Andalusia, 4K test laboratory in Southern Europe?

The president of the Board of Directors of Radio Television of Andalusia (RTVA), Rafael Porras, reiterates his commitment to Innovation and New Technologies in the Audiovisual field in Southern Europe.

Andalusia, in addition to being the annual meeting place for the “gurus” of Ultra High Definition (UHD) worldwide, who since 2015 have participated in the 4K HDR Summit to share their experiences and progress, they continue to play their tricks to become the European 4K test laboratory in the future.

The president of the Board of Directors of Radio Television of Andalusia (RTVA), Rafael Porras, which will open the call President’s Day of the 4KHDR Summit, has reiterated its commitment to Innovation and New Technologies in the Audiovisual field in Southern Europe.

On the closing day, Porras will host the conferences and the exclusive debate panel of the presidents of the UHD Alliance (Michael Zink, from Warner Bros.); of the UHD Forum (Thierry Fautier, from Harmonic); y of the 8K Association (Chris Chinnock, of Insight Media).

The sixth edition of the 4K-HDR Summit, the first virtual, will be held on November 17, 18 and 19, after having held all its previous editions in Andalusia: the first two in Seville and the next three in the National Digital Content Pole in Malaga.

"For the sixth time, Radio Television of Andalusia sponsors the 4K Summit, the most important event on Ultra High Definition worldwide. We wanted to continue being the host network, although this year it had to be virtual," highlights the president of the RTVA Board of Directors.

"And not only that. 4K content supported by Canal Sur has been recognized this year in the main world television events, and even our films are in the race for the Hollywood Oscars," highlights Porras.

The geographical, economic and social dimensions of Andalusia are comparable (and even exceed) those of other countries in the European Union, when it comes to becoming an ideal candidate to be an Ultra High Definition testing laboratory in Europe.

With 8.5 million inhabitants (similar to Portugal), with a population much younger than the average of the Old Continent, with solid political-economic stability within the European Union and the Euro Zone, and with a privileged geographical and climatic location, Andalusia is ideally located to be a permanent and attractive Ultra High Definition (UHD) testing laboratory.

In addition to the quality of life, Andalusia guarantees a ratio of hours/sun for outdoor recordings (essential for film productions and Ultra High Definition), which makes it unbeatable compared to other European regions or countries.

In Andalusia, and for 4 years, UHD test signals have been broadcast from Seville and Malaga, through the multinational's broadcast towers. Cellnex Telecom, European leader in wireless telecommunications.

But that's not all. The telecommunications operator Axion, based in Valencina (Seville), which has just been acquired from the Australian AMP Capital by the largest Spanish venture capital fund (Asterion) with more than 1,000 million euros, has already taken steps to begin transmission tests in Ultra High Definition from at least four provincial capitals of the most populated community in Spain.

Francisco Hurtado, technical and operations director of Axión, who will also participate in the 4K HDR Summit, studies the possibilities that UHD can have for the 5,000 distribution points throughout Spain, the more than 635 towers and the 4,600 kilometers of fiber that it manages through Axent, the company in which it participates with Enagás.

In the opinion of experts, Asterion, with the purchase of Axión, has stepped on the accelerator in its objective of becoming the largest Spanish infrastructure fund with a European focus, as it also has investments in Italy, France and the United Kingdom.