UltraHD

It’s the week that ends with Black Friday Crazy, which means it’s time to start thinking about holiday gifts. To assist you in your list, we asked our tech-side sages for advice.

Specifically, we asked the video engineering brain trust this simple question: “What are you telling your family and friends, when they ask you if they should buy an UltraHD / 4K TV?”

The overwhelming majority (24 of 40+ responses) replied with variations on “wait.”

Here’s a sampling:

“Wait. Set prices are still too high, programming still too limited. But hey – if you’ve got money to burn, knock yourself out.”

“Buy one only if you’re a gamer. Otherwise wait a year.”

“Watch the color space specs to determine when to jump. I want one now but I’m making myself wait.”

“Wait for price drop. Wait for 10-bit panels and High Dynamic Range,” wrote one broadcast-side engineer, who, like many content-side technologists, likes to point out that 4K television isn’t just about resolution.

The #2 most repeated response: Not enough content created in 4K exists to feed the sets. (Note that almost all 4K/UHD sets contain within them ways to add bits to the picture, known in the lingo as “up-rezzing,” which exercises the resolution of the picture. Note also that content-side people sniff at this. “It’d be like you painting a masterpiece,” one snarked, “then handing it to the guy to hang it on a wall, who proceeds to add more paint to it.”)

“Just say no. No content,” wrote one engineering pal.

“If you like watching YouTube videos in 4K, then go ahead. Otherwise there’s pretty much no video content — a few things on Netflix soon, but definitely not ready yet.”

Other notable observations: “Don’t bother. Go get one of the last remaining plasmas while you still can and enjoy a good picture.”

And, as sustained proof that engineers are pretty funny people, this dandy: “If you really want to confuse them, tell them to wait for 8k.”

My personal favorite, from pal Stewart Schley: “I mostly like to gently suggest not watching television at all, even in standard definition. But that’s just me…”

Happy Thanksgiving and may your television acquisition quests be suitably informed.

This column originally appeared in the Platforms section of Multichannel News.

This week, the people of broadcast television make their way to Las Vegas, for the annual gathering of the National Association of Broadcasters.

For broadcasters in particular, it’s a weird time to be in television. The word itself — television — is equal parts strongly nostalgic, and tele-vestigial. Say “television” to a millennial, you’re a relic. Say it to any of us who grew up with that one screen as the central viewing device, it’s home.

The identity crisis facing traditional television is evident even in the show’s tagline this year: “Where Content Comes to Life.”

We took a quick poll of our favorite go-to, broadcast-side technologists over the last few weeks, to find out what’s on their shopping lists for this year’s show. Not surprisingly, 4K video, and its consumer-facing brand, UltraHD, will be the main event — but not all technologists are convinced it’s a go.

“I want to see if live TV production gear, like big production switchers, has made any progress — we’re building a big new production facility, but so far it’s only being outfitted for HD,” said one network-side technologist.

Refresher: UltraHD and 4K video is the next big thing coming from the consumer electronics side of the television eco-system — but the rest of that eco-system is still catching up. From the HDMI connectors into 4KTVs, to the physical media (Blu-Ray is arguably still “not big enough” to hold 4K video), to the bandwidth requirements, to the cameras, and whatever else we’re missing, there’s work to be done.

But! The challenges facing the rollout of 4K are nearly identical to those facing HD, when it first hit the market. And if the NAB show floor is any indication, and to use a medical analogy — there are plenty of white blood cells flooding all the problem areas, seeking to make each juncture healthy and well.

And then there’s the other stuff that typically lines the floor of a convention for broadcast engineers.

Or not.

“Betcha I don’t see any transmitters or towers,” said another, who wondered when the “B” in “NAB” switches from “Broadcasters” to “Broadband.”

And, like everywhere else, “cloud” and the transition to Internet Protocol everything, from image capture to production to post-production to screen,” will crowd the exhibit hall. “It will be interesting to see how many possible functions can be stuffed into the cloud, or say that they can,” noted a content-side technologist.

