8K TV: why here, why now?

[Pages:60]

The magazine for global video

TV Broadcast ? Streaming ? Satellite ? Cable ? Hybrid The leading media for video delivery technology

September 2019

Blockchain, Smallsats and more

Next-gen codecs

5G in broadcast

Low latency streaming

8K TV: why here, why now?

June 2016

? OTT, VoD, Cloud TV, Cable, Satellite, IPTV, DTT, IoT ? The latest news, views and features

CONFERENCE | 13-17 SEPTEMBER 2019 EXHIBITION | 13-17 SEPTEMBER 2019

RAI AMSTERDAM

The world's most influential media, entertainment & technology show

Join over 1,700 exhibitors showcasing the latest technological innovations, 300+ speakers sharing industry insights and over 55,000 attendees providing unlimited networking opportunities at the world's most influential media, entertainment & technology show.

Book before 16 August to secure your free exhibition pass

show.

Contents

The magazine for global video

TV Broadcast ? Streaming ? Satellite ? Cable ? Hybrid The leading media for video delivery technology

September 2019

24 DTG column

Ensuring a better future TV experience

TV Broadcast ? Streaming ? Satellite ? Cable ? Hybrid The leading media for video delivery technology



Blockchain, Smallsats and more

Low latency streaming

5G in broadcast

Next-gen codecs

8K TV: why here, why now?

June 2016 ? OTT, VoD, Cloud TV, Cable, Satellite, IPTV, DTT, IoT ? The latest news, views and features

1_Cover.indd 1

22/08/2019 12:20:26

06 Analyst corner: Disney+

One of the biggest experiments in the history of the entertainment industry

08 COVER STORY: 8K TV

Who needs 8K (apart from TV makers)?

14 Opinion: ATSC 3.0

ATSC president Madeleine Noland provides insight into the new standard

15 Low latency streaming with Synamedia

Overcoming the challenges of achieving low latency end-to-end

21 Technology corner: CMAF LL

Fraunhofer FOKUS details a concrete implementation of DASH low latency streaming with CMAF

26 Blockchain in broadcast

The latest progress and use cases

32 Smallsats

Can the promise outweigh the challenges?

38 5G in media: part 1

What will 5G mean for mobile video?

42 5G in media: part 2

Examining the potential of 5G in outside broadcast and (remote) production

48 Q&A: Yahoo Sports

How it works with the NFL to reach younger viewers and football fans

52 IBC 2019 preview

A look at what's new at this year's show

53 Next-gen compression with V-Nova

Navigating the new codec landscape

59 Stats corner

Euro and US pay-TV data with informitv

Editor Goran Nastic

Commercial Camilla Capece

Design and production Matt Mills (Manager) Jessica Harrington

Regular contributors Adrian Pennington, Philip Hunter, David Adams, Stephen Cousins, Anna Tobin

Circulation Joel Whitefoot

Accounts Marilou Tait, Mohamad Saidani

Editorial tel +44(0)20 7562 2401 goran.nastic@

Advertising tel +44(0)20 7562 2438 camilla.capece@

Editor's report:

Ericsson CTO Erik Ekudden recently played down talk about 6G, arguing the focus should be on moving 5G forward, given that the technology is only just out of the blocks. Ekudden's argument comes to mind in the early discussions around 8K TV. While 4K is not as new or immature as 5G, it still has a long way to go in terms of commercial implementations - with many channels globally yet to make the switch to HD, let alone 4K. Some view 8K as a distraction as 4K finally makes progress and gathers steam, while others view it as natural evolution and an inevitability. How do you see it? Speaking of 5G, in this issue we examine the implications of 5G for the media & entertainment sector, starting with the mobile video experience of consumers, including mobile broadcast, before zooming in on the production environment. Goran Nastic

2019

Perspective Publishing 3 London Wall Buildings London EC2M 5PD

Subscriptions tel +44 (0) 20 1635 588 861 perspectivesubs@dynamail.co.uk Circulation manager: joel.whitefoot@

Subscription rates Per year: Europe ?88; UK ?68; Rest of World ?98. Cheques payable to Perspective Publishing Limited and addressed to the Circulation Department

Printed by Buxton Press Managing Director John Woods

Publishing Director Mark Evans

ISSN 1467-5935



September 2019 03

News

news in brief

Telus Home Assistant for TV voice control Canada's Telus is the latest operator to launch a Home Assistant and voice control. In this case, it gives Optik TV customers with hands-free control using voice commands for their entertainment. As voice assistant technologies become more commonplace in Canada, the company saw it as a natural fit to integrate control over the largest screen in the house for a better user experience. Optik TV customers with a Google Assistant-enabled speaker or Smart Display can pair the new Telus Home Assistant to allow voice commands to change the channel, launch Netflix and other apps, search for their favourite shows, pause or turn off their digital box. It also allows customers to manage accounts with voice.

