Asia-Pacific Broadcasting (APB) November 2017 Volume 34, Issue 9

NEWS & VIEWS
November 2017
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NEWS & VIEWS
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W O R L D I N B R I E F
Asia-Pacific will record
biggest AVoD market
BEIJING – Led by China, Asia-
Pacific will overtake North Amer-
ica as the leading advertising
video-on-demand (AVoD) region
in the world by 2021. A new re-
port by Digital TV Research also
revealed that, collectively, the two
regions will account for 77% of
the global total by 2022.
BBC to produce more
original content
LONDON – UK media regulator
Ofcom has mandated that at least
75% of all programme hours on
the BBC’s most popular channels
must be original productions
commissioned by the BBC for UK
audiences.
Putting a CAP on piracy
HONG KONG – CASBAA has
announced the formation of the
Coalition Against Piracy (CAP),
a major initiative to coordinate
industry resources in the fight
against rampant content theft.
CAP’s members include some of
the leading video content crea-
tors and distributors in Asia.
CREATION
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MANAGEMENT
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DISTRIBUTION
| NOVEMBER 2017 | VOLUME 34 | ISSUE 9
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X-PLATFORM
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HD+HDR – a compelling
alternative to 4K/UHD?
by shawn liew
GENEVA – Embracing new tech-
nologies has been one of the
clarion calls issued to broadcasters
in recent times. In the digital era
where viewers have more choices
than ever before to consume con-
tent, will new technologies prove to
be the game changer in the race to
retain eyeballs?
One technology which has
been fiercely debated, and em-
braced by some broadcasters, is
4K/Ultra HD (UHD), which theoreti-
cally offers four times the resolu-
tion of HD.
A year ago, the DVB Project,
in a bid to offer standardisation
and interoperability for 4K/UHD,
announced the UHD-1 Phase 2
specification. To enhance video
and audio quality for broadcast TV
services, UHD-1 Phase 2 supports
Hybrid Log Gamma (HLG) and
Perceptual Quantiser (PQ) transfer
Broadcasters should also consider the possibility of introducing HDR, HFR,
WCG or NGA in combination with HD, according to Dr Peter Siebert, executive
director, DVB Project.
functions, and also includes fea-
tures such as high dynamic range
(HDR), high frame rate (HFR), wide
colour gamut (WCG) and next-
generation audio (NGA) to support
4K/UHD resolution (3840x2160).
And while the DVB Project is
continuing its efforts to support
4K/UHDTV, one of its main displays
at IBC2017 involved the demon-
stration of HDR and HFR with HD.
Dr Peter Siebert, executive di-
rector, DVB Project, told APB: “The
UHD-1 Phase 2 specification spe-
cifically allows that the advanced
features [of HDR, HFR, WCG and
NGA] can also be combined with
resolutions smaller than UHD,
especially with the HD resolution
(1920x1080) in combination with
progressive scanning (1080p).
“This is also in line with UHD
Forum Recommendations … and
it is the DVB’s position that broad-
casters are free to use either UHD
or HD resolution in combination
with the advanced features, de-
pending on their requirements.”
In Asia-Pacific, countries such
as Japan and South Korea have
already begun 4K/UHD broadcast
transmissions, although for many
other Asian countries, the tran-
sition from SD to HD is still an
ongoing process. Thus, in these
countries will HD+HDR, for in-
stance, be more viable, from both
cost and technology perspectives?
There are two key considera-
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Broadcasters must respond effectively to market signals
KUALA LUMPUR – As the way people consume
content continues to change, broadcasters need
to understand what each piece of technology
they deploy is capable of doing, said Dr Amal
Punchihewa, director of technology and inno-
vation, Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU).
Dr Amal was speaking at the ABU’s 5th
regional workshop on OTT and integrate
broadcast/broadband technologies and services
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for media. The three-day workshop last month
introduced IP technologies and addressed some
of the main issues that broadcasters are facing
when they want to introduce over-the-top (OTT)
and integrated broadcast-broadband (IBB)
production and delivery within their portfolios.
Dr Amal said: “One of the key discussion
points at IBC2017 was also seamless navigation.
You can have lots of content but how do you
find them? Technologies such as IBB, HbbTV and
hybridcast exist to help the discovery process.”
OTT has “completely changed” the land-
scape of broadcasting, and will play an in-
creasingly key role in the delivery of content,
declared Dr Leon Mun Wai Yuen, head, Sony
EMCS (Malay­sia). “The entry level has become
so low for operators to stream content over OTT.
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