Test and measurement: Leader looks to the future with HD HDR and SMPTE 2110

Race leaders coming up the Croix de Coeur (climb immediately after the race start) Giro d’Italia 2023 ©kramon

By Kevin Salvidge, Leader Electronics of Europe sales engineering and technical marketing manager.

Two major sporting events in Europe during 2024 adopted contrasting approaches to the production and delivery of content to their media rights holders. In Paris we saw the continued use of SMPTE 2110 to deliver enhanced workflows based on UHD TV resolution, HDR and enhanced audio, alongside private 5G networks, drones, mobile footage, virtual and remote production technologies. In Germany the adoption of HD HDR production and delivery sparked a great debate: ‘Are we past the peak of 4K?’.

It is almost impossible these days to purchase professional broadcast equipment that does not support 4K. Whether you decide to acquire and produce content in 4K will depend on several factors of which probably the most important is: What do the media rights holders want and what are they prepared to pay for it?

A second factor is the archive value of originating in 4K. With today’s ‘consume and bin’ viewing habits, justifying the additional acquisition and production costs associated with 4K is going to be hard to swallow if the media rights holders are only paying for HD resolution content and the financial payback of 4K mastering could be decades away.

Test and measurement

Irrespective of production techniques and delivery formats, test and measurement instruments continue to provide a vital reference in the broadcast production environment. SMPTE 2110 is allowing new and innovative workflows that would not have been possible with SDI, but content producers now face the challenges of remote and virtual production.

One thing remains constant; consumers are still using their eyes to view the content and that means we need analysis tools that allow us to retain the ‘quality of experience’ for the consumer. Broadcasters have grown up with waveform monitors and vectorscope displays to ensure quality of service and have a wealth of knowledge and experience based on them, irrespective of the production environment or the ultimate viewing device. ‘True hybrid’ test instruments can analyse and display IP and SDI sources simultaneously, side-by-side, allowing production teams to use their SDI skills as they start the migration to IP.

Production companies now face the challenge of delivering both SDR and HDR content without compromising either. HDR images look far better than SDR but the number of consumers watching in HDR is still a minority, so broadcasters need to transmit in SDR and HDR. It is neither cost-effective nor practical to duplicate equipment, workflows and crews for separate SDR and HDR production, as was demonstrated during the few years when 2D and 3D production was in vogue.

The single-master workflow now used for most live HDR/SDR production is built around a central HDR production switcher. All inputs to the production switcher are either native HDR or converted to HDR by an appropriate SDR-to-HDR (up-mapping) 3D-LUT color transform. All SDR monitoring staff, including HDR supervisors, camera shaders and racking technicians, source from HDR via an appropriate HDR-to-SDR (down-mapping) 3D-LUT colour transform.

Simplifying operating practices and standardising on 3D-LUT colour transforms is going to be vital in the future so reducing the number of devices and adding a colour management orchestration layer are the next logical steps in simplifying this process for live production.

Another thing that became obvious during 2024 is that the way operational and production staff are using test and measurement products is changing. The next generation of operators have grown up using gestural swiping on touchscreen interfaces like mobile phones and tablets. The introduction of consumer products like Apple iPad Pro into production environments is accelerating the adoption of touchscreen products.

Looking ahead

HD HDR has already established itself as a more than adequate competitor to UHD HDR. The enhanced resolution from interlaced to progressive, coupled with the addition of HDR, has proved more than good enough for consumers and, for once, this new technology doesn’t come with a significant price premium. Existing 3G-SDI infrastructures can already support 1080p HDR.

SMPTE 2110, virtual and remote production, will merge into one. Instead of refreshing SDI OB trucks, production companies will look to turn them into IP head-ends and then bring the IP streams back to remote production centers. That way, equipment that was traditionally housed in OB trucks can be used more efficiently, with back-to-back productions, rather than for only a few hours each week.

SMPTE 2110 allowed new and innovative workflows to be developed. Remote and virtual production will take those workflows a step further. Instead of remote production centers, operators will be able to work remotely, maybe even from home, and carry out production activities using prosumer products. All we can be sure of is that advances in technology are showing no signs of slowing and the only limit to innovation is your imagination.