EUROMEDIASEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2014

®

From 405 linesto 4,000 pixels4K

DIGITAL MEDIA INTELLIGENCE

alpha cover_cover 29/08/2014 17:11 Page 1

Arnaud Perrier, Envivio’s VP

of strategy and corporate

development, suggests that

as happened with the

initial SD to HD transition 15 years

ago, the consumer electronics market

is way ahead of the content and

infrastructure side. “U-HD, i.e., 4K,

is mainly driven by TV

manufacturers: Samsung, LG, Sony

and others in order to boost TV set

sales. Once the installed base of 4K

sets is large enough, content

production starting with VoD, then

with Live events will follow. For now,

4K live production is very limited to

special events like the Soccer World

Cup, due to the production and

delivery costs,” he notes, adding that

there is also growing interest in the

newer High Dynamic Range

technologies among service providers

who think it could be more appealing

to consumers than just U-HD.

It is useful to gauge whether the

broadcasting industry is sufficiently 'Ultra-

HD ready' and whether there should be

future-proofing for anticipated future

broadcast standards, such as 8K. Tony

Mattera, product and technology director for

Arqiva, notes that since early 2013 (when

some of the first 4K TV systems made their

appearance in the market) expectations for

4K as the ‘next big thing’ have continued to

rise and catch consumer interest. “While 4K

content is still limited, our interest has been

fuelled by services from the likes of Netflix

and Blu-ray players which enable viewers to

‘upscale’ from HD to 4K.” He suggests the

future provision of 4K broadcast TV

channels depends on the availability of the

relevant equipment throughout the

transmission chain. “At

Arqiva, we are already

demonstrating the viability

of a live end-to-end U-HD

broadcast over a traditional DTT network,

having worked with the BBC to establish a

live end-to-end chain for the World Cup and

Commonwealth Games.”

Pierre Larbier, CTO, ATEME, suggests

that the maturity of the

compression/decompression technology is

happening much faster today for UHD and

HEVC than it did for HD and MPEG-4 AVC.

“It will not be the gating factor,” he states.

“DVB has just published all the relevant

standards for 4K broadcasting so there is no

upcoming standard that we should wait for

to deploy 4K. 8K is another animal. The

commitment of the NHK behind 8K is such

that we believe it will happen. The world is

not going to stay with 4K when Japan does

8K. When? 2020 is the reasonable

expectation for

deployment in

Japan, and

maybe a few

years later for

Europe.”

FUTURE.

Simon

Gauntlett, the

DTG's CTO,

reports that a

18 EUROMEDIA

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“huge” amount

of activity is

going on

within the

industry to

understand all

the potential options for Ultra-HD and what

will be required to make a significant step

change in quality beyond HD that can lead to

additional revenue. “Future-proofing is

incredibly hard to do and this is where

Internet devices are different from

televisions. In television, it is essential that

there are significant steps rather than lots of

incremental improvements as viewers don’t

replace their TVs as

often as they do

their phones, tablets

or computers,” he

observes.

David Wood,

chair, Commercial

Module DVB-

UHDTV, advises

that the part that the

DVB Project plays in

the value chain is to

develop

specifications for

formats used for

broadcasting. This

job is done for DVB

‘Phase 1’ UHD-1

(2160p/60). Phase 1

UHD-1 is designed

to use the HEVC consumer decoders

available in 2014/15. The next DVB Phase,

Phase 2 (2160p/120) will be designed to use

the HEVC decoders available in 2017/18.

“The door is open now for those broadcasters

who wish to provide services in Phase 1 DVB.

Broadcasters have to take a decision whether

to go for Phase 1 now, or wait for Phase 2.

Most interest in Phase 1 has come from pay-

TV operators who would be able to provide

services via a new set-top box to viewers with

2160p sets,” he reveals.

In terms of 8K, Wood notes that in Japan,

NHK plans to provide 8k or 4320p services

in 2020. “4320p, DVB Phase 3 Services, in

Europe may follow some years later,

probably sometime after 2022. DVB has not

yet started work on a Phase 3 broadcast

format because there are no announced plans

for 4320p displays to be on the market.”

COMPONENTS. Keith Wymbs, chief

marketing officer

for Elemental, notes

the company has

already

demonstrated on a

number of occasions

the viability of an end-to-end live 4K Ultra

HD TV workflow. “All the other required

components for delivering live 4K UHD TV,

including cameras, set-top boxes and

television sets have been announced. Some

unknown variables, especially the cost of 4K

STBs and TV sets, could delay the full uptake

of 4K UHD TV technology, but this will be a

matter of months, not years or decades,” he

predicts.

Giles Wilson, head of TV compression at

Ericsson, considers that the broadcast

industry is prepared in itself, but the process

has only begun in terms of building the

necessary ecosystem for the delivery of these

4K UHDTV services to the home. “If we look

at it from an end-to-end perspective, from

the cameras all the way to the screen, we are

at different levels of readiness. The TV

screens were the first things to become

available and they are now coming down in

price. Nevertheless, current uptake is not as

fast as that of HD many years ago. As Ultra-

HD ready televisions and cameras become

increasingly available,

we will see a

corresponding number

of movies and other

forms of picture

programming being

made in this format.”