Added another: “Wait a minute: If a broadcast tower is high enough, does that count as being in the cloud?”

Ah, the existential engineers in our tele-vestigial worlds. What would we do without them?

This column originally appeared in the Platforms section of Multichannel News.

LAS VEGAS — At this writing, my feet have logged three days and 15.2 miles of walking the 1.8 million square feet of 2014 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES), and there’s still two days of Show to go. Here’s the bigger takeaways so far.

1: This is the year we all were made acutely aware of how dumb our homes are. And everything in them. It is Sensor City at CES this year, with everything from connected toothbrushes (perhaps to go with last year’s connected forks?) to connected washing machines (which will send you a text message if you forget to move a load to the dryer.)

People call this “the Internet of Things,” of course, and “the Internet of Everything.”

A common refrain, during demos: “And after you pair your (name of dumb thing) to your house, you can (make your house / your thing smart.)” Ask the oven what it’s doing. Ask the dishwasher. The garage door. It goes on and on and on.

2: If it doesn’t come with a sensor, it comes with a camera. We saw a small rubber ball outfitted with six tiny cameras (for law enforcement to throw or roll into a room, to get a better look before entering.) Cameras that clip onto the bathing suit, to stream live video directly to Facebook (great.)

3. Health and fitness gadgets, which go under the category of “wearable technology,” took up 25,000 square feet of exhibit space this year, and are further proof that CES is a hypochondriac’s paradise. Alongside the now-saturated wearable pedometer marketplace, there were wristbands that measure the amount of sun your skin is receiving, and gadgets that collect 5,000 data points from your body — every hour.

There was even a fitness collar for your dog, to track its breathing and heart rate and so on. (A companion app ties to veterinarians and health records.)

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention 4K television, which also goes by UltraHD. It was (predictably) everywhere, and sure, it’s gorgeous. It’s also still way ahead of the rest of the television ecosystem, from the cameras that can film in 4K, to the HDMI connector on the set itself — and everything in between.

I’ll stick with a 2013 observation about 4K: If it’s of interest to you, find somewhere else for the bookcase, or whatever else is currently occupying your largest wall.

This column originally appeared in the Platforms section of Multichanel News.

Here’s some good news from the Land of Connectors: We’re not going to have to replace all those spendy HDMI cables we’ve been buying for the last decade, when the next chapter in HDTVs enters the marketplace.

That’s because of a development called HDMI 2.0 (where HDMI stands for High Definition Multimedia Interface), which aims to resolve what could’ve been a “last foot bottleneck” for super-fat video streams, like 4K television.

The concern, before 2.0 surfaced, was that yet another core device in our digital lives (the television) would need a new connector and cable. Again!

If you’re in a household with an iPhone4 and an iPhone5, or an older and newer iPad, or an older or newer Macbook Air, you know how irritating this is.

On the surface, HDMI 2.0 solves one in a long chain of obstacles facing 4K/UltraHD television: Available bandwidth, at the very last juncture before images and sound reach the eyeballs and ears. Meaning the cable and connector that feeds the TV.

When native 4K content becomes available (ETA: anyone’s guess), it will be substantially bigger than the best HD you’ve yet seen. Even with the best compression on the market today (H.264), 4K weighs in at 17 Megabits per second (Mbps.) That’s a lot.

HDMI 2.0 expands the connectivity bandwidth to 18 Gigabits per second, and, more importantly, increases the number of frames per second (fps) to 60. That’ll be good for sports and gamers; most movies are shot at 24 frames per second, and that’s unlikely to change.

And, that bandwidth can be manipulated to serve up two lower-resolution streams, on the same screen. For when you want to watch the movie and your mate wants to play Space Biff, I s’pose.

But wait! There’s more: Way better audio. HDMI 2.0 offers 32 audio channels, up from eight.

And now let’s talk about those things that might connect over HDMI 2.0. Right now, native 4K content is pretty limited. That’s likely to persist, at least until cameras, production trucks and workflow tools catch up.

