TM Broadcast International 51, November 2017 by Daro

Summary

04 06 24 46 54 56

Editorial

Pan shot Keep informed about what’s happening

Subtitling Special, a booming industry Exclusive interviews with 3Play Media, Dalet, Digital Nirvana, Screen Subtitling Systems, Telestream and TVU Networks

NAB Show NY, an opportunity to open a market in the USA Ad Sales Pie Share Is Now a Piece of Cake

Test Area

Casio XJ-L8300HN

Editor in chief Javier de Martín editor@tmbroadcast.com

Editorial staff Daniel Esparza press@tmbroadcast.com

Key account manager Cristina Feduchi

Administration Laura de Diego

international@tmbroadcast.com

administration@tmbroadcast.com

Creative Direction Mercedes González design@tmbroadcast.com

TM Broadcast International #51 November 2017

TM Broadcast International is a magazine published by Daró Media Group SL Centro Empresarial Tartessos Calle Pollensa 2, oficina 14 28290 Las Rozas (Madrid), Spain Phone +34 91 640 46 43 Published in Spain

Editorial We started November with a very attractive edition to the reader. Our editorial team has prepared an extensive article about the subtitling market. A booming sector from which you can know interesting information and the opinion of several companies especially representative both European and American. Concerning the informative coverage on shows and once visited the IBC on the previous edition, this month we switch continent to offer you an interesting path of NAB NY. A young event that we think it will significantly grow in the upcoming years. Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll also be focusing on an exhaustive review done to a Casio 4K projector that has pleasantly surprised us. Our specialist crumbles all details from this terrific unit with his usual discipline. As usual, we also dedicate a large number of pages to breaking news Enjoy the magazine! We are already working in the next edition for you.

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FIREHOUSE PRODUCTIONS SETS LIVE SOUND WITH DANTE Firehouse Productions has found significant value in the sound quality, deployment and total cost of ownership of Audinate’s Dante audioover-IP networking. Over the years, the company has provided sound production systems and support services to major rock concert tours by Coldplay, Radiohead, Hall & Oates, Florence and The Machine, Tears for Fears, Nine Inch Nails, Lorde, Peter Gabriel, Sting and David Gray, among other Alisters. Their technicians are also integrally involved with

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sound production for special live events, such as the 2017 International Indian Film Festival, which was held in mid-July at the MetLife Stadium as well as live events for corporations including Macy’s, Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Biogen and Wyndham. In television, the company has played a key role in producing audio for live broadcasts, such as The Tony Awards, NBC’s The Wiz and Peter Pan, The Daily Show, In Performance at the White House, the iHeart Music Festival and

Global Citizen Festival. “Whether they take place in a stadium or a studio, these events all have one thing in common—they are live. There are no do-overs to get them right,” explains Luis Espinal, Senior RF/PL Technician for Firehouse Productions. “As we move toward more networked architectures, Dante brings the reliability, routing flexibility and capacity we need to do it right the first time.” In essence, Firehouse Productions’ mission is to pick up sound from “Point A”

to deliver it to “Point B.” But considering how complex and multi-layered today’s audio network architecture has become— encompassing microphones, intercoms, stage monitors, front of house mixing, PA systems, broadcast trucks and more— Espinal found it challenging to deal with the growing array of snakes and cables, connectors, amp racks, audio protocols and other systems that have to interface together.

“Dante now serves as the backbone of our service” “Given the complexity of today’s networked live sound infrastructures, it’s not enough to just bring in trusted brands of legacy audio gear,” says Espinal. “If the third-party audio devices don’t network together seamlessly, with uncompromised quality, low latency and spot-on timing, even the slightest glitch could detract from the viewer experience. Dante solves these problems, and now serves as the backbone of our service. With Dante, we can customize networks of third-party audio gear to meet the demands of even the most ambitious live events.” At the heart of Firehouse Productions’ Dante networking solution are several Yamaha mixing consoles, including the MP10, CL5 and Q1; a Lab.gruppen Lake LM44 digital audio system processor; and several Focusrite RedNet I/O interfaces for conversions between Dante and MADI or AES10 environments. All Dante audio traffic, data, control and other functions are natively supported over a Cisco SG550X-24P Layer 3 Switch configured within multiple VLANs. Espinal also points to the value of Dante Virtual Soundcard to record and process multichannel audio from laptops.

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EURONEWS COMPLETES STRATEGIC TRANSFORMATION WITH DALET Euronews completed a transformation that puts content customization for local audiences at the heart of its operation Dalet announces that Euronews just completed a strategic transformation that puts content customization for local audiences at the heart of its operation. The multicultural news provider replaced its legacy broadcast infrastructure with the Dalet Unified News Operations solution, transitioning from a single multi-language channel to 12 separate cross-platform channels, tailored to local audiences. The 500 users across Euronews’ four major offices in Athens, Brussels, Budapest and Lyon are

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connected and collaborating on a single environment, relying daily on the power of the Dalet Galaxy platform for the production, orchestration and delivery of their stories. “Customization is at the heart of this transformation. Euronews will adapt its output to the needs of the consumers it serves, empowering the uniqueness of our multiculturalism,” explains Michael Peters, CEO of Euronews. “Thanks to the substantial investment in Euronews core capabilities

and operations, we are creating a robust, agile and innovative organization to become the first global News brand by reinventing our approach to broadcast journalism from production to distribution.” Since its inception in 1993, Euronews has been addressing the region’s need for multilingual programming by providing a single channel of news programming with identical video and Englishonly graphics delivered to all countries with 12 different

language translations. Groundbreaking in its day, this “Multiplex” approach lacked the ability to adapt programming to the specific needs of individual countries, a critical limitation for today’s viewers. In response, Euronews made a strategic decision to re-orientate its approach to news reporting by generating adapted content with enhanced graphics across TV, social media and the web in 12 different languages for audiences in 165 countries. The broadcaster’s outdated, inflexible legacy infrastructure was identified as a technology blocker in this transformation. Euronews decided that Dalet could best support both the “Monoplex” localized content workflows and the “Multiplex” mandatory content workflows. “We have been operating a ‘one size fits all’ policy since launch because that was the limit of the software we were using,” explains Duncan Hooper, digital editor in chief, Euronews. “We found that we could no longer take our brand or product further so we brought in Dalet to help us break out of those limits and to create a specific identity for each channel with content customized for each audience.” Francois Schmitt, Euronews COO, explains: “When you embark on a project like this, you don’t really know the target in every detail so it’s vital to have a very flexible solution, which enables you to design as you wish for each platform and each particular station. The Dalet platform allows us to better manage our complex multiplatform production while making it simpler for our users. Journalists can collaborate better, share content seamlessly, and transform an original story with minimal effort to adapt it for each language and audience.”

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TVT MEDIA RESEARCH SHOWS HUGE DIVERSITY OF EUROPEAN BROADCAST LANGUAGES Research from TVT Media shows that 61 languages are broadcast across the European Union and Turkey, highlighting the linguistic diversity within a television market of 600 million people. The research, commissioned by TVT and conducted by Media Asset Capital, reveals France is clearly the king of multilingual content in Europe’s TV markets, with 18 languages available across its 567 channels – including Arabic, Mandarin, Khmer, Turkish, Armenian, Romani and Tamil. The research was used to create a Media Map showing the secondary broadcast languages in each nation (excluding official native languages and English) – the first in a series of European Media Maps that illustrate the increasingly diverse and complex nature of the European TV market.

channels in the EU and Turkey. Other major European broadcasting languages include German (749 channels), French (600), Spanish, Turkish and Italian (over 500 each). The most common nonEuropean language is Arabic (64 channles), followed by Hindi (23), Mandarin (15), Urdu (15), Persian (12), Bengali (11) and Kurdish (10).

