UHD SPECIAL - AUTUMN 2017 UHD_AUTUMN 2017 | Page 8

BT: UK leads the world in sports production

Jamie Hindhaugh, COO of BT Sport, has suggested that the UK is way ahead of the rest of the world with its ambition in live sports production, enabling the telco better to engage with its viewers and demonstrate to its rights-holder partners the value it is delivering.

Delivering a keynote address at the IHS Markit 2017 London Media and Technology Conference, Hindhaugh outlined the benefits of the telco developing its broadcast operations from scratch in 2012 prior to its launch in 2013.“ We were the first DPP-compliant broadcaster,” he noted, declaring that more recently, BT was“ way ahead of the curve” in its 4K coverage, with some 70 live events in the first year.
As host broadcaster for the UEFA Champions League Final in Cardiff on June 3 rd 2017, BT was able to introduce a number of initiatives in conjunction with partners across
the televisual and technology sectors, with the game available for the first time in 4K UHD on YouTube and 4K UHD with Dolby Atmos sound on BT TV. A special screening in London using High Dynamic Range( HDR) technology with Dolby Atmos sound was described by Hindhaugh as offering the world’ s“ best-ever picture and best-ever sound” for such an event.“ It demonstrates to our rights partners what we can achieve,” he suggested.
In addition, BT Sport gave away free Virtual Reality( VR) Google Cardboard headsets to football fans ahead of the game, with the final available through a number of 360 ° streams via YouTube and also in a new BT Sport Virtual Reality App which allowed viewers to choose between a 360 ° produced programme with commentary and graphics, or select their own camera viewpoint.
“ The reaction [ to the VR initiative ] has been phenomenal,” Hindhaugh reported, stressing that such initiatives were not designed as a replacement for 4K.“ It’ s about getting audiences to engage in a different way.”
ETRI joins HEVC Advance
HEVC Advance, an independent licensing administrator, has confirmed that Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute( ETRI) of the Republic of Korea has become a Licensor of the HEVC Advance HEVC / H. 265 Licensing Programme. As a Licensor, ETRI will make its
essential patents available through the HEVC Advance patent pool, which provides a transparent and efficient licensing programme for HEVC / H. 265 essential patents.
HEVC / H. 265 offers the next generation video compression features needed to meet consumers’ immediate and rapidly growing demand for 4K Ultra High Definition( 4K UHD) video delivered
seamlessly to screens ranging from the largest monitors to the smallest smart phones. ETRI is a world-wide research institute established in 1976 with over 2,000 employees and over 28,000 patents. ETRI’ s mission is to make contributions to the Korean nation’ s economic and social development through research, development and distribution of industrial core technologies in the field of Information, Communications, Electronics, Broadcasting and Convergence technologies.
“ We are very pleased that ETRI has chosen to support our efforts at HEVC Advance to facilitate the efficient licensing of the HEVC / H. 265 IP that makes 4K UHD technology possible,” said HEVC Advance CEO, Peter Moller.“ Having the support of one of the world’ s leading research institutes with important patented contributions to HEVC / H. 265 technology will help eliminate HEVC / H. 265 IP barriers and further accelerate 4K UHD adoption.”
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