ViacomCBS sets sights on DTC streaming A long running saga has come to an end as CBS and Viacom have decided that they will, after all, merge after 13 years apart. CBS will acquire Viacom to form ViacomCBS. Current Viacom CEO Bob Bakish will lead the combined entity, with the deal expected to close by the end of the year ago. The plan calls for an acceleration of a direct-toconsumer strategy, supported by both both subscription and ad-supported products.

Media giants gearing up for streaming supremacy - which one will win?

2019 has been labelled a "hallmark year" for the streaming industry, the biggest shift in the US video market since Netflix's push into streaming in 2007. This is as heavyweight players like Disney, Apple, AT&T and WarnerMedia among others enter an increasingly crowded field with new streaming services and direct-toconsumer (D2C) launches.

Coinciding with further international rollout and price details of the Disney+ launch on November 12, Apple is now expected to debut its own streaming service also by that date.

Bloomberg reports that Apple+ will go live by November, initially offering a free trial to start, as it

builds up the content catalogue, and then could charge $9.99 per month. This would make it more expensive than Disney+ (at $6.99 in the US) but more on a par with Netflix and Amazon Prime (Netflix's lowest tier is 8.99).

According to Bloomberg, Apple is weighing different release strategies for shows. Apple's budget for original content has also grown from the original $1 billion to over $6 billion as more shows have moved through production.

Disney's new direct-toconsumer streaming service will launch on November 12 in the US, Canada and the Netherlands.

They will be followed by Australia and New Zealand a week later on November 19.

In Canada, Disney+ will be priced at C$8.99 per month, or $89.99 per year. Dutch residents will pay EUR6.99 per month, or 69.99 per year. Australia is set at A$8.99 per month, or $89.99 per year, and New Zealand's price is NZ$9.99 per month.

There is much speculation about what Disney's removals of titles in particular from Netflix will have on the SVOD trailblazer.

Allan McLennan of Padem Media has described Disney+ as a "game changer"

Guy Bisson, the lead analyst at Ampere Analysis, labels Disney+ as one of the "biggest experiments in the history of entertainment" and you can read his in-depth thoughts on page 6.

Viacom makes inroads into in-vehicle

entertainment

The Viacom International Media Network is making its TV content available to car passengers, one of the first content providers to make this move into the connected car space.

Viacom's popular TV channel brands such as MTV, Comedy Central and Nickelodeon will be accessible to vehicle passengers in Germanlanguage via the Twine4Car solution from Access Europe. This will make Viacom's content available via the car head unit and rear-seat entertainment units to more deeply engage passengers of all ages.

Access is acquiring the rights to make linear feeds of these channels available in German-language for integration into in-car infotainment systems being developed by German car manufacturers. The channels available via Twine4Car service will be a simulcast of the linear TV networks that VIMN makes available free-to-air in Germany, featuring the same content and advertising.

"Viacom believes in-car entertainment is an exciting new frontier for the video industries, with the next

generation of mobile network technology ushering in a new era of connected vehicles and immersive entertainment experiences on-the-go," said Raffaele Annecchino, MD of VIMN Southern and Western Europe, Middle East and Africa. "This deal is the first of its kind for Viacom."

04 September 2019



News

SES looks to the clouds with ONAP

news in brief

Satellite operator SES is taking its business to the cloud, together with Amdocs and Microsoft Azure.

SES is creating an open, standards-based network automation and service orchestration platform, built on Open Network Automation Platform (ONAP). Using the Amdocs NFV solution, SES said it will modernise and automate its network platforms in the cloud. SES said this will make it the first satellite network solutions provider to adopt ONAP, an open software platform designed for orchestrating the creation and delivery of new services in an automated operational environment.

For example, this will enable SES to rapidly build network solutions that are

powered by its fleet of MEO and GEO satellites. SES will also be able to serve its broadcast, telecom, corporate and government customers with applications and technologies such as SD-WAN, WAN optimisation, high security, and Unified Threat Management, creating more value for its customers.

The satellite company is implementing ONAP with Amdocs on Microsoft Azure, making SES the first customer to use Amdocs NFV for SD-WAN on Microsoft Azure. Through this approach, SES will be able to extend network services and activate virtualised network functions quickly and at scale, accelerating time-to-market and improving service agility for customers anywhere on

the globe, according to the companies. By deploying open, cloud-based network automation and orchestration, the goal is to make satellite networks a seamless extension of the global communications ecosystem.

