Arena Television optimizes the simultaneous production of HDR and SDR for the FA Cup final with AJA FS-HDR

During the issuance of the FA Cup final, Arena established a workflow that took the most out of HDR converters and frame synchronizers FS-HDR and FS4, as well as to the Hi5-4K Aja mini-venversters.

Although HDR screens are not yet standard in most homes, the video acquired in HDR and delivered in SDR can still improve the visualization experience, which makes production equipment study the best way to simultaneously deliver HDR and SDR signals.

This has been the challenge that the Audiovisual Services Company Arena Television He is trying to solve from his mobile units. Based on their experiences with clients such as BBC, ITV and Sky Sports, the company has established a HDR workflow unique to emit live in HDR and SDR, with SDR benefiting from the source and the transformation of HDR.

Recently, during the issuance of the end of the FA Cup, Arena designed a workflow that took the most out of HDR converters and frame synchronizers FS-HDR y FS4, as well as miniconversters HI5-4K of AJA.

Working with Arena in close collaboration, BBC Sport chose to acquire material in HDR for the FA Cup final, but also for producing an emission in HD SDR, since I knew that most of the audience would see the game in that format. Before the event, Arena perfected a single concept of HDR workflow with impressive results.

“The production of the FA CUP final was the culmination of three years of work that implied the collaboration between our team, the BBC and AJA, as well as a endless R&D hours SDR images, ”he shares Dafydd Rees, Deputy Director of Arena Television operations.

Workflow

The sand workflow includes cameras of Grass Valley that emit the main signals in HLG or PQ HDR. 3G-SDI outings are introduced into the AJA FS-HDR for conversion to SDR for shading. For repetitions, slow camera images are introduced through the FS-HDR for transmission to the simultaneous output of SDR and HDR. Additional materials that require HD to 4K conversion are executed through an AHA FS4 to guarantee an impeccable 4K output. Pre-recorded SDR materials are fed from an EVS device to a FS-HDR for SDR to HDR transformations.

After the content is enrupted through other equipment, an HI5-4K-Plus AJA allows SDI HDMI monitoring to 4K HDR. The graphics for each start of broadcast are worked as SDR 4K sources that are sent through a combination of FS-HDRS and FS4. The FS-HDRS support the conversion of 4K SDR to 4K HDR and graphic processing, while a FS4 is used to control the key delay for the final synchronization of the two elements that are then introduced into a server EVS. The products Culm They are used as a backbone of routing are signs.

Almost all the decisions that Arena made in relation to the pipelines were designed to minimize the probability of food failures, since the company knew that they could be catastrophic for transmission and its reputation. "We chose the FS-HDR because we know that the Aja FS team is reliable, in addition to the Dual FS-HDR power supplies also give us redundancy. In general, we find that the FS-HDR is a powerful device that does everything it says;

Arena will continue to improve its concept of HDR workflow with each new production that it assumes and will collaborate with the AJA development team as it does. “In this business you learn something new from each project, and not doing so means that you are not doing your job. The FA Cup final was a huge and complex project from which we obtained valuable lessons that we can apply to future productions of HDR. FS-HDR is an extremely valuable kit, our Swiss knife for the production of HDR, and we love that Aja is open to suggestion. We hope to continue collaborating with your team to reach your team. New goals, ”concludes Rees.