The research shows that English is the most broadcast language in Europe and the most common second TV language in European countries, accounting for 792 of the 8,236 linear

Ian Brotherston, Chief Executive of TVT Media, comments: “The comprehensive data we have assembled on the European TV landscape shows just how varied a region it is in terms of

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languages and cultures, underlining the vast complexity of the market as a whole. It is clear that as the European media and entertainment market continues to evolve and grow – and with the EU championing a Single Digital Market – it is critical for both local and global operators to version their content in a way that meets the diverse cultural and linguistic needs of each distinct market and the segments within it.” Brotherston adds: “At a time when the shape of Europe continues to change, whether through Brexit, free movement of people within the EU or ongoing migration

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from other regions, understanding the sheer variety of languages and cultures across the continent is vital. Having a clear picture of just what the European broadcast marketplace really looks like in terms of language and culture can only help broadcasters as they look to the future and take their content to new territories.” Key findings include: • The United Kingdom is Europe’s second most diverse market, with 15 languages across 568

channels – including Welsh and Scottish Gaelic – being broadcast. But the biggest UK broadcast languages other than English are the major languages of India, which account for 62 channels. • Germany is another diverse market and has channels broadcasting in 11 languages, with Turkish the biggest non-native language – while others include Russian, Polish, Greek and Japanese. • Spain, despite having the highest total of linear

channels of any country in the EU (686), only has TV in five languages other than Spanish – English and Portuguese – making it one of the least diverse markets. • Although the Russian TV market is not captured by the research, Russian is the 17th most broadcast language across other European markets with 135 channels – and still dominates a number of former Soviet Republics where it is more widely broadcast than the official native languages.

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TIGHTROPE ANNOUNCES CABLECAST 6.3 Tightrope Media Systems has announced version 6.3 of its comprehensive Cablecast Broadcast Automation platform, featuring two new capabilities that simplify workflows, reduce equipment requirements and lower costs for community TV broadcasters. New IP input support for Cablecast Flex servers allows users to bring in live feeds from remote locations over IP networks without requiring decoder hardware, while expanded channel branding abilities enable the keying of rich visual elements and messages over live video sources. TMBi - 12

Version 6.3’s new RTP input option enables Cablecast Flex servers to directly ingest H.264encoded RTP streams, letting producers deliver live feeds of events such as sporting matches and council meetings from remote sites over an IP network without needing a dedicated receiver or decoder unit at the station. The IP input option also expands the number of sources that a station can manage with a single Cablecast Flex 4 server. While each of a Cablecast Flex 4 server’s four SDI connections could already be configured as inputs or

outputs (I/O’s), sources brought into Cablecast directly via IP do not consume a baseband interface, leaving all four I/O’s available for playout or SDI-based recording. All Cablecast functionality available with SDI sources can also be used with IP inputs, including live broadcasting, recording, channel branding and live streaming to online and mobile viewers. Cablecast 6.3’s new live channel branding capabilities enable Cablecast Flex servers to key station logo bugs, text crawls and graphics over live input sources, saving

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broadcasters money by eliminating the need for external keying equipment. Complementing Cablecast’s existing ability to apply such branding during playout of file-based content, the new live overlay features also help customers ensure that critical emergency messages are displayed to community viewers regardless of whether the channel is showing live or pre-recorded programming. Live branding can be applied to both SDI and IP-based inputs. “Our users love Cablecast’s ability to simplify their workflows and lower their operating costs,” claims Steve Israelsky, VP Sales and Marketing, Tightrope Media Systems. “With version

6.3, we’re extending these efficiencies to minimize their need for supporting equipment while maximizing the value of their Cablecast investment. The new IP input support aligns perfectly with the industry’s accelerating trend towards IPbased production workflows, while live channel branding lets customers enhance their broadcasts without the high cost of standalone keyers.” The live channel branding features will be included standard with the Cablecast 6.3 upgrade, which is free for Cablecast Flex customers who are on up-to-date support agreements. IP input support will be available as a chargeable option for Cablecast 6.3 users.

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GRASS VALLEY OUTFITS TENCENT VIDEO’S OB TRUCK WITH IP AND 4K-CAPABLE SOLUTIONS Tencent Video required solution upgrades to meet its new content creation needs

To expand beyond digital video and into live production, Tencent Video required solution upgrades to meet its new content creation needs. From cameras to switchers to processors, servers and more, Grass Valley outfitted Tencent Video’s outside broadcast truck with all the IP and 4K-capable solutions the company will need to create live and sports programming. The new production system starts with LDX 86N Series cameras to capture high-quality images in multiple formats; the Kayenne K-Frame Video Production Center and GV Korona K-Frame V-series switchers for integrated content production; GV TMBi - 14

Node I Processing and Routing Platform, GV Convergent IP/SDI Router Control System and IPG3901 SDI/IP Gateway to process and route content; and T2 audio/video playout center for content distribution. “The type and quality of content our viewers expect is changing, and utilizing solutions that are ready to handle new formats and channels is critical to keeping up with competitors,” highlights David Zhao, team manager, Tencent Video. “Though we brought in an entire system of new solutions at once, the high-level integration between Grass Valley’s solutions, intuitive user interfaces and innovative

features made for easy operation from the start.” “Tencent Video’s expansion into new content channels and new formats is a huge step to staying ahead in the endless, and increasingly fast-paced, content creation race,” explains Somu Patil, vice president of sales, Asia, Grass Valley. “Their decision to upgrade to Grass Valley IP solutions will only further their efforts to produce and distribute modern, innovative programming.” From website videos to live programming to sports broadcasts, Tencent Video now has all the equipment it needs to produce a wide range of high-quality content.

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DAVID ANTOINE JOINS LAWO RADIO TECHNICAL SUPPORT A distinguished radio chief who’s spent nearly 40 years in broadcasting, Antoine has held positions with some of New York’s most prestigious radio outlets, beginning with the legendary WNCN-FM and subsequently at WOR, WBLS-FM, and WQXR-FM, among others. Prior to joining Lawo, Antoine held the post of Director, Broadcast IT of Westwood One / Cumulus Media’s technical operations center in Purchase, New York. “We’re very happy that David has chosen to join the Lawo family,” says Sam Schauland, Technical Director, Americas. “His familiarity with daily radio operations and expert

knowledge of how to build, configure and administer AoIP networks and equipment makes him an invaluable addition to our growing North American team of technical experts.” In his new position as a Radio Broadcast Engineer with Lawo, Antoine will provide clients with hardware and software technical support, systems installation assistance, system commissioning, equipment training and overall system design services. “I love broadcast engineering, and I love helping people, so this position is a great fit for me,” says Antoine. “Lawo makes

some of the world’s most powerful radio consoles. They’re are also pioneers in Virtual Radio technology, something that’s revolutionizing day-to-day radio operations. I’m looking forward to being part of that revolution.” In addition to his career in broadcasting, Antoine is a veteran live-sound engineer, having toured with performers such as The Trammps, Brass Construction, Starpoint and Noel Pointer. “Lawo’s performance audio mixers have an amazing reputation,” he says. “It’s beyond cool to work for a company whose consoles are used on the Grammys and the Tonight Show!”

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CLEAR-COM TEAMS WITH MW COMM SOLUTIONS Clear-Com teamed with MW Comm Solutions of Plano, TX to solve a tricky intercom challenge at The Theater at MGM National Harbor Serving the Washington, DC premier entertainment market, this new 3,000-seat theater attracts popular world-class acts such as Bruno Mars, The Who, Chris Rock, and Tom Jones, just to name a few. Systems integrator PSX Worldwide Audiovisual TMBi - 16

Technologies of New Orleans, LA was hired to translate the theater’s ambitious AV design into a functional and dependable reality. “The hybrid intercom system at The Theater at MGM National Harbor is all based on Clear-Com technology, including three HelixNet digital partyline

intercom systems and a twowire, four-channel analog partyline system,” says Ed Vigueira, Senior Engineer/Project Manager, PSX Worldwide Audiovisual Technologies. “When we anticipated challenges in achieving the specified connection choice, we turned to Clear-Com for help

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– and help they did.” Originally, The Theater’s AV design specified connecting the venue’s diverse intercom systems over shielded CAT-6 cables. These intercom cables would have been terminated to shielded punch blocks inside patch bays at The Theater’s equipment racks, while using XLR connectors at field panels throughout the complex. Mindful that PSX Worldwide needed answers fast to complete The Theater’s AV integration on time, Clear-Com directed Ed Vigueira to MW Comm Solutions for a creative custom solution. “MW Comms came through for us by designing and custom-building 1 x XLR to 10 x shielded CAT-6 jack

rack-mounted distribution boxes for this project, giving us a clean, dependable way to bridge the gap from the base stations to the patch bays,” Vigueira says. “With the addition of shielded STP patch cables, we had everything we needed to get the entire intercom system working. There was no noise, no latency, and MW Comms plug-and-play design saved us many hours of labor. At the same time, this solution allowed us to get 10 physical outputs out of each intercom channel.”

