In Broadcast - August 2019 - 52

www.inbroadcast.com | Vol: 9 - Issue 7 | August 2019

InStudio

Arena Television Streamlines
HDR / SDR Production
AJA Video's AJA FS-HDR HDR converter/frame synchroniser solved the simultaneous delivery conundrum
for Arena Television during coverage of the FA Cup Final...

s broadcasters across Europe
look to reinvigorate the audience
experience, production professionals
are rapidly getting on board with HDR.
Although HDR displays are not yet
standard in most homes, video acquired
in HDR and delivered in SDR can still
enhance the viewing experience, which
has production teams looking at how
they can best deliver simultaneous live
HDR and SDR feeds.
This trend introduces new challenges
that OB powerhouse Arena Television
is looking to solve. Drawing on
its experiences with clients like
the BBC, ITV and Sky Sports, the
company has established a single
HDR workflow concept to deliver live
broadcasts in HDR and SDR, with SDR
gaining from the HDR source and
transformation. Recently deployed
during the FA Cup Final broadcast,
the workflow harnesses AJA's FSHDR HDR converter/frame sync, FS4
converter/frame-sync, and Hi5-4K-Plus
Mini-Converters.
Single Workflow
Working with Arena in a close
partnership, BBC Sport chose to
acquire footage in HDR for the FA Cup
Final, but also produce an HD SDR feed,
as it knew a majority of the audience
would watch the match in that format.
Ahead of the event, Arena perfected
a single HDR workflow concept it had
been developing and put it to the test
with impressive results.
"The FA Cup Final production was
the culmination of three years of work
that involved collaboration between
our team, the BBC, and AJA, as well as

Production tiers in the OBZ truck

Arena's OBX UHD OB truck

AJA FS-HDR HDR converter/frame synchroniser

countless hours of R&D," said Dafydd
Rees, Deputy Director of Operations,
Arena TV. "FS-HDR was the key to
unlocking the entire concept, giving us
the highest possible quality HDR upand down-mapping to bring audiences
much more dynamic HDR and SDR
pictures."
Arena's workflow includes a myriad
of equipment, starting with Grass
Valley cameras that output the main
feeds in HLG or PQ HDR. 3G-SDI
outputs are then fed into AJA FS-HDR
for conversion to SDR for shading.
For replays, slowed down replay
materials are fed through FS-HDR for
pass-on for simultaneous SDR and
HDR output. Additional materials that
require HD to 4K up conversion are
then run through an AJA FS4 to ensure

pristine 4K output. Pre-recorded SDR
materials are then fed from an EVS
device to an FS-HDR for SDR to HDR
transformations. After the content is
routed through other equipment, an
AJA Hi5-4K-Plus enables SDI to 4K HDR
HDMI monitoring. Graphics for each
broadcast start as 4K SDR sources
that are sent through a combination
of FS-HDRs and FS4s. The FS-HDRs
support 4K SDR to 4K HDR conversion
and processing of the graphics fill,
while an FS4 is used to control the key
delay for final sync up of the two items
that are then fed into an EVS server.
Cisco products are used as a routing
backbone throughout the pipeline.
Reliable Feed
Nearly every pipeline decision Arena

Arena OBZ production front desk

made was designed to minimise
the likelihood of feed failure, as the
company knew it could be catastrophic
to the broadcast and its reputation.
"We picked FS-HDR because we know
AJA FS gear is reliable, plus FS-HDR's
dual power supplies also give us
redundancy," noted Rees. "Overall,
we found FS-HDR to be a powerful
device that does all that it claims to
do; it gives you all the tools you need
to get the job done, from an intuitive
interface to powerful processing, and
that's a dream in this industry."
Refining Goals
Arena will continue to refine its single
HDR workflow concept with each new
production it takes on and collaborate
with AJA's development team as it
does.
"In this business you learn something
new from every project, and failure to
do so means you're not doing your job.
The FA Cup Final was a huge, complex
undertaking from which we gained
valuable takeaways that we can apply
to future HDR productions," added
Rees. "FS-HDR is extremely valuable
kit, our Swiss Army Knife for HDR
production, and we love that AJA is
open to feedback. We look forward to
continued collaboration with their team
to achieve new goals."

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In Broadcast - August 2019

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