He describes NHK's

intention to deliver 8K

transmissions by 2020

to coincide with the

Olympic Games in

Tokyo as “a big, bold declaration....but I

think it will be some time before 8K is

pervasive in the home.”

SEGMENTS. “The technology is

progressing at a different pace in the various

segments of the value chain,” states Cristiano

Benzi, director line of business video and

broadcasting, Eutelsat. “4K production

equipment is increasingly available, setting

the scene for the volume of content shot in

native 4K (and beyond) to grow. The

standard for 4k compression and

distribution, HEVC, is now agreed, and the

first 4k HEVC encoders are appearing in the

market. HEVC decoding chipsets are now

being introduced into the market and a new

range of STBs or integrated

receivers/decoders capable to decode 4K

HEVC signals is under development and

should become commonly available by end

2014 or early 2015.”

Benzi suggests

that ideally, every

technology should

be future-proof

but accepts that

this is unrealistic.

“There will always

be technological

progress which

outperforms

current devices

and this will also

be true for the

broadcast

industry.

However, the

broadcast

industry is

characterised by

long-lasting

legacy, demonstrated by the continuing high

penetration of SD services and SD receivers.

Looking further into the future, 8k

broadcasting (and why not 16k and 3D

holographic broadcasting…) will become

mainstream, but this should not hold back

the development of current technologies that

bring real benefits to consumers.”

According to Ian Trow, senior director

emerging technology and strategy at

Harmonic, there are two aspects to

Ultra HD that are a challenge to

broadcasters: technical infrastructure

and quality content. “In both respects

the broadcast industry has more of a

20 EUROMEDIA

“A step change in the TVindustry is always going tomake an impact on sales.”- Simon Gauntlett, DTG

“2160p production anddelivery are quitepractical.” David Wood,DVB

coverstory 4k_cover story 29/08/2014 17:09 Page 2

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challenge than 4K streaming services. On the

technical side, UHDTV is bandwidth hungry,

challenging both traditional broadcast

interfaces like SDI, and exceeding the

bandwidth available,

especially for live to air.

This is the major

challenge for broadcast

UHDTV as it requires

significant revamping of

infrastructure to cope.

Help is on the way in the

form of greater

compression efficiency

from HEVC, which will

go a long way to alleviate

the distribution

bandwidth needed for

UHDTV.” He feels that

8K is a possibility,

particularly for certain

Asian operators, but sees

it as a standard for the

long term, at least for

TV.

TRUE. Peter Ostapiuk, VP media product

management for Intelsat, notes recent 4K

trials and confirms that the satellite operator

has conducted a number of live true 4K

UHD, end-to-end video transmissions over

satellite. “These transmissions demonstrate

that the satellite ecosystem is ready to deliver

UHD content when it becomes more widely

available. However, in terms of the broadcast

infrastructure, there are a few elements that

still need to be further developed to ensure

the successful acceleration and adoption of

4K. First, it all begins and ends with content.

Filming in 4K is still in the nascent stages

and it will take time to develop enough

content to launch full-time linear 4K

channels. To effectively transport

uncompressed 4K in the production stage,

many broadcasters will need to upgrade their

internal

networks to

all IP capable

in order to

handle it,” he

advises.

“Future-

proofing

anticipated

future

broadcast

standards

would reinforce consumers’ confidence in the

technology, as it would ensure that the TV

sets they buy will not become obsolete as

technology advances, and would help

stimulate demand for hardware. The

industry needs to settle on what will

constitute true 4K quality.” In terms of 8K,

he admits that other than Japan and maybe

one or two other countries, from Intelsat's

point of view the rest of the world is focused

on accelerating the adoption timeline of 4K

for 2016 when the first visible uptake for

UHD is expected with a few linear channels

appearing globally.

Mike Rhodes-Peel, head of broadcast

solutions EMEA at NEC Corporation,

suggests that many broadcasters around the

world are focusing on 4K TV as the next

format shift, which they believe will be

around for quite some time before 8K or

Super-Hi resolution arrives. “8K TV

currently presents editing challenges for the

studios due to the volume of data that needs

to be processed, and for consumers in terms

of the constraints on current broadband

speeds and download limits. NEC has an

extensive R&D programme to overcome

these challenges and is involved in trials in

Japan. In the meantime, there is a lot of pent

up consumer demand for 4K and a

coordinated industry effort involving

broadcasters and mobile, broadband and

DTT network operators is needed to meet

this demand,” he advises.

INTEREST. Martin Karlsson, VP, product

portfolio at Net Insight, notes that display

sales are clearly taking off and key content

holders are making content widely available.

“From our end we are seeing a lot more 4K

interest and projects than just six months

ago across all regions,” he advises, suggesting

that with Netflix offering House of Cards and

Breaking Bad in 4K, it is very easy getting

used to watching Frank Underwood and

Walter White in Ultra-HDTV. “Once that

happens, consumers will demand to see their

Saturday afternoon

soccer games in 4K too.

This will require 4K

support throughout the

production and

contribution value

chain. The service

providers that can

accommodate that will

come out ahead,” he

suggests. “Broadcast

standards will continue

to evolve. Large

infrastructure overhauls

are very challenging for

broadcasters and media

service providers since

100 percent uptime

must be maintained.