The Theater to make

What’s more, the custom solution added more flexibility and configurability. Normally, a theatre system is hard-wired and it changes very rarely. However, the Clear-Com HelixNet solution with the MW Comms “jumper connection” allows

glad we were able to devise

changes on the fly. With big name artists coming through multiple times per week, this allows them to change production easily for each performing artist. The importance of MW Comms custom solution, spurred into existence by Clear-Com’s knowledgeable customer support, made all the difference to The Theater at MGM National Harbor’s AV installation. “I’m this solution for PSX Worldwide,” explains Michael Wilson, Founder of MW Comm Solutions. “Thankfully, Clear-Com knew their client’s needs, and knew who to ask for help.”

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IMAGE MATTERS AND 8K SVIP BYPASS 4K PROVIDES HD TO 8K MIGRATION Image Matters will be demonstrating the origami™ ecosystem capabilities at InterBee At the heart of InterBee’s 8K technology, Image Matters will be demonstrating the origami™ ecosystem capabilities, as well as the 8K SVIP, a European project consisting of a future-proof adaptable modular platform. “The European project, 8K SVIP, is the easy bridge to the future 8K broadcast studio. It will help broadcasters leapfrog directly from HD and 4K to 8K. We see this collaboration between Belgium and Czech Republic manufacturers and researchers as an essential step to propelling 8K broadcasting to the home. And we look forward to demonstrating our solutions at InterBee to migrate easily from HD and 4K to 8K,” says Jean-François Nivart, Image Matters CEO. European collaborative group 8K SVIP is a body of four academic and industrial partners: intoPIX, Cesnet, Image Matters and AV Media. 2018 being considered the year of 8K, TMBi - 18

8K SVIP gives broadcasters the tools to migrate from HD and 4K, and develops advanced transport technologies to manage 8K signals over SDI and IP. The project will focus on providing solutions to real use cases experienced by live broadcasters when distributing 8K video signals. Much of the technology to achieve this is still being developed and the 8K SVIP brings an innovative design to meet the high speed and real-time requirements of 8K video transport and interface (SDI & IP). Backed by the European Commission’s Eurostars program, R&D-performing SMEs are rewarded for

technology advances and international development. Image Matters origami™ ecosystem is suited to deliver hardware solutions to meet the needs of SDI and IP interfacing at the data speeds 8K video demands. The IM-B20 module, with its Xilinx UltraScale Kintex FPGA and exclusive Z-Ray connector, provides superfast IO to facilitate 12G SDI and SFP fiber IP. A variety of high quality, high performance codecs are available in the origami™ Ecosystem including TICO, the compression technology adopted by the world’s biggest enthusiast of 8K – Japan’s NHK.

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GATESAIR EXPANDS NORTH AMERICA SALES TEAM GatesAir grows its global sales team with the appointment of Avery Schultz as Regional Sales Manager for New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas. She will report to Mark Goins, GatesAir’s Director of Transmission Sales in North America. New to the broadcast industry, Schultz’s sales and engineering background wellpositions her for success in an industry where business and technology truly come together. In her previous position as Outside Sales Account Manager at IMI Critical Engineering, she spent more than five years managing outside sales, field service and repairs for more than 70 companies in the

energy and utility industries. In addition to significantly exceeding multi-million revenue targets for three years straight, Schultz developed and implemented ongoing cost-savings programs for clients.

repack landscape and our

Prior to IMI, Schultz served a similar role at Emerson Process Management in Houston, where she managed outside sales of measurement technologies (pressure, temperature, and flow transmitters) to oil and gas companies, and led cross-functional collaboration initiatives to improve customer relationships.

highlights Joseph Mack, vice

“With our TV customers navigating a challenging

other costs associated with

radio customers exploring options for new analog and digital services, Avery’s expertise across business and technology is a welcome enhancement to GatesAir’s talented sales force,” president of sales, Americas for GatesAir. “Furthermore, Avery’s experience in reducing operational costs for customers will strongly resonate with all of our broadcast customers that seek to reduce energy consumption, cooling loads, system maintenance, and powering RF operations.”

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QUICKLINK TX QUAD BRINGS COVERAGE FOR 24 HOURS OF LE MANS

The 24 Hours of Le Mans car race is the world’s largest active sports car race in endurance racing. The event that is hailed as one of the most prestigious automobile races in the world took place from the 17-18th June in Le Mans, France. In 2016, the Le Mans coverage was watched by over 90 million TV viewers and gained 4,500 hours of TV coverage in 2016. The Digital Department of Circuit des 24 Heures used the Quicklink TX Quad during its event coverage to stream live to the 24 Hours of Le Mans Facebook page TMBi - 20

and website. The Quicklink TX Quad was used during race scrutineering where a cameraman was filming with an iPad using Skype. During the race, TV anchors were sent out to the circuit campsite to conduct live interviews. When encountering connectivity problems with other equipment during the interviews, the Quicklink TX was used to switch to live images of the race over Skype. Nicolas Cousseau, Digital Department Manager of the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (24 Hours of Le Mans) explains: “This year we

needed to improve our Digital Department TV Production set. Above all, we wanted to use a product that would enable us to simplify our live connection that also allowed us to set up Skype interviews with fans. The Quicklink TX Quad enabled us to do this with up to 4 callers simultaneously. In short, thanks to Quicklink, our fans were able to be at the heart of our digital activations”. The Digital Department of Circuit des 24 Heures plan to use the Quicklink TX in future coverages of racing events at the prestigious Circuit de la Sarthe.

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TELESTREAM APPOINTS SCOTT PUOPOLO AS CEO, AFTER DAN CASTLES RETIREMENT Telestream has announced that its CEO and one of the company’s original founders, Dan Castles, is retiring. ExCisco executive Scott Puopolo will take over the position, effective immediately. “Knowing the right time to retire is not easy,” said Castles. “However, I am confident that Scott is the right man to take this business to the next level. We have achieved a lot over the last 20 years, growing from a small team of 11 to over 400 bright and dedicated employees all over the world. I look forward to working with Scott, the board and the rest of the executive team on a transition which ensures that

the next 20 years are our most successful ever.” As Puopolo takes over the CEO position, Castles will continue to be an active board member and ambassador for Telestream’s extensive involvement with the community. Puopolo has served as a Telestream board member. Prior to joining the company, Puopolo was Executive Vice President at iconectiv, a service and software provider enabling device, application and network identity and interconnection. Additionally, he brings almost a decade of leadership experience working at Cisco Systems where he led the company’s Service Provider

Transformation Group, drove the company’s Service Provider IOT go-to-market, and directed its Internet Business Solutions Group. Prior to Cisco, “Under Dan’s leadership, Telestream has developed into one of the most dynamic players in the media & entertainment sector and I am both honored and humbled to have been chosen as its new Chief Executive,” said Puopolo. “Dan and I share excitement for Telestream’s bright future, and I look forward to extending Telestream’s industry leadership to support the critical business needs of our customers around the world.”

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NEP SWITZERLAND ADDS UHD 42 OB VAN TO ITS FLEET OF 4K/UHD PRODUCTION VEHICLES NEP doubled its 4K production resources in readiness for broadcast production work on the 2017/2018 season of the Swiss Raiffeisen Super League

NEP Switzerland now works with its second 4K/UHD OB Van unit, again conceived and delivered by Broadcast Solutions GmbH. The Swiss company doubled its 4K production resources in readiness for broadcast production work on the 2017/2018 season of the Swiss Raiffeisen Super League (RSL). The newly added UHD 42 OB Van is currently in use for producing of the Swiss Premier Football League’s games in 4K/UHD. Like the previous OB Van, UHD 42 is based on Broadcast Solutions’ Streamline Family of OB Vans. UHD 42 is the TMBi - 22

newest example of the Alphaline model, a variant of the Streamline OB Vans. This Alphaline OB Van offers two production areas and supports up to 10 camera productions, thus making use of more freedom for the customer in choosing room concepts and equipment. After undergoing its maiden voyage producing athletics events, the UHD 42 OB Van is since the start of season 2017/2018 in use for the Swiss Raiffeisen Super League. All in all NEP Switzerland produces more than 140 matches in 4K/UHD during a season – all broadcast at Pay-TV

channel Teleclub Sports. UHD 42 is based on the Streamline Family of OB Vans, especially on the Alphaline A16 OB Van model, a variant of the Streamline OB Vans, offering more freedom in choosing equipment and room concepts. The UHD 42 provides up to 23 spacious workplaces and excels with two production areas and large slomo areas as well as additional VIP areas for producers, moderators and guests with additional monitors. The singleexpansion full-size trailer offers 4.5 rooms and seven working areas.

