4K Garden uses AJA equipment to achieve 4K HDR production at the highest level

The Chinese post-production company relies on equipment such as the FS-HDR real-time HDR/WCG converter, the HDR 12G image analyzer and the Ki Pro Ultra 12G recorder/player from AJA.

4K HDR production can elevate the quality of content and help it stand out in a crowded market, but requires a workflow equipped to handle large amounts of complex data.

Since its launch in 2016, the Chinese audiovisual services company 4K Garden has focused on providing solutions that alleviate common headaches when working in 4K and now HDR. As the popularity of 4K HDR content has grown, so has the demand for its services.

4K Garden's clients include China's two leading 4K channels, offered by public broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV) and provincial network Guangdong TV, each offering a range of live 4K programming. To ensure reliable and quality 4K HDR output for all productions, 4K Garden has a number of sophisticated equipment, such as the convertidor HDR/WCG FS-HDR in real time from AJA, the a12G HDR image analyzer and the Ki Pro Ultra 12G recorder/player. These tools also play a crucial role in the 4K/UltraHD HDR training program that 4K Garden provides to new talent.

Lu Yu, CTO of 4K Garden, highlights that “for 4K and 8K production, 12G-SDI can save a lot of time, work and complexity when building your workflow, and using a single 12G-SDI cable for 4K/UltraHD compared to 4x 3G-SDI cables is safer and easier to troubleshoot for signal testing compared to 3G-SDI, especially in 2YES.”

"The 12G-SDI capabilities of the Ki Pro Ultra 12G were a key factor in our decision to use it, as the single cable reduces the chances of errors. In addition, we can record continuously for a long time because it includes two slots for long recordings with Ki Protect support, the connections are reliable and we can alternately record four HD channels simultaneously on a single unit. As it also records to an SSD drive, getting the material to the DIT is much more efficient," he adds.

When it is transmitted live 4K HDR content, 4K Garden relies on FS-HDR, primarily using it in a mobile unit that receives signals from a 4K HDR or SDR HD camera or recorder. The computer then locks the signals with FS-HDR, which converts them to the appropriate gamma and color space and synchronizes the audio. "FS-HDR is powerful for signal processing and supports a wide range of standards with ideal outputs. Its logic is easy to understand, and it works well with different brands of cameras, so we could also use it for the downconversion process in the future," says Jia-Xing Ma, broadcast engineer at 4K Garden.

Every piece of 4K HDR content that comes out of 4K Garden must be in the HLG format with BT.2020 color space to comply with the standards established by the National Radio and Television Administration. By using AJA's 12G HDR Image Analyzer for quality control of HDR content on mobile units, at the color correction stages, and for 8K production signal monitoring, the 4K Garden team can be confident that captured material meets the required standards, and with detailed data for HDR and downconversion outputs.

"Productions require different levels of brightness, and some have rich colors, but they cannot be above the limit. The precision of the 12G HDR image analyzer allows us to closely monitor the process, and ensure the footage is where it should be by using the Pixel Picker function to view important image data," explains 4K Garden Senior Technical Director Liang-Hong Zheng.

In addition to designing and implementing production workflows, 4K Garden also offers training for new technical talents. In collaboration with schools and industry professionals, the company's efforts are aimed at increasing education and understanding around 4K and HDR technologies, as well as production best practices.

Yo notes that "4K/UltraHD is now the delivery standard for channels across China, and while it is not yet a requirement, several broadcasters are also adopting HDR to help differentiate their content. At the same time, HDR technologies and techniques are still very nascent, so we decided to launch this educational program for our customers who are just starting to dive into HDR."

“Having reliable, high-quality equipment such as the AJA FS-HDR, Ki Pro Ultra 12G and HDRIA12G in our arsenal is critical to the success of the programme, as it delivers pristine results and yet is intuitive to use, operate, configure and control, not to mention compatible with a number of an emerging range of HDR formats,” he concludes.