Future proof solutions,

which support UHD and beyond, that enable

customers to upgrade the software of their

existing HD equipment to 4K and 8K

capability as needed, is key.”

Yuval Fisher, CTO, RGB Networks,

advises that infrastructure for UHD involves

both the consumer side and the service

provider side, with both sides requiring

significant upgrades to be viable. “On the

broadcast infrastructure side, new encoders

are needed, and there is an unclear choice

about using the new HEVC standard or the

less-new AVC standard. The problem for

broadcasters/service providers is that AVC is

mature but requires (roughly) twice the

bandwidth as the immature HEVC format.

So to have a viable service today with

multiple vendor choices, service providers

should use AVC. But then they are faced with

high bandwidth usage (which limits DSL

reach and uses precious cable bandwidth). If

they want to use HEVC today, operators are

faced with an immature ecosystem with

spotty inter-vendor interoperability and

evolving formats. Being a service provider is

a life filled with difficult decisions,” he

suggests.

Arqiva's Mattera says a number of lessons

can be learned from the recent 4K trials at

the FIFA World Cup and Commonwealth

Games. “In essence, these trials showed that

traditional DTT platforms are capable of

supporting and delivering UHD content

(through the use of HEVC systems and the

DVB-T2 modulation standard). These initial

demonstrations used 35MBps and the

capacity required by future services shall

depend on the transmission parameters

22 EUROMEDIA

“We expect to see more pay-TV 4K tests by the end ofthe year.” - Keith Wymbs,Elemental

coverstory 4k_cover story 29/08/2014 17:09 Page 3

which are required (frame rate, bit depth

etc.) and any further compression gains

provided by HEVC compression systems.”

Working alongside the BBC R&D team and

NEC, Arqiva enabled the broadcast of live

content from World Cup Final and

Commonwealth Games using HEVC

compression technology and through the

deployment of DVB-T2 transmitters in

London, Manchester and Glasgow.

FANTASTIC. “At ATEME we were

privileged to watch these World Cup

matches in 4K, and unanimously we fell in

love with those pictures,” reports Larbier.

“Sony and others involved in the production

should be commended for a fantastic job,

beyond our expectations. Even with all that

magic they could not make France qualify

against Germany but still, we look forward to

having such images in our homes at the next

World Cup,” he jokes.

According to the DTG's Gauntlett, the

2160p content from the World Cup was some

of the best footage seen to date and certainly

showed there are benefits from simply higher

resolution, progressively scanned at 59.94

Hz. “However, there were challenges such as

with contribution links and stadium shadows

which clearly show the industry is still

learning and may need more tools to deliver

the UHD experience they desire. The

Commonwealth Games provided the BBC

with an opportunity to test a fully IP

production chain in 4k, as well as experiment

with high frame rate capture. It is clear that a

lot will be learnt from these trials,” he states.

“The lessons learned are still being evaluated,

but as with many other trials, they showed

that 2160p production and delivery are quite

practical,” adds the DVB's Wood.

Wymbs notes that Elemental has been

involved in the majority of the 4K trials

taking place this year. “With live and

particularly live sports, our software-defined

video solutions enable customers to be ready

for anything, from varying frame rates and

wide-ranging delivery network capacity to

last-minute

additions of

multiscreen

service,” he

claims. “The

biggest lessons

we can learn

come back to

the reasons we

do these live

trials in the

first place; it is

to test, fine tune and discover whether the

technology really works,” says Ericsson's

Wilson. “Although we have to make

compromises at times, it’s clear that 4K

UHDTV looks great and works brilliantly for

sport. We can prove that the entire process

can be made to work with stunning results.

This is also crucial in terms of generating

interest at the consumer end too.”

DEMOS. Eutelsat's Benzi reports that the

satellite operator has already launched three

demonstration channels using satellites

covering Europe and Asia. “These channels

make use of the most up-to-date technologies

available today (HEVC compression, 50

frames per second, 10 bits colour depth) and

broadcast images we have shot ourselves or

in collaboration with customers and

technology partners. Major sport events like

the Olympics and the World Cup historically

represent showcase platforms enabling the

broadcast chain to present and validate new

technologies. The recent transmissions

during the World Cup were certainly valuable

opportunities for technicians and crews to

test and prove new technology and have

provided useful feedback to manufacturers

and vendors. We believe that the big lesson

that should be learnt for the most recent

trials is that Ultra HD technology has

reached a point of maturity that enables the

production of live primary sport events, and

we should see this as evidence of the

readiness of the technology.”

According to Harmonic's Trow, the

promise of UHDTV requiring less camera

angles seems questionable, if recent sports

trials are

considered.

“Sure Pan and

Scan

is a

possibility, and slow motion can be catered

for, but directors still feel multiple camera

angles are needed to tell a story, particularly

for football. One aspect that these high

profile events have proved is the need for

high frame rate, 50/60P is adequate, but

most would like 100/120P but this will be

considered by many to be completely

unreasonable in terms of bandwidth.”

Intelsat's Ostapiuk says the trials created

a new momentum around UHD technology.