Reto Osterwalder, managing director at NEP Switzerland, comments on producing in 4K/UHD: "To produce in 4K/UHD – for others still the exception – is a daily business for us. Thanks to the experience we have gained as a team when producing the last season in 4K, our modern new 4K/UHD OB Van and our outstanding infrastructure, we catch the matches’ atmosphere with perfect images and deliver them to the viewers – reliably, every match day." NEP Switzerland’s new UHD 42 is designed as a full-size trailer with a single large extension and can work with up to 10 4K/UHD cameras. NEP Switzerland opted for Grass Valley’s LDX 86N cameras, delivering native 4K signals, together with Canon lenses. As vision mixer, a Grass Valley Karrera K-Frame with 8 M / E is used. Heart of the audio section is a Lawo mc256 console with 48 faders as well as a Lawo Nova73 Compact router. Four EVS XT 4K are available for replay, highlights and clips. The OB Van offers two separate production areas. Where the majority of 4K/UHD television productions presently use Square Division (where the full image is divided into four quadrants), UHD 42 uses the Two-Sample Interleave (2SI) format (4x 3G-SDI, pictures in ¼ resolution). The used format offers advantages in handling additional HD signals, simultaneously produced for all matches of the Raiffeisen Super League. For instance, Intercom signals are transported with the HD feeds, since many of the UHD feed channels are already required for the broadcast’s trilingual commentary production.

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Close Captioning and voice to text in TV. Challenges and solutions.

Subtitling a booming industry The subtitling industry is more vibrant than ever. The volume of content intended to reach a global audience is continually growing and a vital tool to accomplish this is subtitling. Digital Nirvana’s CEO, Hiren Hindocha, harbours no doubts: “To reach a global audience, you need caption services”. Matthieu Fasani, one of Dalet’s Product Managers also says the following on the same lines: “Subtitles and captions have become over time as important as video and audio”. We, therefore, detect a high level of optimism among manufacturers in the sector. Screen Subtitling Systems’ Strategic and Business Development Manager, John Birch, supports this statement common to all the manufacturers we have spoken to- with data: “It is estimated by TMBi - 24

some that the amount of subtitling is increasing by over 10% per year”. Telestream is no exception. According to Giovanni Galvez, the company’s Captioning Product manager, subtitling content is currently an essential tool for broadcasters and viewers alike: “This is the key technology that can make the difference between getting thousands of viewers and millions of viewers”.

SOCIAL

MEDIA AND

SEO

A key element to understanding the technological advances in subtitling tasks is social networks. A study conducted by Facebook Business in 2016 reveals that 41% of the platform's videos cannot be understood without sound. If we bear in mind that, in many cases, users view this

Close Captioning and voice to text in TV. Challenges and solutions.

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ď &#x17E;

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Close Captioning and voice to text in TV. Challenges and solutions.

content on public transport, in restaurants or at work, where audio can be somewhat intrusive, we should not be surprised by one of the conclusions arising from the study: videos with subtitles receive 12% more visits. Let's add two more facts from the same study to this equation: On the one hand, 80% of Facebook users are dissatisfied with the automatic sound playback of videos when they browse their news feed; and on the other, 65% of people who view the first three seconds of a video on Facebook will usually continue watching it for at least seven seconds longer. Because of all this, subtitles have undoubtedly become an essential element in achieving more engagement from the audience. Lily Bond, Director of Marketing of 3Play Media, enriches this discussion with another similar example: “Discovery Digital Networks studied their YouTube channels and discovered that videos with captions had 14% more views in the first 2 weeks -when text is TMBi - 26

the only SEO-ranking video factor- and over 7% more views over the lifetime of the video”. The increase in SEO is, therefore, an important element to consider when subtitling, according to Lily

Bond: “Captions, transcripts, and subtitles improve SEO by providing a text version of the spoken audio for Google and other search engines to index. Because Google can’t watch a video,

Close Captioning and voice to text in TV. Challenges and solutions.

adding captions is the only way for Google to properly categorise your video. This helps your video rank for more diverse search termsâ&#x20AC;?.

THE

FUTURE OF THE

BUSINESS :

AUTOMATED

PROCESSES ? Another axis of the discussion revolves around the role that

Challenges By 3Play Media

What challenges will the industry face in the near future? The biggest challenges the industry will face in the near future are scale and speed. The more online video is produced, the more videos need captions, and often, the faster captions need to be available. For example, many news sites post videos that lose relevance over time. They need to be captioned almost immediately - but they also have to maintain high levels of accuracy. This balance of scale, speed, and quality is a challenge that we are constantly improving upon.

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ď &#x17E;

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Close Captioning and voice to text in TV. Challenges and solutions.

Future By Dalet

The future looks really bright. The major trend we see in the industry is the need to better serve a connected audience and build engagement. There is a wide field of new opportunities for content originators that understand the new paradigm and embrace it. Content needs to become more targeted for audiences and the experience needs to be complementary across platforms, not redundant. That calls for the need to think multiplatform as an upstream production issue and not just a delivery issue. Traditional media businesses need to take a strategic transformation to become more data driven for better effectiveness and content relevance, agile and scalable for fast adaptation, disintermediated and collaborative for leaner, faster and more efficient operations. And to serve this transformation, they will need a robust MAM and orchestration platform, with a purposebuilt data model, user tools, ecosystem of connectors and integration framework. This has been our core business for 26 years, from the fundamental research we work on in our labs, to the technology we release and bring to market and the professional services to assist with the transformation.

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human beings will play in the future during subtitling processes. “What level of accuracy is it possible to reach with an automated captioning service?” we asked Digital Nirvana. Its CEO and president, Hiren Hindocha, said: “Equal or better than human operation”. Their confidence in machines contrasts with 3Play Media’s

Close Captioning and voice to text in TV. Challenges and solutions.

long-form transcription. While speech recognition is extremely good for ‘assistant’ tools like Siri and Alexa, it often fails for long-form transcription.

With long-form transcription, ASR struggles because it cannot learn the voice of the speaker(s) through repeated use (like you see

Industry booming By Digital Nirvana

So much content has found a home on streaming services. If you look at Amazon, Netflix, youtube, Hulu, Vimeo and the like, they source content from around the world. To reach a global audience, you need caption services. Thanks to closed captioning, there are many good programs available regardless of the language you speak. For example, I like to watch Korean movies and an Israeli TV show. My wife watches Icelandic TV shows. Captioning opens avenues for content providers to reach a global audience.

vision. Their computers perform 75% of the total subtitling and transcription process, but Lily Bond believes that the editing tasks performed by their experts will never be dispensable: “We don’t believe that humans will ever be taken out of the equation for

It also creates a much larger audience through online viewing. In environments where users on laptops and mobile devices don’t want to or can’t turn on their volume, closed captioning allows them to watch a sound-free show and increases the providers’ audience. Another factor driving the use of closed captioning is the creation of metadata. Closed captioning increases the searchability of an asset. For content owners, it increases the visibility of their video, and for users they’re able to locate the content they want much easier. Some people use subtitles and closed captioning as a medium to learn a new language. In general, it contributes to a more user-friendly experience.

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Close Captioning and voice to text in TV. Challenges and solutions.

with Siri). In addition, it deteriorates when there are multiple speakers, background noises, accents, or poor audio quality. Finally, ASR often makes errors that make sense acoustically but not linguistically (like “forester” vs. “four story”) and on clarification words like “can” vs. “can’t.” The meaning of the sentence is reversed if that error is made, and a human is much less likely to make that mistake”. Screen Subtitling Systems provides a central vision. John Birch does indeed accept that a computer will be capable at some point of reaching the level of precision of a human being, but rejects this option in the short term: TMBi - 30

“It is clear that for the next few years (possibly even a decade) the use of machines for transcription will still be limited by the machine’s lack of comprehension of the real world. I.e. the inability of a machine to make a ‘common sense’ judgement of what is meant. Certainly, the statistical and neural network approaches can rapidly return the most likely transcriptions, but in corner cases, a real-world comprehension of the context (i.e. humour) is necessary to choose the less likely transcription correctly. This lack of ‘human background knowledge’ is an even greater obstacle to machine translation.” And he offers another approach. John Birch

refers to the commercial, rather than technical, factor as an obstacle to achieving greater precision in subtitling processes. "In a sense, we are now close to the point where increasing sophistication and power in machine transcription and translation will only achieve diminishing returns in improved accuracy and performance. The biggest obstacle to further improvement may now be commercial rather than technical, in that it is likely that we are approaching the point where it is ‘good enough’ despite not being 100% accurate”. The CEO of TVU Networks, Paul Shen, for his part, assures that the future of the subtitling market lies in Artificial Intelligence.

