BRIDGING BROADCAST
Savvy broadcasters are using software to reap the benefits of
emerging technologies whilst making the most of existing assets.
Charlotte Hathway reports
It’s no secret that the way people
watch TV has evolved rapidly over the
last decade. Today’s viewers expect
quality, convenience, and innovation,
and broadcasters must rise to that
challenge to compete in an increasingly
complex ecosystem.
Success rests on balancing new
investments with making the most
of existing devices, services and
infrastructure. In this climate, FPGAs
are coming to the fore.
Rob Green, Senior Manager, Pro AV
& Broadcast at Xilinx, explained, “You
can use an FPGA or programmable
devices for whatever application
you want. That might be creating a
different interface standard, for video
processing or compression, as a
wireless base station processor, or as
a consumer TV video processor.
“The same device can be
reprogrammed using software in
different ways. Broadcasters really like
this, because rather than building a
specific device for that function, they
can use these devices to innovate and
to play with video quality and to make
the device do exactly what they want.”
FPGAs are being used across
every stage of production from the
digital video camera and pre- or postprocessing
of the captured video
and audio content, through to video
compression, editing and distribution.
There are a lot of options here, and
broadcasters are looking at FPGAs
that can deliver high performance,
flexibility, obsolescence proof and low
development costs.
In broadcast, it’s common to see
camera, sensor and display technology
improvements trickling across the
whole production workflow, pushing
production to innovate and make
the most of those improvements.
This drives a requirement for higher
bandwidth, better video processing
capabilities, or the use of compression
as a larger number of frames per
second or a deeper colour, for
example, mean more data being sent.
This is where the ongoing move to
IP networks for broadcast comes in.
A new standard, SMPTE ST 2110, is
being adopted across the industry as
the way to send digital video over an
IP network, largely due to it being open
and interoperable.
In the UK, the BBC’s Research
& Development’s IP Studio team
provides regular updates on what the
broadcaster is doing to prepare for
future requirements. In a November
blogpost, authored by Peter Brightwell,
Lead Engineer at BBC R&D, the team
discussed improving the networking
and compute technologies that are
used in broadcast facilities, the
mechanisms to connect, control and
these, and how we can benefit from
cloud computing.
In a follow up conversation,
Brightwell explained, “One area we’ve
been working on is moving broadcast
production facilities to IP working,
and we’ve simultaneously moved to
distributing content using IP. There’s
a lot more flexibility and capacity for
new content, and potentially scope for
cost savings as you can use generic
components more easily.”
This chimes with the view of Xilinx’s
Green. He said, “Video over IP gives
broadcasters a lot of benefits in
terms of operational efficiency. You
can use equipment anywhere on the
network. It doesn’t have to be specific
to a particular application. You can
put lots of channels within the same
ethernet link. To move from HD to 4K
to 8K, you just need faster ethernet,
you don’t need a new standard like you
do with DisplayPort or HDMI or any of
those other connectivity evolutions.
“I think we’ll all go to IP, eventually,
so there won’t be lots of different
interfaces into your PC, monitor or
anything else. It’ll all be IP based,
packetised, and probably internetbased.”
That, of course, won’t happen
overnight. Green suggested that shift
will be a gradual one. “I’d say within
10 years. It’s not going to be quick.
There’s going to be lots of legacy
standards.”
Understanding resolution options
Broadcasters are also experimenting
with what will come after HD.
Streaming services like Netflix, Hulu,
Amazon are focusing on 4K, and there
is some demand for 8K. This year’s
Olympic Games, held in Tokyo, will
deliver coverage with 8K at the start
of the chain. It remains to be seen
whether that quality will be delivered
outside of Japan, but these projects
will push the technology forward.
Xilinx’s Green explained why
deeper and higher dynamic range
requirements are being spotlighted.
He said, “Arguably, HD HDR (high
definition high dynamic range) is better
than non-HDR 4K. It’s not just a fact of
bigger frame sizes providing a higher
quality picture. It’s a combination of all
of these. HDR is probably the one that
customers and consumers will see
a much more impactful difference to
their viewing habit.”
He explained that when we talk
about “high dynamic range, there’s
“To move from
HD to 4K to 8K,
you just need
faster ethernet,
you don’t need
a new standard
like you do with
DisplayPort or
HDMI or any
of those other
connectivity
evolutions.”
Rob Green, Xilinx
24 14 January 2020 www.newelectronics.co.uk
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