“The decision to allow parts of these events

to be filmed in 4K demonstrates an

understanding and appreciation for the value

of 4K’s immersive viewing experience that is

ideal for sporting events. These trials also

helped broadcasters explore the challenges of

distributing such content and understand

how a 4K service might be delivered to the

consumer – it is further proof that from a

technology perspective, the satellite

ecosystem is poised for commercial delivery.

It is also proof that despite the readiness of

4K displays, the pay -TV industry is not quite

ready for commercial transmission.”

BREAKTHROUGH. NEC's Rhodes-Peel

suggests the trials underlined the fact that

HEVC is a major breakthrough in

broadcasting. “It enables the transmission of

much higher resolution broadcasts to

consumers over the triple-play of online,

mobile and digital TV platforms for the first

time using the finite radio spectrum and

Internet bandwidth that’s available in the

network.”

In addition, he says that alongside these

IPTV innovations, the trials are prompting

discussion about the future role of the DTT

network. “To compete effectively for

audience share, broadcasters will need to

24 EUROMEDIA

“UHDTV requires significant revamping ofinfrastructure to cope.” - Ian Trow, Harmonic

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provide a differentiated, premium DTT

service while also supporting demand for

interactive IPTV and streamed mobile

content,” he predicts.

OTT. As has been previously noted, online

entertainment service Netflix is already

offering 4K content. Will 4K content initially

be available via Internet streaming on

'connected' Ultra-HD TVs, or will cable,

satellite and DTT be the primary sources?

“The availability of 4K content is very

much dependent on demand,” says Mattera.

“Typically, Internet streaming services come

first, testing the market with new platforms

and content offerings. However, UHD

services can also be supported on DTT (as

demonstrated by the BBC trial) and satellite.

Arqiva is keen to develop these services

across multiple platforms.”

Larbier points out that OTT delivery of 4K

content is limited by bandwidth constraints,

so other than VoD one may argue whether

streaming services will be true UHD or

simply 'HD+'. “Meanwhile satellite and cable

operators can offer promotional UHD

channels right away within the existing home

connectivity – just like UMAX, and UHD

channel by Homechoice Korea that is

available across all Korean MSOs since April

this year.”

“IP can clearly adapt quickly to new

resolutions and we have already seen the first

4k services appear. Trials using all broadcast

methods have also shown they are capable of

delivering high quality content to a large

audience,” says Gauntlett.

LIMITS. Wood notes that 4K (2160p)

content is already available by broadband

Internet, though there are limits to the

quality that can be delivered because of the

network limitations of many broadband

networks. “Satellite broadcasting does have

adequate capacity to deliver 2160p

transparently, and is likely to be the first

means by which high quality UHDTV,

transparent to the source format, will be

delivered to the public,” he advises.

Wymbs says that 4K UHD may be seen as

a key differentiator for OTT services such as

Netflix and M-GO with a recent report from

ABI Research, pointing to Netflix's 4K video

streaming of shows such as House of Cards

and Breaking Bad. “YouTube now also

supports 4K playback resolutions, while 4K

UHD video players are becoming available

for PCs. The control and ownership of

flexible software players differentiates this

market’s ability to roll out new technologies

more quickly. OTT is evolving to include live

4K services, although the bulk of 4K content

is currently only available on demand....We

expect to see more pay-TV 4K tests by the

end of the year to match early moves by

Netflix and other OTT providers and then

full channel tests focused on 4K delivery

24x7.”

According to Wilson, based on the results

of recent announcements and trials, OTT

aggregated services provided by the

likes of Netflix have the upper hand

at the moment as they are already

able to produce a certain amount of

4K content. “Broadcasters and TV

service providers will be next, with

companies such as Direct-TV in the

US, Sky Perfect in Japan and KT

Skylife in Korea announcing their

intention to launch 4K services from

the start of next year. The race is on –

all of these services have different

pros, cons, advantages and barriers to

entry,” he advises. “We suspect that

some on-demand OTT content

providers will be able to launch their

services to consumer devices first,

with a mixture of OTT aggregators,

such as Netflix, and pay-TV providers

such as Comcast and DirectTV,

launching their own OTT services.

This will be followed shortly

afterwards by the launch of the first

pay-TV broadcast services,” he

predicts.

COSTS. According to Benzi, it is

questionable whether OTT will ever

become an effective medium for

delivering live 4k broadcasting to millions of

users, unlike other broadcast media. “4K

streaming requires that the Internet line

serving each single user is capable of

sustaining very high throughput to support

the higher rate required by 4k streaming.

Netflix recommends at least 25 Mbps, which

de facto limits its use to customers connected

via FTTH, i.e. a small minority of users.

Furthermore, transit and CDN costs

represent an important recurring cost that

OTT operators will have to face to deliver

4k.” He calculates that delivering a few hours

of 4K content to millions of OTT users will

rapidly generate six-zero figure costs to OTT

suppliers. “Satellites, on the contrary, are

significantly more efficient in delivering high

throughput to millions of users, with low

bandwidth costs,” he asserts.

According to Trow, connected TV/4K

streaming will have a considerable advantage

over DTH services for two reasons. “Firstly,

streaming services do not have anything like

the technical obstacles that DTH has to

overcome, particularly for VoD/catch-up

services. No surprise then that 4K streaming

services are being heavily promoted before

DTH can achieve anything approaching a live

to air service for

premium sports events.