Close Captioning and voice to text in TV. Challenges and solutions.

Automation By Screen Subtitling Systems

OBJECTIVE:

STANDARDISATION

OF FORMATS One of the areas of concern among the companies in the sector is the format problem, common to other segments of our market. Dalet considers this to be a pivotal issue to understand this industry: "There are many caption formats, and most of them rely on old foundations (for instance 1974 for Teletext which is commonly used in Europe and Australia now). Captions can be carried using standard (STL) or proprietary formats (PAC, RAC, 890). They are stored as text (TTML, WebVTT, SRT, SMPTE-TT) or binary data (CEA 608/708, WST) and embedded with video and audio in a unique container or delivered as a side car file. When embedded in the video, they can be stored in the wrapper (OP-47 WST), in the headers of the video frames (A-53, SCTE 128) or the video lines (invideo line 21)".

As a company we feel that automated speech recognition technology has reached the point where it is a viable alternative for some types of live subtitling (or more strictly captioning) use cases. One of the major improvements in ASR technology has been the speed in which the new ASR systems return the recognized text. This has been of considerable interest to Screen because one of the biggest issues in live subtitling, that has been practically impossible to resolve to date, has been the delay in presenting a subtitle compared to when the dialogue was spoken. The new ASR systems return text very quickly, potentially making near instantaneous subtitling a possibility (albeit with some accuracy issues). The question we are interested in asking (and having answered) is whether there is a new balance to be struck between the speed of the display of the subtitles and the accuracy of the subtitles.

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Close Captioning and voice to text in TV. Challenges and solutions.

An essential technology By Telestream

We strongly feel that captioning and subtitling is an essential technology for both broadcasters and viewers. This is the key technology that can make the difference between getting thousands of viewers and millions of viewers. Language barriers and accessibility needs exist - numbering in the millions in every major market. Our goal is to get our captioning and subtitling technology into the workflow of all content producers.

Matthieu Fasani illustrates the problem with an example: “Captions have their own life cycle, sometimes processed simultaneously with the associated video, sometimes independently. So imagine a television station getting captions/subtitles for programmes in various formats and standards from productions houses or distribution chains, and having to produce content to other different formats and distribute it to multiple outlets”. Giovanni Galvez, from Telestream, also refers to the legacy of formats to explain these compatibility handicaps, and believes TMBi - 32

that the solution lies in the migration to other more modern formats: “The serious handicap is the number of different formats that exist for subtitling. Many are over 30 years old and are still being used. Other formats such as SCC that were only designed to be used for NTSC video are being repurposed for other video formats like 25fps, resulting in downstream compatibility problems. At the end of the day, these subtitle file formats are just made to put text on screen with positioning. So, as an industry, we must find a way to migrate to simple modern formats that support all the

modern workflows. There are automated ways to migrate to modern formats using tools like Vantage Timed Text Flip”. Screen Subtitling Systems’ John Birch explores the route for a possible new concept he calls "universal subtitle master": “The challenge arises from the adoption of standard formats for exchanging media (and information about media) between organisations. These “master” formats are making positive improvements in workflows and reducing the number of variants and versions in the supply chain, and they successfully promote the concept of a minimal number of masters to satisfy the myriad of potential output channels. The challenge for subtitling is that the subtitles traditionally produced have been tied or targeted to specific output formats, i.e. subtitles are created with a specific output format (e.g. Teletext) in mind. The concept of a ‘universal subtitle master’ is more complex than it

Close Captioning and voice to text in TV. Challenges and solutions.

might first seem because of the evolved variation in the capabilities of different output formats, and because of the conventions that have arisen regionally in subtitling service provision. It will be interesting to see if the new global distributors of media are able to fully ‘normalise' the style and features of the subtitle services that they must include to reach their global audiences".

THE

LEGAL

REQUIREMENT OF SUBTITLING Subtitles facilitate access to much wider audiences, but it is also a legal requirement under hearing impaired accessibility standards. It is here where the great difference between subtitling and captioning lies. John Birch from Screen Subtitling Systems

explains: “The biggest difference is in the target audience, in that captioning is required by around 10% of the audience (as a service for hearing impaired viewers), whereas subtitling is required by 90% of the audience (as a translation of the dialogue). In reality, the techniques for the distribution of captioning and subtitling are identical, the main difference between the two services is in the creation of the captions or subtitles, where (translation) subtitlers have the additional task of translating the language spoken in the media into a different language. This additional task is very specialised and requires exceptional language skills because the resulting translations must be natural and culturally relevant”. The type of industry, annual revenues or the amount of content offered to the public, among other factors, determine the type of standards to which each company should be subject. In the entertainment and content

area in the United States, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) imposes a series of obligations on companies that broadcast television content. These rules create confusion between some companies. A study by 3Play Media reveals that 33% of companies are unsure of the terms of the law. When asked about this matter, its Director of Marketing, Lily Bond argued that “the legislation is very complicated, and there are several laws that may apply to any one organisation”. “In addition -adds Bond-, lawsuits have extended the scope of accessibility law to online companies. Keeping track of the legal environment and understanding the applicable laws is the real barrier. That's why we provide so many educational resources (blogs, webinars, white papers, research studies) - to help people better understand the law". TMBi - 33

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Close Captioning and voice to text in TV. Challenges and solutions.

Interview with Lily Bond, Director of Marketing at 3Play Media Tell us briefly about your company. How was it born? 3Play Media originated out of MIT in 2008, where the four co-founders met at the Sloan School of Management. One of them was working with a group at MIT to caption videos, and spent the next year developing a better process for captioning and transcription. Almost 10 years later, 3Play Media is still operating out of Boston, MA and provides high quality captioning, transcription, subtitling, and audio description services to over 2300 customers.

What makes your company different from its competitors? Unlike traditional captioning companies, 3Play Media utilizes a combination of technology and humans to make the process more efficient and cost-effective. Every file is first put through automatic speech recognition. Next, a certified editor cleans up TMBi - 34

the transcript. Finally, a QA editor reviews the transcript and finalizes any flags the editor wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t sure of. All of our editors are US-based. This process allows us to reach a measured accuracy rate of 99.6%, which is much higher than most competitors. Another way we differentiate ourselves is by focusing on the customer experience. Our goal is to make the process of captioning as easy as possible - this includes a user-friendly account system, round-trip integrations with leading video platforms, flexible upload and download

options, simple interactive plugins, dedicated customer support, and several different turnaround options.

What are your company goals? Our initiatives focus on innovation and continuously improving our technology to make the editing job easier and better. We are committed to treating our contractors, employees, and customers well and to improving the process for everyone. Our goal has always been to make the process of captioning/transcription/au dio description - which

Close Captioning and voice to text in TV. Challenges and solutions.

have traditionally been fairly cumbersome - as easy as possible. We constantly work to reduce barriers to adoption and drive towards a world where every video is accessible to allow consumption by all viewers.

What equipment or technology do you consider essential for your workflow? Would you highlight any recent purchases or innovations? We utilize speech technology both for captioning/transcription and for audio description. For captioning, our process relies on automatic speech recognition (ASR). For audio description, we use synthesized speech to voice the descriptions. Even more important, however, are the software and processes we’ve developed for editors and describers, as well as for onboarding, deadline management, and quality management at scale.

74% of companies consider that their captioning needs have increased. As a result did

3Play Media team in Boston.

you notice an increase on demand for orders? The reality is that online video is growing, and the requirements for captioning are expanding. It’s an exciting industry to be in, and we certainly don’t expect a decreased need for captioning any time soon.

