In Broadcast - November 2015 - 73


73

www.inbroadcast.com | Vol: 5 - Issue 11 | November 2015

InFocus

Dramatic Graphics
"The advances in the technology
for VR and AR have made them look
more realistic," he explains. "When
virtual sets were first introduced they
were quite gimmicky and not realistic
looking. Now we can make them more
realistic, so we are seeing more of a
resurgence in it."
Today VR and, particularly, AR
are used in a similar way to more
conventional graphics, which Page
says gives broadcasters greater
freedom and creates a more seamless
on screen presentation: "We can bring
the analytics into the studio, rather
than cut away to a graphic. AR can also
be used to enhance the visual appeal
of a broadcast, by putting graphics
over a venue or bringing in huge vistas
of sports stadiums into the studio. All
this all gives people a greater feeling
of the event and makes them more
involved."
Page comments that AR is possibly
easier to achieve because there is a
physical set, with the graphics making
"a nice addition". The benefit, he adds,
is that if AR isn't needed, there is still
the basic studio, while VR always has
to be used. "But you can switch to

cont'd...

different looks and sets," he says.
Jesper Gawell at ChyronHego
comments that virtual graphics are
now easier to work with, making a
major change from the past. "Our
approach is to treat virtual sets, AR
and graphics for ultra-high resolution
video walls in the same way we treat
traditional overlay graphics," he says.
"Using a template based workflow,
connected to a newsroom control
system, creating graphics for AR is now
as easy as creating a lower third."
Pushing Forward
Just as graphics systems have
matured for existing TV production
formats and operational practices, the
market looks set to move on again with
4K and UHD. Gawell says that 4K is
just one of many formats ChyronHego,
and the market in general, is facing.
"We need to be able to support any
resolution, so we have embraced the
philosophy around 'Xk' as we need to
make sure all our graphics products
are able to support basically any
resolution. We have customers such as
BT Sport, which uses our graphics for
live 4K productions, but at the same

Vizrt Nova TV virtual studio
- Inset: green screen
Vizrt augmented
reality studio for NRK

time, there are customers who are
just in the process of moving from SD
to HD. This is the world we live in and
our systems need to support all these
applications."
Pixel Power is looking to launch 4K
graphics during the first quarter of
2016, and while James Gilbert says
there is some interest from "a few
customers", he doesn't see it being
the company's "bread and butter"
for some years yet. In terms of
displays and domestic TV sets, Gilbert
says HDR, which is now a growing
technology, will have to be "an endto-end" system - from acquisition to
delivery - in order to make an impact.
Ofir Benovici says Avid/Orad is
already generating 4K graphics, with

most demand coming primarily from
Japan and aimed at the high end.
"It may take time until 4K becomes
mainstream," he says, "so HDR is a
step on the way to it and will improve
picture quality."
This year's IBC was almost awash
with HDR and Benovici agrees that the
show was the first time he had seen
people talking seriously about the
technology for real-time production,
although it may still be too early for
general implementation. Either way
there is still a lot more to come from
the graphics sector as broadcasting
pushes on into the future.
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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of In Broadcast - November 2015