"Our vision is to make satellite-based networks a seamless and wholly integrated part of a global, cloud-scale network ecosystem. Central to this vision is an open, automated operational environment that allows our customers to easily create and deliver new, innovative services anywhere," said SES networks CEO JP Hemingway.

Will other satellite operators follow suit in the company's lead?

IBC hosts MovieLabs 2030 Vision

Motion Pictures Laboratories, together with member studios, published a new white paper presenting an industry vision for the future of media creation technology and nextgen workflows by 2030.

The paper, jointly authored by MovieLabs and technology leadership teams from Hollywood studios, looks at future technology and

discusses the need for the industry to work together now on innovative new software, hardware and production workflows to support and enable new ways to create content over the next ten years. Cloud services and software-defined workflows are two key overarching trends identified into the next decade.

The results of this research on media tech disruption will for the first time be publically discussed at IBC, when MovieLabs will be presenting a keynote panel, titled `Hollywood's Vision for the Future of Production in 2030', on Sunday 15 September, bringing tech leaders from 5 big Hollywood studios.

DT tops 100Gbps over microwave link ABI Research expects the VR market to grow to $22bn thanks to enterprise adoption and new headsets, as well as make a deeper push into the M&E sector. A new report from ABI Research likens the VR market to a roller coaster ride of ups and downs. Unlike the ill-fated 3D market, VR will succeed, but widespread adoption will take longer than expected to evolve, the reports argues. "Contrary to some opinion, VR is not in the same situation as 3D TV, which never really took off," said Michael Inouye, of ABI, which expects the VR market to hit an inflection point within the next two years, but remain outside the collective mainstream audience for some time.

In-home WiFi devices pass 5bn mark A new wave of WiFi smart home devices is about to drive adoption towards a total of 17 billion home devices in use worldwide by 2030, according to new research from Strategy Analytics, which estimates that nearly 5bn home WiFi devices are now in use around the world. The leading home WiFi standard today is WiFi 5 (802.11ac), accounting for three quarters of 2019 device sales. WiFi 6 (ax), will account for a third of device sales by 2023, dominating thereafter.



September 2019 05

Analyst corner

The great Disney experiment: Disney+ and the studio direct revolution

By Guy Bisson

By the end of this year, one of the biggest experiments in the history of the entertainment industry will be underway. Disney+, the family pillar of Disney's grand ambition to go direct will have launched, and consumers will be getting their first taste of the new service and the content it has to offer. That description may sound melodramatic, but after 100 years of history, the major studios will for the first time take their own content direct to the end viewer. I'd call that a seismic industry shift.

Disney has yet to embark on its promised huge marketing and awareness campaign that will push the service prelaunch, but (with Fox) the group already owns enough high profile brands and content franchises to have made an impression with its streaming plans.

A survey carried out in the US by Ampere in June 2019 shows that awareness of Disney+ is highest among 18-24 year olds (45% of this age group say they have heard of Disney+) and homes with children, illustrating an obvious but important point about Disney+ and the wider group strategy. Disney+ is part of Disney's direct plans, not the be all and end all. Disney+ will be one of a family of streaming services that Disney will manage, augmenting its

offer with ESPN for sports and Hulu for general entertainment. The family strategy or streaming channel bouquet is something that has not been tried in the streaming market to date, but for Disney, it means the $6.99 a month price point for Disney+ (widely analysed by market commentators for undercutting Netflix), is actually just the start of the customer value story and the revenue potential of Disney's wider direct move.

Of course, with an already crowded streaming market where the typical US SVoD home already takes three SVoD services, the place of Disney+ within the wider home entertainment bundle will be crucial. Ampere's regular consumer survey shows that Netflix is usually the foundation stone of in-home streaming bundles and other services are layered on top, but rarely taken alone. Asking specifically about how homes would engage with Disney+ showed that 65% of consumers interested in the service intended to take it in addition to other SVoD services. Eighteen per cent said they would replace one of their existing SVoD services with Disney+ and 17%

said they would see Disney+ as a replacement for multiple SVoD services in the home.

Disney+ and other studio services are likely to give a second wind to the US streaming market which has otherwise slowed in terms of the number of services homes are stacking. Content will be key to that boost and -- with the addition of Fox franchises -- is one of Disney+'s key strengths, even as it gradually unwinds its existing licensing relationships.