We would like to talk about open captioning. What are the advantages? Have you detected an increase in orders for that type of captions? Speaking of social video, unfortunately many social networks don’t allow you to add a separate caption file to a video. While

Facebook allows users to upload an SRT caption file to their video, Twitter and Instagram don’t allow caption upload. This means that open captioning is the only way to add captions to video on Twitter and Instagram. Open captions are burned into the video and can’t be turned off. Other use cases for open captions include offline video and video for kiosks. The more that online video autoplays silently on massive platforms like Twitter and Instagram, the more we anticipate people using open captions on videos (until/unless they allow upload of a separate caption file). TMBi - 35

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Close Captioning and voice to text in TV. Challenges and solutions.

Interview with Matthieu Fasani, Product Manager of Dalet Brio and Dalet AmberFin Explain us briefly your evolution as a company so far. Dalet has been leading change in the broadcast and digital media industry for 26 years. We provide our customers with agile, collaborative and transforming solutions to simplify and boost their content chains and operations should it be for news, sports, programs, promos, shows, educational or government content. The solutions are based on an open and scalable Media Asset Management, Orchestration and editorial platform called Dalet Galaxy. From a technology standpoint, the most significant steps in the last 12 years have been: the introduction of our 1st MAM based platform in 2005, the launch of the Dalet Galaxy platform in 2012 which was a foundation for convergence of radio, TV and web, the introduction of the Dalet BPMN 2.0 TMBi - 36

Workflow Engine in 2014, first hybrid and cloud implementations in 2016, the launch of Dalet Orchestration in 2017 which opens the door for new generation data driven media businesses. From a business standpoint, our projects keep becoming more and more about enabling strategic transformations for ever larger content organizations.

Dalet AmberFin offers comprehensive integrated closed captioning and subtitling workflows as part of media processing. Why did you decide to add this feature? As a vendor delivering end to end solutions, streamlining captioning/subtitling workflows has become a recurrent request, so the decision has been made to come up with a crossplatform solution addressing end-to-end workflows instead of solving issues individually.

Dalet Galaxy offers a flexible data model to reference captions/subtitles assets, a set of purpose-built user tools to manipulate content including captions/subtitles (search, preview, edit) and a powerful workflow engine to streamline complex workflows involving a mix of automated (captions extraction/insertion, opensubtitling, rendering, automated QC) and manual tasks (captions/subtitles preview, language tagging). Program preparation with localization is a typical example where the user does not have to worry anymore about captions/subtitles: they are imported/ingested automatically, presented to the user in the TrackStack tool for immediate preview, then (if approved) processed as part of the multiplatform distribution supply chain. Dalet AmberFin is the

Close Captioning and voice to text in TV. Challenges and solutions.

media processing engine controlled by Dalet Galaxy and handling the low level operations on the media essences (insertion, extraction, conversion and open-subtitling). Having the ability to manage closed captioning and subtitles at both the broadcast signal level and from files for end-to-end workflows, brings a huge benefit to any company having to cope with captions: a unique integrated solution hiding the complex management of such assets.

How this tool has been evaluated by the end user? As you can imagine, the extensive support of closed captioning and subtitling across the Dalet platforms (Galaxy as the

Media Asset Management platform allowing the import, tracking and export of captions/subtitles, AmberFin as the Media Processing platform allowing extraction, insertion and opensubtitling operations and Brio as the IO platform offering preservation of captions/subtitles during ingest and playout) has been achieved in incremental steps, each one being initiated or validated by end users.

Dalet AmberFin supports open subtitling/captioning operations. In your opinion, what advantages bring this type of subtitling? Have you noticed an increase in its use?

Supporting open subtitling/captioning simplifies for some cases the downstream distribution of content as it guarantees that, whatever device will be used to view the content, the subtitles/captions will be displayed at the right time and with the appropriate rendering parameters. This is not always desirable as it means rendering a flat version for each language (duplicating versions) and each target device (to preserve the quality). It also means that last minute modifications or corrections cannot be achieved with such process. I have not noticed an increase of its use. On the contrary, as the content gets more and more delivered to OTT/VOD platforms or with the move to component-based workflows, delivering captions/subtitles as side car files becomes more popular. TMBi - 37

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Close Captioning and voice to text in TV. Challenges and solutions.

Interview with Hiren Hindocha, President and CEO of Digital Nirvana Tell us about the path you have followed as a company since its beginning till now. Founded in 1996, Digital Nirvana started as a provider of services, such as media monitoring and analysis; business market intelligence and analytics; and learning management services (test scoring and corrections). The company’s first financial services product was introduced in 2001. Its media monitoring software for broadcast and media/entertainment companies was launched in 2009, and cloud-based closed captioning services were introduced in 2016. Digital Nirvana has always introduced new products after extensive research with current and potential customers into what causes their specific and industry-wide challenges. This is an ongoing process that continues throughout the life cycle of the solution.

How does cloud TMBi - 38

Hiren Hindocha, President and CEO of Digital Nirvana.

technology contribute to improve subtitling processes? It makes integration easier and it does not lock a provider into a specific vendor. With a cloudbased service, users can easily integrate this technology into their existing workflow using API’s.

What features does your new automated closed captioning services offer? Digital Nirvana’s closed captioning/subtitling service includes pop-on and roll-up captioning services for all technology platforms. It offers highquality caption generation for all pre-recorded and

Close Captioning and voice to text in TV. Challenges and solutions.

online video content through an automated process over the cloud. The service can handle multiple SD and HD video formats and a wide range of caption file formats. In addition to its multi-format capability, Digital Nirvana’s enterprise-level workflow has checkpoints to ensure content and caption quality. Coupled with Digital Nirvana’s inhouse encoding capabilities, the service provides customized closed captioning services for each customer. Digital Nirvana employs a team of experienced captioners trained in a wide range of industries. Automated speech-totext conversion, coupled

with state-of-the-art workflow and experienced captioners, reduces the time and cost to publish, provides better search engine discoverability while complying with all legal guidelines.

You also offer an automated sports clipping service. How does it work? What does it bring to the market? The company’s all-inone automated sports clipping service enables broadcasters to easily capture and share every fast-paced moment in a game. Digital Nirvana’s cloud-based caption synchronization technologies use audio fingerprinting to automate

near-live synchronization of live broadcast captions. Offering a state-of-theart workflow and customization options, the service automatically analyzes sports broadcasts in real-time and generates ready-topublish clips of those highlights. Digital Nirvana’s sports clipping service is coupled with automated caption synchronization, enabling sports broadcasters to publish sports media content online and via social media without any considerable time delay while complying with all FCC regulations.

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Close Captioning and voice to text in TV. Challenges and solutions.

Interview with John Birch, Strategic and Business Development Manager of Screen Subtitling Systems Tell us briefly about your company. How was born? Screen was founded as Screen Electronics by Laurie Atkin in 1976, and pioneered the first ever electronic subtitling system, providing the first digital character generator to the BBC. Throughout the 1970s and 80s, Screen continued to lead the market, developing a number of new subtitling technologies including fully automated transmission using timecode, the first PC based subtitle preparation system and the first multichannel, multi-language subtitling systems. Screen is now the number 1 provider of subtitling production and delivery systems in the world, and with its broader product portfolio now builds on that success with products that enhance broadcast content. TMBi - 40

John Birch, Strategic and Business Development Manager of Screen Systems

What makes your company different from its competitors?

deliver to customers and ultimately in our case, the end user.

As a pioneer you tend take genuine pride in your products and what they

We have built and maintained an enviable global reputation as a

Close Captioning and voice to text in TV. Challenges and solutions.

company who has driven standards and stuck by them to earn incomparable trust within the industry.

Which are your company goals?

extent do you consider this industry booming? The demand for subtitles (translation) is continuing to rise, as more and more original content is created. The increased investment in creating new series and episodes (particularly for online distribution) is generating demand for more subtitle creation. It is estimated by some that the amount of subtitling is increasing by over 10% per year...

After four decades of development and manufacturing, we have accumulated and enormous amount of specialised expertise. As the market changes and the rate of change increases, Screenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s goal is to use our expertise to innovate in parallel markets.

What challenges will the industry faced in the nearest future?

Have you noted at IBC more interest in subtitling? To what

Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a very broad question. The Media industry is changing rapidly and these changes

Wincaps Screenshot.

are creating a whole range of challenges. There are a couple of challenges that have growing relevance to subtitling. One challenge is that subtitling is becoming a postproduction activity, rather than a distribution activity. This is in part driven by well-known on-line media distribution companies that are driving their content providers to supply localization assets for their content. In part it is also driven by a new approach to content monetization by some content owners / creators, where global release is anticipated from the outset (i.e. they set out to create global content). The challenge here is that this involves a different set of organizations, many of which have a limited familiarity with localization, and who are having to learn what is involved in creating content that meets the requirements of a global consumer base. TMBi - 41

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Close Captioning and voice to text in TV. Challenges and solutions.