Optical disc technologies, like Blu-Ray, are also among the things in the UltraHD landscape that likely don’t have a big enough carrying capacity. So it’s unlikely that we’ll be getting 4K content via packaged media/DVDs anytime soon.

What about set-top boxes, gateways, and those things in the home that deliver cable channels to TVs? Alas. They’re not likely to take a software download that bumps their HDMI connector to 2.0 status, but, that’s not the end of the world. Delivering 4K will almost assuredly require a new box anyway, because they’ll need the newer form of decompression – HEVC, for High Efficiency Video Coding (which also goes by h.265.)

Regardless, any technological development that doesn’t necessitate the purchase of new connectors, wires or chargers, is ok by me.

This column originally appeared in the Platforms section of Multichannel News.

Among the list of barriers facing the next version of high definition television – UltraHD, or “4K” —  is the matter of how to store it. Blu-Ray disc, so named for the color of the laser that pulls the images and sound off of the plastic disc, likely isn’t big enough for 4K.

There’s no real answer yet to the question of “then what?,” but it’s safe to assume some kind of format scuffle is next. Why: Because this happens almost every time video gets better.

The long history that is storing video for “anytime/anywhere” consumption dates back to the 1930s. That’s when General Electric plunked a 16mm film camera in front of a monitor, synced it to the monitor’s scanning rate, and called it “Kinescope.” (The inventor was named Vladimir Zworkin.)

Then came “Quadruplex,” in 1956, and the first analog recording method that used two-inch tape, instead of film (which cost a lot more.) Its creator, Ampex Corp, also won a format war — against contenders like Bing Crosby Industries, among others. (The “quad” referred to the four magnetic heads that had to be mechanically aligned to work, making maintenance a nightmare.)

Other videotape formats came and went (one-inch IVC helical scan, anyone?), but the next biggie was Sony’s “UMatic” ¾-inch video tape recorders (VTRs), in 1971. Studios loved UMatic machines because of the uniformity and interoperability of what was the first cassette based method — any cassette would play in any UMatic, without all the constant manual futzing.

Next: Cartrivision, in the mid-70s, and the first consumer-facing videocassette format. Then the big Betamax vs. VHS scuffle, in the early ‘80s.

Remember laser discs? Early ‘80s. It too won out over a competing format from RCA. Laser discs were far sturdier than tape, but too spendy for mainstream. Plus they didn’t record.

Digital video discs (DVDs) emerged coincident with standard definition digital TVs, in the mid’90s, and also survived a minor format war, although less notorious than Betamax v. VHS.

The most recent format feud crowned Blu-Ray disc as the winner, over HD-DVD. That’s when high definition TV entered the scene, with 6x the picture information of SD. That was about seven years ago.

UltraHD will surely add another chapter to the story that is packaged video storage. Does it foreshadow another format clash? History tends to repeat, especially in this topic. So if the timing pattern works the same (half as much time as the prior battle), we should be knee-deep in it by the summer of 2016. 

This column originally appeared in the Platforms section of Multichannel News.

By now, you’ve probably heard the long list of reasons why UltraHD television is hobbled, even as it dazzles its way to the starting line. Some already liken it to 3DTV, in terms of non-starters.

This week’s translation examines why it’s a bad idea to dismiss UltraHDTV so soon.  Why? Because we’ve seen this movie before. Think back to when HDTV began. Very similar obstacles.

Let’s start with price. Right now, buying a 4K television means finding $20,000 in spare change. But! Ten years ago, the MSRP for a 40-inch HDTV was $30,000. The one constant in consumer electronics is the race to low prices.

And then there’s the matter of an UltraHD signal being too big to move over the digital HDMI cables that connect peripherals (BluRay players, set-tops) to HDTVs today.

Ahem. HDMI cables started lightening our wallets, $50 at a time, when HDTV began.

Speaking of Blu-Ray players: The concern is real that UltraHD will outstrip the technical capabilities of optical disc technology — which would create a need for another form of packaged media.