The other reason is

content; there is a

wealth of 2K or 4K

movie content readily

available for such

services. Documentary

footage is also now

beginning to be

available for UHDTV.”

Ostapiuk says that

“Delivery of 4K contentvia OTT will entice early

UHDTV adopters.” -Peter Ostapiuk, Intelsat

coverstory 4k_cover story 29/08/2014 17:09 Page 5

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OTT providers will most likely be the first to

offer UHD TV services. “Unlike a linear

channel, OTT services can be started with a

small library of content. Delivery of 4K

content via OTT will entice early UHDTV

adopters, drive sales of 4K TV sets and

support the business case for media

companies to launch full-time UHD

channels. Ultimately, given the bandwidth

constraints of delivering 4K over OTT, we

believe OTT services will be complementary

to full-time UHD channel distribution via

satellite and cable systems.”

PREMIUM. Rhodes-Peel suggests that 4K

is likely to take off first on connected IPTVs

as the leap forward in quality is much bigger.

“As we’re starting from a lower base, there is

currently more content available via Netflix

and Amazon channels and consumer’s

upgrade cycle of mobiles and laptops is

faster. But this will also drive pull through

sales of Ultra-HD TVs. Delivering a premium

broadcasting experience via the DTT network

will become even more important for

broadcasters to remain competitive.”

“Cable, satellite and DTT are unlikely to

be rolled out first, because these

deployments have a large associated

customer-equipment cost,” states Fisher. “On

the OTT/Connected-TVs side, the consumer

already purchased the equipment and so the

barrier to entry is lower. Netflix and others

already offer a minimal amount of content in

4K, and so in some sense, UHD for OTT has

already rolled out.”

The 'pump-priming' effect of major

sporting events on TV set sales has already

been noted, but can the industry wait for

another Olympics/World Cup cycle to raise

consumer interest in Ultra-HD TV? “Live

sporting events certainly create an influx of

new TV set purchases, but audiences are

continuously looking for new ways to watch

content in

more dynamic

and higher

quality ways –

and to

consumers the

distribution

method

(whether that’s

DTT, satellite

or IP) is

somewhat

irrelevant.

Instead they expect broadcast quality content

whenever, wherever and however they can

get it. With this in mind, demand for Ultra-

HD TV is not only driven by the consumer.

Vendors, content owners and manufacturers

will also determine the availability and need

for Ultra-HD, no doubt with cost at the

forefront of these discussions,” says Mattera.

PENETRATION. “The penetration of 4K

production in cinema, fiction and

documentaries will be gradual and will feed a

growing number of VoD services or VoD

channels. And these channels will be boosted

around major live events that justify 4K

production. So the next major event

will be an accelerator, but the adoption

process will be slow and continuous for

all types of content,” predicts Larbier.

“The first World Cup recording in HD

was by Rai and NHK in 1990 but HD

services didn’t really start until 2009.

Even though the world is moving

faster, we have time to get things right

before deploying a mass-market

solution,” adds Gauntlett. “It’s true that

the level of interest by the public in

higher quality systems rises when there

are major events to take advantage of

them, but this is only one of many

factors that manufacturers and

broadcasters use to define their

strategy,” contends Wood.

“Successful delivery of 2014 World

Cup in 4K HEVC was a bellwether of

more pervasive live content and

eventually 24x7 live channels,” says

Wymbs. “For example, video

providers such as Amazon and Netflix

are already making 4K available;

industry leaders such as the BBC, Comcast,

and DirecTV are announcing intent to launch

4K services; and dedicated networks, such as

Korean Broadcasting System, Korea’s first 4K

broadcast network, are already launched.”

“There is an obvious association between

major sporting events and the adoption of

new TV technology,” agrees Wilson. “It

drives the replacement cycles of large TV sets

as well. I think the next Olympic

Games/World Cup will have a definite

impact on the adoption of this technology

but that doesn’t mean the industry will need

to wait two to four years to do so. There is

plenty of work to do in the next two years in

terms of building a sustainable 4K UHD

ecosystem and raising consumer interest so

that the industry is ready to

ride the next big wave

generated by these large-scale

events.”

EVENTS. “Consumer

awareness of the narrow

quality gap between UHDTV and 1080P is

increasing and while 4K movie streaming

services have gained traction with viewers,

UHDTV trials have only tended to increase

awareness amongst very limited select

audiences,” says Trow.

“Technology is rapidly advancing; by the

time the 2016 Rio Olympics take place, we

believe more content will be available and a

limited number of channels may be

preparing to or have already launched,” says

Ostapiuk. “Ultimately 4K technology needs a

mass market, multi-genre offering in order to

succeed and cannot rely on high-profile

special events for its success. The industry

needs to embrace the momentum

surrounding 4K today and continue to raise

consumer interest in UHD.”

HISTORY. According to Rhodes-Peel,

history shows us that broadcasting

technology moves on very quickly. “For

example, the BBC were not able to show live

football played outside of London until 1951

and yet advanced the technology sufficiently

to broadcast live games at the 1954 World

Cup three years later. But this was helped by

a huge surge in consumer uptake in

television sets generated by Queen

Elizabeth’s Coronation in 1953. The TV set

vendors are busy identifying similar sales

and marketing opportunities as we head

towards 2018 and 2020.”