Interview with Giovanni Galvez, Captioning Product manager of Telestream What pathway have Telestream followed since its beginnings so far? Telestream® specializes in products that make it possible to get video content to any audience regardless of how it is created, distributed or viewed. This is especially true for subtitling video for viewers that require that level of accessibility. Telestream acquired CPC in 2013. CPC had a 25 year history in developing closed captioning and subtitling software solutions. Since then, Telestream has integrated that technology into products that help broadcasters deliver captioning and subtitling for TV and Internet.

Telestream products aim at spanning the entire digital media lifecycle, including video and delivery, as well as captioning. What challenges does this last task mean, considering the entire process? TMBi - 42

There are many challenges with adding captioning into existing production workflows. Customers who need captioning typically do so because it’s part of a strict government legislation. It’s got to be included as part of the digital media production workflow. Having a unified team that can handle audio and video transcoding plus captioning / subtitling has made Telestream unique in this space. Customers want automation and scalability. This is not possible when dealing with different solutions that aren’t designed to work together. Our challenge is to design a simple and scalable captioning / subtitling solution that can fit into what people are doing right now. It has to fit properly into their typical processes to become an effective solution.

In the field of subtitling, you offer CaptionMaker and MacCaption solutions. How do these

tools simplify video captioning and subtitling in a digital workflow?

Close Captioning and voice to text in TV. Challenges and solutions.

CaptionMaker and MacCaption were the first software solution to add caption data to digital video files. Before this software, broadcasters had to rely on rack mount gear that was linear. We

felt that it was simpler to add caption data to a digital media file than to invest linear hardware that lived in a machine room. Today our CaptionMaker and MacCaption users know they can get their

job done and deliver the proper captioned video file from their laptop or desktop directly to the TV station or Internet repository. We have one customer who runs his captioning company while Social Media Captions

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Close Captioning and voice to text in TV. Challenges and solutions.

traveling across the United States. Customers send him the digital video and he returns a finished product using our software. New users can learn the product quickly and don’t need to have tape machines and other expensive equipment to get work done.

At the core of MacCaption and CaptionMaker is the eCaptioning™ engine. Tell us what differentiates this technology from others. When we came up with the concept of eCaptioning, we wanted our customers to completely get rid of mailing tape masters and clunky machinery. We knew that as internet bandwidth increased, there would be a possibility to receive and deliver digital video masters via download. The actual caption insertion into a video signal was typically done with a hardware encoder. So, e-Captioning is done with a software encoder. This makes the technology scalable and very agile. We are taking e-Captioning to the next TMBi - 44

level with all the video processing technology that is available in our company. There is no other team integrating all the elements of video with captioning and subtitling this way. Everything from capture, transcoding, multiplexing, editing, and even social media publishing has captioning and subtitling as a key element in our software solutions.

You have announced that Timed Text Speech will be launched this autumn. What innovations will this solution bring to the market? Timed Text Speech is a new software solution for Telestream. But Speechto-Text is not new. We offer software tools that make a Speech-to-Text faster and more efficient as a solution for creating caption and subtitle projects. Our key innovation is that we get text and timing results right away into a CaptionMaker and MacCaption project. This is done using our fasterthan-real time processing with Telestream Cloud. We stream a very small compressed audio file and

the text begins to populate almost immediately. This means the software users can review the results while the audio is still being processed. By the time the speech engine completes processing all the results, much of the necessary editing is complete. Overall, this innovation increases productivity for Captionistas (those who create captioning and subtitling projects).

How does cloud technology helps to improve subtitling processes? Cloud technology is scalable and provides massive amount of computer processing power. The kind of speed that we are getting from Timed Text Speech in Telestream Cloud could not be easily reproduced on the ground. There is virtually no limit to how many jobs we can process simultaneously. Speed, scalability, and cost-savings make sense for both small companies and large enterprise customers.

Close Captioning and voice to text in TV. Challenges and solutions.

Interview with Paul Shen, CEO of TVU Networks Tell us briefly about your company. How was born? TVU is built to enable TV stations to produce and distribute content cost effectively by using IPbased solutions and workflow. TVU’s IP-based solutions covers acquisition, transmission, production and distribution.

Why did you decide to become part of the captioning industry? TVU Transceivers which are in thousands of TV stations are very powerful. They are already in the production workflow. TVU Transceivers are capable of adding man services and solutions. The AIbased transcribe engine is capable of transcribing audio voice in real time.

Transcriber supports over 100 languages. This is just one of the many services that we are adding to TVU Transceivers.

Tell us about your company goals. We want to be the catalyst which helps broadcasters transform in the fast changing media market.

TVU Networks launched the TV Transcriber solution this year. What does this solution bring to the market? It will automatically transcribe voice in live broadcasting. The output file can be used for auditing purpose. TVU Transcriber will also be a part of the metadata for the video in transmission.

It will also be embedded in both SDI and IP video for both closed and open captioning.

How it was received by the industry? What projection do you think it will have in the future? It is in lots of TVU’s customers’ Transceivers. We believe this can significantly reduce the operational cost, and provide a tool which is always available, especially for unplanned emergency live broadcasting.

Do you have in mind any innovation or new solution in the field of subtitles? AI-based solution is the future of subtitling, including multi-language subtitling.

TX3200

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NAB NEW YORK 2017

NAB Show NY,

an opportunity to open market in the USA TMBi - 46

NAB NEW YORK 2017

Text by Daniel Esparza

The NAB Show NY has once again brought together leading companies from all over the world. The exhibitors all share their interest in doing business in the vast American market. Similarly, several companies highlighted the opportunity offered by the show to contact clients that they may not have the chance to see in the last IBC, a venue with such a tight agenda, that on many occasions they cannot meet up with as many clients as they would have liked. The show has around 15,000 attendees and more than 300 exhibitors, expectant to know the data reaped by this edition. Regardless of the outcome and the figures, what they do know is that the show receives visitors with purchasing influence. 90% of the public is made up of buyers who authorise, specify or recommend purchases. 62.4% plan to purchase in the next 12 months, whereas 23% will end up buying products from companies they never know existed before the event. The event's organisers this year unveiled a new award, Created in New York, which honours the city's most innovative entertainment industry leaders. The winners of this first edition were Jeph Loeb and Jim Chory, executive directors of Marvel Television. “While turning Marvel Television into a powerhouse studio, both Jeph Loeb and Jim Chory proved it is possible to use one location –in this case, New York City– to evoke a wholly unique look and feel to multiple series,” according to Chris Brown, NAB executive vice president, Conventions and Business Operations. TMBi - 47

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NAB NEW YORK 2017

90% of the public is made up of buyers who authorise, specify or recommend purchases. 62.4% plan to purchase in the next 12 months, whereas 23% will end up buying products from companies they never know existed before the event TMBi - 48

Exhibit Hall at NAB Show New York

This year, the show also launched Best of BEIT, a series of sessions that allowed attendees to explore future solutions. UHD technology, Next Gen TV/ATSC 3.0, cybersecurity and big data were the topics chosen to trace this analysis.

Trends and developments The exhibitors of the show offered visitors a tour of the latest market developments. It is true that the event does

not exceed the temperature levels of other shows such as IBC, where the fever of novelties reaches very high levels, but it does offer a first-level environment in which manufacturers can measure the acceptance of their products in the US. Some brands have taken advantage of the event to present their launches for the first time in the US market. This is the case of TVU Networks with the TVU Transcriber service and its TVU TimeLock technology. The VP of Marketing at TVU Networks, Eric Chang,

NAB NEW YORK 2017

said that one of the attractions of NAB NY is the opportunity to "connect with many local attendees we haven't met at other recent shows, such as IBC". TVU TimeLock allows multiple TVU Transmitters to synchronise together in an established latency. Clear-Com is another example. The company announced the availability of the latest additions to its portfolio of audio and video networking solutions in the United States, from BroaMan or its Route66 series to the new Repeat8NANO, which offer ultra-fast

electrical-optical-electric conversion for 3G/H/SDI. MultiDyne introduced its new 1 Rack Unit VF-9000, a high-density fibre optic video transport platform. It has up to 36 optical I/O (18 SFP Ports) and 36 Copper, BNC I/Os. The configuration of input vs. output is configured automatically, following the I/O of the SFP installed. Fujifilm used the show to measure the achievement of its new Fujinon Ua24x7.8 objectives. In the last IBC, the Japanese company presented these lenses to the world for the first time, said to be the smallest and

lightest 4K zoom Broadcast 4K on the market. Its approximate length is 220.5 mm and weighs 1.98 kg. It offers a zoom magnification ratio of 24x, covering a focal length ranging from 7.8 mm angle to 187 mm tele. It is designed to be used for sporting events, studio work or even in confined spaces, although it is especially suitable for shooting with 4K camcorders. Among the novelties presented by SAM, we highlight its news production solution, VIBE, integrated into the remote production editor Go! With this launch,

Product Demo in the Exhibit Hall at NAB Show New York

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NAB NEW YORK 2017

Session Audience at NAB Show New York

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SAM aims to offer the fastest and most reliable solution on the market for content delivery. It provides a scalable ecosystem that facilitates complete coverage from a single computer. Go! makes it easy to 'edit anywhere' with streamlined workflows that allow you to send breaking news.