This one should seem doubly familiar, because of what happens next: Format wars. VHS vs. beta, in the olden days; HD-DVD vs. Blu-Ray, in the most recent chapter.

Then there’s the distribution riddle: How to move an UltraHD signal that’s four times as big as a “regular HD” signal, through wired and wireless networks that are already seriously space-challenged.

Remember? HDTV contains 6X the picture information of standard definition digital TV. Bandwidth concerns were (and still are) real. Ten years ago, cable engineers debated whether they’d ever be able to carry 25 HD channels. Better compression and bandwidth management are your best friends (forever!) on that one.

For content creators, UltraHD cameras don’t yet exist that can be deployed at scale. Ditto for editing suite components.

If the upcoming National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) show is any indicator, the vendor marketplace for UltraHD cameras, production gear, and editing suite paraphernalia will catch up.  It just will. It’s a huge business.

So, don’t dismiss UltraHD just yet. Its barriers are not unique, and will very likely resolve themselves.

No, if there’s one thing that will block the success of UltraHD, it’s wall space.  One only notices the gorgeousness of UltraHD displays when they’re huge – 85 inches and up. At the 2013 International CES, for instance, two displays — one “regular” HD, one UltraHD — were shown on side-by-side 55” screens. The picture quality difference was difficult to discern.

This means we have about eight years to figure out where to move the bookcase, to free up a wall for that much better — and much, much bigger – UltraHD TV.

This column originally appeared in the Platforms section of Multichannel News.

The Consumer Electronics Show is in full swing at this writing, and as a person who arrives early and leaves late, here’s a few observations.

1. It’s a hypochondriac’s paradise! A wide corridor in the South Hall pulsed with electronic tools for a thinner, fitter world. The digital pedometer wars are on, for starters, and as someone addicted to 10,000 steps/day (year four!), it got my attention. (Especially because my new Nike Fuelband conveniently broke on the first day of the show.)

One vendor – HapiLabs (where the “hapi” is pronounced like the emotion) staved off crowds seeking a peek at its “smart fork.” It vibrates if you eat too quickly. Yes there’s a companion app for your smartphone….

2. Everyone, even the people who make the tumbler locks on your doors, wants to secure and automate your home. It’s another manifestation of advanced fragmentation: The alarm guys are here with home automation mechanisms, as are the tumbler lock guys, and the in-home wiring guys. And the cable guys, for that matter.

3. “The Internet of Things” is alive and well at CES. By now you’ve perhaps given some thought to how many things (computers, tablets, phones) in your life need an Internet connection. Consensus estimation is 10, per household, by 2015; most hard-core tech-enthusiasts are easily in the 30s right now.

4. And largely, that’s before factoring in things that will make use of things like Pandora, or Spotify – your smart TV, your lights, your fridge. Whirlpool demonstrated a kitchen suite with high-end speakers for Internet and/or local audio streaming; Samsung showed a TV with a screen with sound and a browser (think epicurious.com on a stationary screen, rather than perching the laptop on the counter.)

One new vendor – “Smart Things” – aims to use the protocols of the Zigbee Alliance to make our dumb things (lights, thermostats, garage doors, windows) smart.

Probably the big standout, though, was the next chapter in HD — “Ultra HD,” the re-brand of “4K” — there are 8K and 16K versions lined up behind it. If you remember the first you saw HDTV, and thought “wow, this is better than my eyes can see” – Ultra HD is better than that. Stunning visuals.

It’s a long way off, though, much to the chagrin of the CE vendors, who seek the next HD slam dunk. Why: Content doesn’t yet exist that’s high enough in resolution to exercise the capabilities of the $20,000 screens. Forget about “down-rez” (down-sizing resolution) issues. With Ultra-HD, “up-rez” tends to pop up in conversations – how to add bits to existing, Blu-Ray-grade content, to make it rich enough for the screens. And: Cameras and editing gear doesn’t yet exist; the bandwidth to carry it is formidable; it’s too big for HDMI cables … and that’s the short list.

Back to the floor…

This column originally appeared in the Platforms section of Multichannel News.