“Although sport events seem to drive

awareness, UHD TV prices are declining

rapidly, and penetration is relatively good,”

notes Fisher. “The question perhaps is more

about availability of service. To compare with

3DTVs, the market penetration of 3DTVs was

“Operators are faced with an immatureecosystem with spotty inter-vendorinteroperability and evolving formats.”- Yuval Fisher, RGB Networks

coverstory 4k_cover story 29/08/2014 17:09 Page 6

not bad, but ultimately consumers and

operators didn’t take it up, and that is more

likely to be the challenge for UHD as well.

Put another way, consumer interest in UHD

TVs may not be about content as much as it

is about having the latest and greatest at

acceptable costs.”

DEMAND. With healthy shipment figures

being reported for UHD TV sets, despite a

lack of channels being broadcast, does this

suggest there is a pent-up demand and that

sales will accelerate once content providers

find greater economies of scale in producing

Ultra-HD content?

“Whilst UHD broadcast channels are not

currently available, the services offered by

the likes of Netflix, the availability of up-

scaling HD to 4K Blu-ray players and Redray

4K media players, are continuing to generate

interest in UHD. In turn, this growing

interest is sure to increase demand for UHD

once the relevant broadcast channels become

available,” predicts Mattera.

“UHDTV shipments depend a lot more on

pricing,” suggests Larbier. “When you walk

into a store and decide you are ready to

spend around $1,000 on your new set, how

many of the models proposed to you are

UHD capable? That percentage will keep

growing, and that is the primary driver

behind the UHDTV set shipments. People

walk out of the store with a UHD capable set

while it was not on their shopping list

because it is simply the best looking set they

could afford that day. By the way, HD

pictures look better on most UHDTVs than

on the best HDTV sets. So the answer is NO,

the shipment figures do not depend much on

the scale of UHD content production.”

“4K TV sets make the HD content look

even better,” agrees Gauntlett. “The newer

displays now offer 4K services via Netflix and

other providers, so there is content available.

A step change in the TV industry is always

going to make an impact on sales and once

the mainstream broadcasters agree to a UHD

standard and start launching services, there

will certainly be another increase.”

GROWTH. Wood isn't sure there is a pent

up demand for UHDTV. “Sales today are

based on the size and form factor of the

UHDTV sets, and because viewing on

UHDTV does improve the experience of

an HDTV programme. It seems likely

that eventually, all large screen TV sets

will be UHDTV. It could help the rapidity

of sales if there was more UHDTV

content available by broadcast,

broadband, or packaged media, but there

is no magic wand to arrange this. The

growth of UHDTV will not be overnight –

as indeed was the case with HDTV.”

“4K UHD is still in its early days. TV

manufacturers continue to be the

primary driving force,” suggests Wymbs.

“The consumer jury is still out on

whether 1080p will suffice or if the

combination of increased resolution,

colour, frame rate and luminance will

win over consumers.”

Envivio's Perrier agrees that 4K TV

sales are already way ahead of content

availability. “One technical issue has

been the lack of HDMI standard that

supports 4K resolution at 60fps. The

newest TV sets now finally ship with

HDMI 2.0 connectors that make it

possible. This was critical to deploying

devices/STBs compatible with 4K@60fps

video, which is the minimum required for

live linear channels such as sports. Also with

the arrival of HDR technology on the

horizon, there's a chance that consumers

might get confused and/or decide to wait it

out a little until the dust settles,” he suggests.

AVAILABILITY. Wilson sees multiple

aspects to the issue: the availability of

screens and the demand for higher resolution

screens is definitely increasing, but reports

show that the demand is not quite as high as

it was for HD. “Nevertheless, the demand is

taking off. The uptake compared to HD, is

not quite as fast. HD has received big

exponential growth due to the replacement of

old CRTs and flat panels. That alone was a

big improvement at the time; the televisions

were slimmer, more aesthetically pleasing

and offered enhanced imagery. This

combination was critical in driving a faster

uptake of HD-ready TVs.”

Benzi accepts it as a fact that display sales

will run ahead of content. “The industry went

through this in the transition to colour, the

transition to digital and the transition to HD.

This reflects the dynamic of the consumer

electronics industry, where manufacturers

continuously introduce new features to their

product lines to outshine competitors and

stimulate sales. Features like HD, 3D, Smart

TVs are among the technologies introduced

as 'novelties' into the market and have kept

sales rolling. Nevertheless, when HD screens

were introduced, the packaged media

industry with the Blu-ray and the camcorder

industry with the HDV and the AVCHD

format provided final users with a way to

optimise the value of their new HD screens

before the introduction of HD broadcasting.

We will probably see the same progress in

Ultra HD, as Sony’s recent introduction of a

4K capable camcorder shows.”

Trow says that while UHDTV material

may be lacking, many consumers purchasing

screens like the way HD material is up-

sampled to UHDTV. “Undoubtedly being

able to take advantage of the few 4K movie

streaming services might be a reason to buy,

provided you have significant broadband

access bandwidth. I wouldn't underestimate

the appeal of the addition of social media or

multiple HD views and there is also a feeling

amongst viewers that they are future-

proofing a purchase.”

