UHD Spain’s joint proof of concept with SAPEC and RTVE demonstrated the potential and practicality of integrating REMI and cloud production and 5G networks into media workflows.
UHD Spain, the industry association devoted to promoting the use of 5G in Spain, has achieved a milestone in 5G UHD-HDR broadcasting in partnership with Radio 3 (RTVE), SAPEC, TVU Networks and other UHD Spain members. The collaboration demonstrated the potential and practicality of integrating professional REMI production and 5G networks into media workflows.
During a live concert on 19 October by singer Israel Fernández at the Real Observatorio Astronómico de Madrid, UHD-Spain deployed next-generation audio (NGA), 5G driven contribution, cloud production mixing, 5G Broadcast and commodity internet for transmission to deliver high quality video and audio during the live broadcast.
NGA is a set of standards and formats for cinema style immersive sound reproduction, personalisation for listening preferences such as adjusting dialogue levels relative to other sounds, and more efficient production and distribution methods. NGA is leading to higher channel count audio formats, more efficient codecs, metadata and renders. So far, three NGA codecs have been standardised – Dolby AC-4, DTS-UHD and MPEG-H.
New Workflow
Emili Planas, CTO at Group MediaPro, who serves as a member of UHD Spain's board of directors, highlighted the significance of this 5G UHD-HDR collaboration in demonstrating another avenue for live production. “Very soon, the production model we have tested will become the standard for covering live events with high UHD-HDR quality, taking advantage of 5G capabilities, and delocalized operations through connected resources," he said.
The UHD-Spain trial introduced several elements that support UHD-HDR broadcasting and made a 5G-powered UHD-HDR workflow possible. Starting with output from four Canon cameras that included PTZ models, three TVU RPS One transmitters were used to contribute the HDR-HLG content from three cameras to a private 5G network, and the fourth camera was connected to a SAPEC SIVAC-ONE encoder, delivering to a 5G modem.
Reaching Viewers
The workflow also involved distribution via several other signal transport methods including DTT (DVB-T2), satellite (DVB-S2) and the internet (OTT, HbbTV) simultaneously, accessible to viewers on platforms ranging from TV, PCs, tablets to mobile devices.
Each year, UHD Spain chooses a topic to explore the limits of UHD and generate knowledge that can enhance the applications of this format and eventually lead to common industry practice. This year, UHD-Spain also showed the potential of cloud-based remote production by remotely controlling the PTZ cameras and directly integrating mixing and production processing in the cloud using TVU Producer, setting a new kind of standard for UHD-HDR broadcasting.
Miguel Cristóbal, CEO of SAPEC and also coordinator and one of the board directors of UHD-Spain, said, "The experience of seeing how a 5G network can be used to contribute UHD-HDR signals with enriched audio, upload them to the cloud for remote production, and process them for distribution via 5G Broadcast has been truly remarkable and enlightening. This process has allowed us to gain invaluable insights into the potential of using these technologies together to successfully reach viewers in a new more effective way."
Rafael Castillo, VP of EMEA and LATAM at TVU Networks, commented that the trust UHD-Spain, MediaPro and partners have placed in TVU's devices reflects his company’s commitment to advancing broadcast systems. He said, “TVU RPS One and TVU Producer are a part of the TVU Ecosystem designed to integrate swiftly into broadcast production workflows, facilitating development and challenging the conventions of the industry." www.tvunetworks.com
