zealand to Pakistan and part of the Middle East.

To do this, Rohde & Shcwarz provided its R&S Clipster mastering station for editing, handling and playing out UHD data in real-time. The company also supplied its R&S AVHE100 headend for live encoding using an HEVC encoder with 10-bit color depth.

AsiaSat 4 will launch its UHD channel in October.