BARRIER. According to Rhodes-Peel,

sport, as always, is fuelling the drive to create

4K programming. “Free-to-air, cable and

satellite broadcasting companies are starting

to run trials of UHD TV. Lots of drama,

natural history and other high end

programming is already being shot, and

sometimes edited, in UHD or even higher

resolutions in the UK. In addition, Ultra HD

screens do such a remarkable job with up-

scaling 1080p HD content using

sophisticated database interpolations (rather

than just linear scaling) that consumers

certainly won't feel short-changed when

buying a set now.”

Fisher also feels there is no pent-up

demand. “UHDTVs can give a good quality of

experience with normal HD content (via

upscaling), and this, combined with low

prices near the magical $1000 mark, is

driving sales. Sales may continue to

accelerate just as they did with 3DTVs – if

you can buy a TV for a bit more with a 'better

experience', then why not? The barrier for

content is more on the distribution side than

on the production side: the production of

UHD content has a fixed additional cost. The

distribution side has a cost that scales with

the number of viewers.”

EUROMEDIA 29

coverstory 4k_cover story 29/08/2014 17:09 Page 7

So, starting with the basics,

what is RDK and, given some

of the far-reaching claims

sometimes made on its

behalf, what is it not?

“RDK was started by Comcast and it is a set

of components based on open source

projects that is an intentionally limited

domain of components; the drivers and the

basic core software that’s needed to support

set tops and manage devices,” explains Paul

Claussen, director, business development

client software SPVTG – Cisco R&D. “It is

licensed now from RDK Management and

there are a growing number of licensees

who are contributing to the ongoing

development of RDK. It is a licensed

product, it is not open source, it is shared

source. What it isn’t is middleware, in some

ways it is the anti-middleware. It is not a

replacement for traditional middlewares,

but it does facilitate a new way of

developing video systems.”

STANDARD. “Certainly, for me it’s not a

traditional standard where you have a

governing body with a pool and you

contribute some technology and you can’t

really get under the hood. This is more of an

environment with contributions to different

layers so we can see what’s gone into the

subs-systems and as a semiconductor

vendor it’s critical for us because we do a lot

of things at the lower level and when we

release something it’s a blue sky and we

don’t often got to see the details of the

applications and layers that run above that

and their impact based on our platform.

There is a high degree of transparency so we

can then optimise and contribute. So, RDK

determines which interfaces are open

and/or common then everyone is familiar,

they know how those interfaces behave and

it allows us then as a community to actually

optimise the solution,” says Roger Gregory,

VP marketing for Entropic.

“Having been chairman of the DVB MHP

committee for some years, I have seen a lot

of this before,” warns Anthony Smith-

Chaigneau, senior director product

marketing at NAGRA. “The key here is the

interpretation of open. With RDK you have

to be part of the club; if you have reason not

to join it, in order to protect your own IP,

then you don’t get to see and play with it.

But the premise and the underlying

technology is a natural process and progress

for developing services via the STB, indeed

our OpenTV5 uses many of the same

components and it has been deployed in

DVB networks, which RDK has not.”

“It’s a tool kit; it’s not intended to

provide your EPG or your application.

We’ve found there is a whole community

around RDK that is providing drivers for

the reference platforms and we find we are

able to bring products to market faster

because the foundations are already there.

It allows us to focus on solutions for

customers rather than on the basics. We can

move very quickly with a set top that

already has RDK integrated” says Claussen.

Do common interfaces mean it is 'one

size fits all'?

SOLUTIONS. “No, I think it allows

providers to tailor solutions within their

layers of that ecosystem. If something has

already been done that allows you to get

leverage across an entire industry instead of

repeating work that’s already been done,”

claims Gregory.

“I love the theory... but we’ve been there

before, the problem we have is while you’ve

still got MHP, TiVo, OpenTV5, all

established in the market, it’s a long stretch

to say this will become a global standard.

This is a good and healthy initiative, but I

don’t think it is the panacea of the STB

industry,” warns Smith-Chaigneau.

“The scope of RDK is intentionally

limited,” comments Claussen, “there is a lot

of momentum behind it. We are developing

STBs running RDK, and we provide

software solutions, and we do find it means

we can provide solutions more quickly,

particularly for two-way, always-on,

nets. More and more subscribers are

watching on devices and that means

the service provider needs to make

changes at web speed and have provision

and the business logic in the cloud.”

“That’s right. Having a limited number

of predefined interfaces gives us the best of

the traditional managed world approach

with much of the flexibility and speed of the

‘new’ Android type of approach to

innovation and development,” agrees

Gregory, “and you're leveraging off a much

bigger base than any one company could

offer. It is a framework within which you

can move at the speed of your innovations.”

Will the traction RDK has achieved so

far continue?

ADVANTAGES. “Just about every

customer we have is asking us about open

30 EUROMEDIA

Three letters – RDK - have risen fromobscurity to ubiquity in a short period asReference Development Kit has morphed

from one customer’s spec to a fledgling openplatform. What is RDK now, what might itbe in the future, and does it really have the

potential its proponents claim? In July,Advanced Television brought together threeexecutives well versed in RDK to air their –sometimes divergent – views on its present

and future.

