NAB: The Surge Of 4K Technology - Pt 1

From higher frame rates to perfecting file-based workflows and perfect loudness solutions, going to Vegas will open a lot of eyes and ears to new ways of working, writes George Jarrett...
NAB will be about the gold rush branded as 4K, and exposing false assumptions that 3D has been and gone. ‘Workflow’ will be the word that is done to death. Last year at NAB and IBC we saw multiple technical initiatives waiting on the enabling power of HEVC (notably the doubling of data compression and 9192x4320 capability), so expect this to be on everyone’s lips too.
There will be a heavy focus on both versions of 4K, but it will be the high end that moves on - with higher frame rates and building production chains using 16 bits from front to back. Luckily, ACES (The Academy Color Encoding System) has arrived for everyone, right across the business of creating movies and commercials. Pragmatic TV people should also take note, but what does it do for you?
For production teams, particularly the DOP, it eliminates uncertainty between on-set look management and downstream colour correction, by standardising viewing transforms and output display targets.
It preserves the full range of highlights, shadows and colours captured on-set for use throughout the post and mastering processes; it relates an 18% exposure to a common viewing brightness on monitors and projectors, allowing you to use traditional photometric tools for exposure control; it provides you with a colour space and encoding reference for the application of ASC CDL values; and, it points to future expansion of the creative palette by removing the limitations of legacy workflows such as Cineon and Rec. ITU-R BT.709. Those old treasures fall down on precision, colour gamut and dynamic range capabilities. For VFX and post people, ACES enables the reliable, unambiguous interchange of images from all film and digital sources; supports custom look development without making changes to the original untouched source images; and it simplifies the colour matching of images from different digital, film and CGI sources.
For production companies and other content owners, ACES offers simpler re-mastering for non-theatrical distribution platforms, it deploys a standardised archival file format and preserves the highest quality images for use with next-generation display technologies. At NAB, one of the best demos to see will involve the Quantel Pablo Rio V2 controlling 16-bit real-time 4K finishing. Another demo to catch will be Sony’s ‘4K live’ preview of technologies to come.
Looking at the show
There will be 122 first time exhibitors. NAB is broken into convenient exhibit communities and the non-show attractions that catch the eye include the Content Market set to run at the Wynn and Encore Hotels, a Start Up Loft designed to expose the next big thing and Connected Media World. A swath of conferences fall under eight different headings (see the web site), but The Technology Summit on Cinema (April 6-7) will attract the biggest audiences for its insight into the values and inherent problems of higher frame rates, consumer perceptual requirements for higher quality images and sound, plus 3D film conversion issues and advantages. The Super Session looks at the display technologies of the future, mapping a future for broadcast TV, and workflows for mission critical events also look attractive.
Harris Broadcast will major on new test and measurement lines and new features under its Videotek banner – such as loudness monitoring and enhanced multi image display performance. The aim is to improve T&M in the compressed domain. The show demo will concentrate on the simultaneous testing and monitoring of multiple streams, and the concept of shadow testing other background signals. The genuinely new products will be the DL-870 legaliser for every signal from SD to 3G, and the test signal generator VSG-4TSG. This completes a portfolio of 3 GS/s capable T&M products.
Harris has also advanced its routing side with the Platinum IP3 and its ability to handle video, audio and data paths in the single frame. This system also scales to the multi-frame configurations common to large media operations. The plus factors include cutting the costs of peripheral kit and complex cabling, and improved on-air security. The thing to check out is the triple path architecture and the ability to cover the high bandwidth requirements of 4K. The IP3 delivers you up to 576X1024, from a single 28RUI frame, and scales to 2028X2048 in multi-frame mode.
Grass Valley has released new software for its GV STRATUS nonlinear production tool. Claiming over 1,500 seats worldwide, GV has answered user requests for increased workflow efficiency. It comes via automated, rules-based file operations, and there is a nonlinear, low-resolution proxy editor too.
Based on a combo of SOA and GUI, GV is pushing the concept of nonlinear editing/production into operational mergers in broadcasters and media companies, the concept being that the work defines the tool set. Come NAB GV will be talking about the results of beta testing new feature sets. These will expand the scope of integrated, nonlinear production workflows with web publishing features. And multiple STRATUS sites will be able to connect to each other for content browsing and managing transfers.
Arri has been busy boosting its Alexa system with DOP inspired tools for its XT cameras. Trading wise, the ALEXA XT, ALEXA XT M, ALEXA XT Plus and ALEXA XT studio systems will replace all previous models bar the original ALEXA. Users can buy individual upgrades that deliver most of the new features.
Of top interest is the new XR Module, a side panel co- developed with Codex, to replace the original SxS module.
Think smaller, lighter, cheaper and cable-free camera for recording ARRIRAW up to 120 fps onto exceptionally fast and rugged 512 GB XR capture drives. ProRes or DNxHD can also be captured to the XR drive, giving longer recording times as well as ProRes 4444 recording at 120 fps. Armed with an SxS adapter you can record ProRes or DNxHD to a single SxS PRO card.
All XT cameras are equipped with a lens data mount. The ARRI Lens Data System (LDS) reads the position of all lens rings and writes them into metadata in every format ALEXA records.
Upgrades for existing ALEXA cameras give users most of the XT functionality, but the big attraction is being able to record ARRIRAW up to 120 fps. Off the camera, the XR capture drive offers a number of different routes into post. First, a USB3 single dock allows quick and safe copying of data onto a laptop. Second, the Dual Dock can make clones of XR capture drives and connect to a Mac Pro via a high-speed SAS interface for copying, archiving or dailies creation. Third, the Codex Vault is a modular and rugged all-in-one solution for fast and easy copying, archiving, reporting or dailies creation.
Panasonic
One of the biggest talking points at NAB will be the ‘micro colour splitters’ developed to separate light that falls on image sensors, by exploiting the wavelike properties. The biggest apparent impact is the vast improvement in low-light shooting.
The technical claim is that approximately double the colour sensitivity is achieved, in comparison with conventional sensors that use colour filters. The applications go way beyond shooting TV content into new smartphone, still camera, industry and healthcare applications.
The technical components: colour alignment betters filters in the efficient use if light; micro colour splitters can simply replace the colour filters in conventional image sensors, and are not dependent on the type of image sensor; and, micro colour splitters can be fabricated using inorganic materials and existing semiconductor fabrication processes.
Read the article in the online edition of Regional Film and Video here.