UHD Spain presents the first simultaneous UHD broadcast through satellite, DTT and internet in Spain

The work teams of UHD Spain has started UHD, HDR and SDR demonstration broadcasts via satellite, terrestrial and Internet via streaming.

This first simultaneous broadcast consolidates the commitment of the UHD Spain association to develop a collaborative framework around new audiovisual technologies, and especially the UHD (Ultra High Definition), in order to demonstrate to the industry and the general public the potential of this standard. The initiative was presented at an event held at the RTVE Institute (Madrid) in which Pere Vila (RTVE), president of UHD Spain; Xavier Redón (Cellnex), vice president of UHD Spain; Maria Medina (Medina Media), secretary; Emily Planas (Mediapro), vocals; Jorge Rodríguez (Hispasat), vowel; and Eduardo Valencia (AMETIC), vocal.

The content used in this initiative has been provided by national television networks, such as RTVE; autonomous, such as RTVA, Aragon TV y CCMA (through FORCE); or producers, such as Medina Media. In this way, viewers, through their compatible devices, will be able to enjoy unpublished images provided by LaLiga, the movie The Grandfather, or documentaries on the Carnival of Cádiz, Holy Week in Seville and El Rocío, among others.

Workflow

The broadcasts begin from the studios of Mediapro in Barcelona with new continuities provided by GDR and coding systems Sapec. From Overon, UHD, HDR and SDR signals are collected for distribution in different media

Hispasat is in charge of satellite broadcasting; Cellnex, Axion y Telecom CLM distribute the signal via DTT through more than 45 issuing centers from all of Spain; and the official website of UHD Spain is in charge of Internet dissemination, for which Atem performs the coding of the content and in which Dolby has contributed its experience and infrastructure to the launch of the streaming service.

First fruits of labor

The event began with the intervention of Maria Medina (Medina Media), who welcomed the attendees and expressed the feelings of those present: "We are very happy to be here and show a small sample of all the work behind it and all the members. I would like to thank each person or company that has done their bit so that today we can talk about broadcasts that confirm that 4K is reaching homes and that together, from the UHD Spain association, we are promoting the television of the future."

Next, Pere Vila of RTVE, as President of UHD Spain, has highlighted the “technologically neutral” nature of the association: “Everything you see is the result of the collaborative work of the companies.” On the other hand, Vila highlights that this is only the first milestone of UHD Spain, since in the coming months initiatives will continue to be carried out that will culminate in the creation of the “UHD Spain White Paper”.

Technological coordination

Then, Emily Planas of Mediapro has recognized that it has been a challenge to coordinate the reception and unification of the contents, since currently there is no only UHD standard in our country. "By adding content from different suppliers we realized that each piece was different. Sometimes, the conversion has required only technical processes, but in others artistic criteria have had to be integrated to respect the original images," says Planas. In any case, he values ​​the initiative positively: "These learning processes are key in UHD Spain. All this will make it increasingly easier to make channels in UHD."

Xavier Redón of CellnexIn his speech, he highlighted the collective character of this test and the fact that any viewer will be able to access it. In this way, the UHD Spain test is not an isolated anecdote in time, but rather a firm commitment for people to discover the benefits of UHD. For Redón, these steps point to an ambitious goal: “Turn the ability to produce in UHD into something more natural and accessible.”

Know-how shared

The final interventions were carried out by Jorge Rodriguez (Hispasat) y Eduardo Valencia (AMETIC). The representative of the satellite company wanted to highlight the capacity of the satellite to serve as a channel for the dissemination of UHD content, as well as the complete involvement of the entire association in this pioneering broadcast: “It has been a very important collective effort that has made this meeting a success,”

On the part of Valencia, beyond presenting AMETIC, wanted to emphasize the Spanish talent that has made the UHD Spain tests possible. This, in the words of the AMETIC representative, allows “Spanish companies to generate new market opportunities, to be more collaborative and to help promote projects for the future.”

The closure has come with a new intervention of Maria Medina, who has highlighted the participation of companies such as Atem y Dolby in the tests. Finally, he urged attendees to closely follow the future of UHD Spain.

UHD Spain White Paper

In parallel to these broadcasts, the different working groups of UHD Spain (capture, post-production, coding, emission and reception) will continue to carry out numerous technical tests in relation to HDR, WCG and to the necessary transmission parameters, among others. The conclusions of these studies will be collected in the Book Blanco that the association will publish in November, on the occasion of the celebration of the main event on Ultra High Definition worldwide: the 4K HDR Summit (November 16-19, 2021).

UHD Spain was founded by 30 partners: ADM, AMETIC, Ateme, Atresmedia, Axión, Canon, Cellnex, Dolby, EGATEL, FECOTEL, FENITEL, Fraunhofer, Gsertel, Henneo, Hispasat, Hurí, Lavinia, Mediapro, Medina Media, Rohde & Schwarz, RTVE, Sapec, Secuoya, Tedial, Telecom CLM, Televés, Tredess, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Uteca y Vestel.