Wat

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on a

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“It is the anti-middleware.” Paul Claussen, Cisco

rdk roundtable_round 29/08/2014 17:05 Page 1

EUROMEDIA 31

standards and RDK in particular. An

operator needs to understand what it hopes

to get out of it. If it wants to deploy services

more quickly and robustly, and take

advantage of advances in the rest of the

industry that’s great. Then you have to ask

if the operator can cope with a much

accelerated release cycle, can they change

their operational behaviour,” queries

Claussen.

“The rhetoric is that it’s free – and that

certainly attracts operators - but someone

has to pay someone for something?” warns

Smith-Chaigneau.

“No ‘Open’ doesn’t mean free, but

operators can save cost by managing their

infrastructure and scaling. In one example

we’ve been working on, we had multi-

service provider with a portfolio of different

client devices, we’ve had one common RDK

block and we’ve worked with the operator to

deliver a fit for purpose platform for their

different networks and shown them where

they can differentiate at the high level

application layer and then, depending on

the territory and the demographic, they

select a different low, mid or high end

device suitable for managing that service,”

says Gregory.

Will big operators become 100%

RDK?

TRANSITION. “It’s a transition and but

there’s genuinely a benefit, we’ve

contributed and we’ve seen the pace of

innovation move up. We’ll be where the

market moves and we’re going to be an

enabler either for augmenting a proprietary

platform or to allow the RDK community to

continue to move forward, we’ll service both

as the industry makes the transition,”

suggests Gregory.

“RDK is free, but that doesn’t mean you

don’t need testing and integrating. What

service providers want is openness because

it brings in additional partners and

suppliers but for us it has really been about

service velocity – shorter time to market,”

declares Claussen.

Could RDK mean the end of the STB?

“The killer app is television, and we

shouldn’t forget that. RDK is just a set of

capabilities that allows us to fit the right

technology for the right medium whether it

is an STB or a device driven from the

cloud,” comments Gregory.

“I think that’s right. There’s a

misconception RDK is the answer to

everything but if you go to RDK Central it

says it right there: it is [just] certain

components. We now have all these features

and functionalities to deliver and we’ve

evangelised about different answers for this.

I think we do need big companies to deliver

these technologies into operator networks

and guarantee they work,” says Smith-

Chaigneau.

LOGIC. “We’re seeing business logic and

routing pushed to the cloud so you can get

as thin a client as possible. But if you look

at the service provider, they have a unique

relationship with the subscriber and they

need that symbolised by a device – a STB or

a gateway in the home - that allows the

provider to think beyond video,” says

Claussen.

What about integration, testing,

compliance?

“There are mechanisms being put in place;

there is a test suite where you can really

harden those interfaces and

implementations – the operators are trying

to develop an environment where the

community will develop and then they will

select the best of breed,” suggests Gregory.

“Sounds like free engineering again to

me,” says Smith-Chaigneau, “and it could be

a mess in a complicated environment like

TV where you have different speeds over

different networks in different countries.”

“RDK is just a piece of the picture, but

with a common set of drivers, it does allow

us to move from a design to a prototype to a

product much faster. Customers are not

expecting us to provide STBs for free or do

integration for free, but they do want

service velocity. The community that’s

growing around RDK is voting with its code,

by putting it in there you are getting a

chance to be first to market and becoming

the expert in a certain area. It remains to be

seen if there will be a certification body.

Operators are going to decide what’s

working for them and contribute it back.

Part of what it is doing is addressing the

sins of past middleware environments

where we just couldn’t get out of our own

way and innovate fast enough. There are

more operators looking at joining RDK in

Europe and beyond,” declares Claussen.

“I do think there’s a problem in the

structure. There are companies being very

careful about what they develop that

touches RDK because they’d have to put in,

and you lose control of the Intellectual

Property,” says Smith-Chaigneau.

“Anthony’s right; you don’t need RDK to

innovate,” agrees Gregory, “but it has

achieved a level of stability good enough

that all the silicon makers are providing

drivers for the new generations of chips.”

Where will RDK be in five years?

“Looking at proprietary middlewares - we

were heavily involved in OCAP – it

promised a lot but each vendor

implemented it differently so each

modification from different suppliers meant

a test and integration burden for the

operator. Also OCAP and MHP were very

wide domains with many flavours but with

RDK there is one tip of tree and regular

releases,” says Clausen.

“But there was a reference

implementation of MHP and OCAP; RDK,

for me, is too much based around Comcast’s

business model and what’s best for them,”

declares Smith-Chaigneau.

“I think RDK is going to bring value to

operators and you are going to see more

developments. We work with operators in

Europe and beyond who are seriously

considering adopting it as a technology and

you’re going to see people augment the

platform and make it fit for purpose for

their own market,” concludes Gregory.

“I do think there’s a problem in the structure.”Anthony Smith-Chaigneau, NAGRA

“RDK is going to bring value to operators.” Roger Gregory, Entropic

rdk roundtable_round 29/08/2014 17:05 Page 2