Ampere's Disney+ attitude survey shows that

06 September 2019



Source: ilikeyellow /

63% of respondents are aware of at least one of Disney's core content franchises with Pixar being the strongest in terms of awareness (44% of respondents know the brand). Star Wars (27%) and Marvel (25%) rank second and third. Interestingly, respondents mistakenly associate a number of key brands that have no relation to Disney or Fox with Disney+. Chief among these are rival Warner's Harry Potter and DC Comic franchises and Universal's Jurassic Park. The halo of the Disney brand it seems is engulfing its Hollywood neighbours, presenting both a benefit and a challenge. Disney will need to be clear in its content messaging as it begins the service roll-out.

Among legitimate Disney content franchises, interest is spread across age groups. The Marvel franchise has a twin peak for interest among 18-24 year olds and 35-44 year olds picking it as the content most valuable to them while Pixar content is most appealing to 25-34 year olds, the group also most interested in Disney animated films and Disney TV shows, doubtless driven by the likelihood of this age group to have younger children. The Star Wars franchise is an interesting one for Disney. Peak interest for Star Wars is among 35 to 44 year olds, a group just shy of being old enough to have seen the original 1977 cinema release (now dubbed Episode 4). Star Wars will be key for Disney in extending the age appeal of Disney+, although its other streaming channel brands will also help broaden overall appeal of the wider direct play.

Disney has set an ambitious target of 60m-90 million subscribers by 2024, with 20m-30m in the US. On current interest levels, that would be a fairly ambitious target, requiring all of the respondents to Ampere's interest survey that said they were highly likely or likely to sign up for the service to actually follow through. But with Disney's own marketing push yet to come, awareness and interest in the new service can only rise.

Analyst corner

DISNEY+ AWARENESS STACKING DISNEY+

MOST VALUABLE CONTENT



September 2019 07

8K TV

8K: Why here, why now?

resolution of 7680?4320 pixels, which is four times

With the tools for 8K production and display

more than 4K and 16 times that of full HD.

in place, the hurdles of distribution and

For William Cooper, founder of consultancy Informitv, 8K

standardisation now lie between the world

represents a natural evolution of

video resolution. "HD is now

and 8K media. Is it a distraction or just natural mainstream, 4K is already a reality

progression? Adrian Pennington reports

and 8K is now a possibility," he says. "Although there may be

diminishing returns with each

Back in 2012 when the ITU-R enshrined UHD in two phases, 4K UHD was already seen as a stepping stone to 8K. UHD-2

to emerge and move forward while an earlier one is still being rolled out," asserts Peter Siebert, DVB Head of Technology. "In this case, it's relevant to note that 8K TV sets are not necessarily threats to 4K production

increase in resolution, if the objective is a representation of the highest fidelity, then 8K or beyond may be technologically inevitable."

He points out that there are many dimensions to improving the fidelity of

was considered so and delivery, as they could bring

video reproduction. "Spatial resolution

far away that little other than

improvements in image quality for lower is one, the precision of each pixel is

resolution was considered in

resolution content through upscaling." another, and temporal sampling is a

the specification.

"There will always be technology

further dimension," he says.

While the industry is some way from Luddites," says Ben Schwarz, speaking "Traditional television technology is

deploying even 4K, heads are turning as an independent expert, founder of

compromised in all these dimensions,

towards what's next. For some this is an CTOi Consulting and communications with plenty of room for improvement."

unwelcome distraction from the

chair of the Ultra HD Forum. "A devil's The entire industry is now working to

practicalities of 4K transition, with

advocate would say that 4K is a

deploy 4K with HDR and NGA (Next

possible risk of consumer confusion,

distraction from HD deployment."

Gen Audio), as a result of efforts that

others view it as the natural progression

have cumulated over the last five years.

of an industry which has technological Increasing resolution vs

The Ultra HD Forum, at pains to put

advance written in its DNA.

HDR and HFR

8K on the back burner, recommends

"It's not unusual for a new technology 8K ultra-high-definition video has a

that the industry focuses on these added

value services such as HDR

with dynamic mapping,

NGA and HFR for sports,

noting that there are barely

over a dozen active services

across the world that

implement HDR.

"The industry has yet to

explore the right combination

of resolutions, taking into

account HDR, HFR and

NGA," notes Thierry Fautier,

VP of Video Strategy at

Harmonic and president of

the Ultra HD Forum.

Rian Bester, who runs 4K

channel Insight TV, agrees, "If

you show a consumer 4K

verses HD the difference is

not that apparent but if you

show them HDR versus non

08 September 2019



 ................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download