Advanced Television

Production

5 new FTA HD channels from BBC

The BBC is to launch five new subscription-free HD channels on December 10th. The new channels: BBC Three HD, BBC Four HD, BBC News HD, CBeebies HD and CBBC HD will be available on Freeview HD, Freesat HD, YouView, Sky HD and Virgin Media. Viewers will also be able to catch-up on HD programmes from […]

December 9, 2013

NHK astronaut grabs 4K footage of comet ISON

Japanese TV will this week show footage of last week’s Comet ISON captured in 4K by astronaut Koichi Wakata. Wakata was aboard the International Space Station and used a specially developed, and ultra-sensitive, 4K camera to video the comet and its surrounding aurora. The images are a world’s first for shooting 4K in outer space. […]

December 3, 2013By Chris Forrester

Best Efforts and Miracles

We are all headed to an IP driven multi-screen world. The irony is that this enables more and better services – and therefore the opportunity for providers to monetise subscribers in more and better ways – and yet these services are delivered by a process that is intrinsically ‘best efforts’. Because of variable bandwidths in […]

November 29, 2013

RAI, Eutelsat to shoot documentary in Ultra HD

Italian public broadcaster RAI, via its Strategic Technologies unit, has teamed up with Eutelsat Italia on a project to experiment with recording in the 4K Ultra-HD standard. ”Rome, Naples, Venice … in a Rossini Crescendo” is the name of a documentary that will be shot in Ultra-HD, which will explore thecultural beauties of Italian cities […]

November 15, 2013From Branislav Pekic in Rome

RAI teams with Valle d’Aosta for 3D, 4K trials

Italian public broadcaster RAI and the Autonomous Region of Valle d’Aosta have signed an agreement for technological trials of video recording in 3D and 4K and the introduction of multi-screen applications for citizens and SMEs. Under this Agreement, to be implemented by RAI’s Strategic Technologies Directorate, audiovisual productions will be filmed with innovative formats (3D, […]

November 11, 2013From Branislav Pekic in Rome

HEVC and 4K

IBC was all about the coming of 4K. But it was a subject not without controversy with much concern that its benefits could be dissipated. In this fascinating roundtable representatives from Elemental Technologies, Entropic, Ericsson and Rovi talk about 4k, HEVC and look ahead to 8k. Are broadcasters slow off the mark with HEVC installation? […]

November 6, 2013

Netflix now ‘testing Ultra-HD’, dumping 3D

Netflix, already with more than 29 million ‘full and active’ subs in the US, and a total of more than 40 million when international viewers are included, is now testing 4K Ultra-HD delivery, albeit at a modest frame rate. Subscribers to Netflix can view the test footage of movie clips ahead of a formal service […]

November 4, 2013By Chris Forrester

Studios reveal digital home entertainment terminology

DEG: The Digital Entertainment Group, the trade body for the home entertainment industry, has revealed the adoption of new terminology – DIGITAL HD and DIGITAL – to refer to digital versions of filmed entertainment and television content across all consumer communication. The new positioning aims to enhance the value of digital home entertainment offerings and […]

October 31, 2013By Colin Mann

Sony captures Peter Gabriel show in 4K

Musician Peter Gabriel has been busy this week performing his 25th Anniversary Back to Front show at London’s 02 Arena, and the event has been captured by production companies Done & Dusted, Real World and ERP Productions in 4K/Ultra-HDTV. The production team used 10 Sony F55 cameras to video the event in 4K. Eight Sony […]

October 24, 2013By Chris Forrester

BBC dilemma on Ultra-HD funding

Andy Quested, the BBC’s head of technology for HD and Ultra-HD, says that the publicly-funded broadcaster cannot use licence-fee payer’s cash to fund 4K/Ultra-HD programming. Quested, quoted by 3D Focus, says that only programming funded by non-licence fee cash is being made. “Only programmes funded outside the licence fee are being produced in UHD.  We […]

October 21, 2013By Chris Forrester