Subtitling, agreements and new companies The subtitling segment, to which we dedicate a special feature in this issue, was very present. In this line, ENCO launched the latest addition to its family of automated closed captioning solutions. The new enCaption4 includes advances in accuracy and speed and includes cloud options. “Its performance improvements minimise the distraction that caption delays create for hearing-impaired viewers”, highlights the chairman of ENCO, Ken Frommert.

NAB NEW YORK 2017

Outdoor Exhibit at NAB Show New York

Telestream introduced -to mention just one more example- Timed Text Speech, a tool that allows text transcriptions to be automatically created for captioning projects. Telestream focuses its attention on minimising airtime. In addition to this, Telestream announced the launch of a streaming solution developed with IBM Aspera at the NAB NY. The goal is to ensure high-quality streaming to remote production equipment for editing and production over

standard IP networks in near real-time. It is not the only collaboration agreement. Ross Video announced that he was joining forces with Cisco to launch a Proof-ofConcept (PoC) for virtualised news production made by the two companies. They summarised this in a joint document entitled Newsroom in a Box... in a Data Centre. Through this PoC, the two companies demonstrated how a formally defined workload in readable text

files can become both a Cisco® Cloud Center GUI for life-cycle control, monitoring and management and a Ross news production workflow. The latter includes OverDrive (automation), XPression (graphics), Inception (news authoring) and Streamline (MAM). The end result was 14 rack units of Ross gear virtualised into 2 rack units of Cisco’s Unified Computing System (UCS) with a workflow that looked and behaved exactly like a non-virtualised newsroom production system. TMBi - 51

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NAB NEW YORK 2017

Product Demo in the Exhibit Hall at NAB Show New York

In addition to the usual ones, the show also had the support of new companies. One of the firms that premiered at the NAB NY stand was Shotoku. The Japanese company decided to take this step as part of the recent creation of its subsidiary in the US. Among other products, Shotoku introduced its robotic pan/tilt heads TG-18 line, in parallel with its smaller and lighter head, the TG-27.

Audio, 4K, Cloud, IP In the audio section, Lawo introduced the virtual models (VMS) V__matrix vm_mv244 and vm_mv16-4, designed to provide high-quality multiviewer functionality to TMBi - 52

the V_Matrix ecosystem when loaded into a central c100 processing module. These VMS support both IP and SDI sources and can monitor uncompressed 4K/UHD, 3G, HD and SD video, as well as embedded audio.

commitment to adopting 4K video in professional productions and AV workflows, the company announced the addition of two new dual-channel 4K cards to its Pro Capture family of PCI Express capture hardware.

SSL, for its part, exhibited its new audio console System T-S300, designed for a wide variety of Broadcast installations and OB vehicles. With this release, the firm boasts of manufacturing the first fully IP-based live streaming audio production system ever.

The new dual-channel Pro Capture 4K cards support video resolutions up to 4096x2160 at full 60fps over high-speed PCIe 3.0 x4 bus interfaces. The Pro Capture Dual HDMI 4K Plus features HDMI 2.0 inputs, while the Pro Capture Dual SDI 4K Plus flexibly supports singlelink 12G-SDI, dual-link 6GSDI or quad-link 3G-SDI connectivity.

Among the 4K novelties presented at the event, we can highlight Magewell, in addition to those already mentioned. As part of its

Thinklogical is another example. One of the new additions to its catalogue

NAB NEW YORK 2017

exhibited at the NAB NY was a 4K zero-latency cloud publishing solution for VFX and Post applications and workflows. Without moving from the cloud, another company that used the show to showcase its advances in the field of cloud publishing was IPV. With its Curator platform, the company wanted to demonstrate how we can use the cloud for creative and production services through its proxy-based workflows. Another topic of discussion at the event revolved around

the new standards. Along these lines, manufacturer Wohler Technologies announced the latest product updates in support of SMPTE ST 2110 IP transport standards. "The addition of these updates to our awardwinning iAM Series demonstrates that we are continually providing our customers with a variety of diverse solutions for a wide range of monitoring applications," defended Craig Newbury, vice president of sales at Wohler Technologies.

The SMPTE ST 2110 set of standards is about to be defined and allows separate routing of video, audio and ANC data streams across professional real-time IP networks to support playout and broadcast production applications. In this field, Artel presented three new platforms focused on IP media transport, switching and streaming. The company also introduced other products that reinforced its purpose of creating an IP and hybrid (IP/SDI) end-to-end network.

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ZOOM IN

Ad Sales Pie Share Is Now a Piece of Cake Current trends in the ad sales pie share clearly demonstrate that mobile and desktop internet advertising will surpass TV advertising incomes in 2019. Broadcasters must now be preparing to defend their slice of the pie in order to protect critical revenues. Paramount in this battle will be the increasing use of technological solutions to streamline the efficiency and value to advertisers within the broadcasting industry. According to Media agency, ZenithOptimedia, global advertising expenditure is expected to grow 4.4% in 2017. That sounds very nice but, looking at the pie chart, we can see the worldwide forecast position for 2019 in which the largest portion of the ad pie will switch from TV to internet with the following projected percentages: mobile (26.7%), desktop TMBi - 54

Ad Sales Pie Chart

(14.7%) and TV, which will account for only 32.7% of the market. This represents an existential threat to traditional TV broadcasters and it is important to realise that this trend away from TV advertising is expected to continue. How do we deal with this problem? Ad sales software solution such as Provys is an important weapon in defending broadcasters’ market share because it increases advertisers’ satisfaction and at the

same time, maximises internal workflow efficiency. The word solution in this context is not simply a management guru’s buzzword but represents reality in solving a critical problem. If we now look at the flowchart, we can see how an advanced ad sales solution actually operates. Six groups of key processes form two workflow streams. The upper stream describes the sales flow process

ZOOM IN

Ad Sales Flowchart

within the sales department dealing with clients and agencies, and the lower stream illustrates the traffic workflow process defining typical traffic operations. The flowchart shows clearly the principal components of a modern ad sales solution which is all founded on one robust database supporting all the other main operations within a broadcasting station, such as programme scheduling for playout. “CRM & Annual deals” covers a repository of agencies and clients together with their individual conditions and long-term standard commercial conditions including invoicing parameters, bonuses, rebates, etc. “Campaign management” comprises customer order

management, campaign preparations, different package proposals, spot and floating campaigns, GRP and TRP based campaign pricing, price calculations, reporting and GRP balancing. “Invoicing” is the heart of the matter and must be supported by perfect statistical reporting. In the traffic stream, “Pricing & Space management” covers commercial breakpatterns, day-stripe price lists, block prices and generally, a real time commercial inventory of available advertising space. Just as the ad buyers are moving towards programmatic advertising, so Provys has already developed software solutions for automated self-promotion which is only a small step away from programmatic advertising from a sales

perspective. “Booking” involves media planning, contracts and archiving. “Traffic” consists of ad version description and planning, ad content management and finalisation, regulation compliance verification (hourly and daily limits), seamless integration with playout, and the very important as-run commercial log. The inherent danger is that the young upstarts will steal the older brother’s piece of the cake, and this article was written specifically to address this risk and offer solutions. Let us conclude by summarising the necessary features of leading ad sales software: a smart data model to easily find the right information from anywhere; a wide range of available configurations; a comprehensive and flexible price calculation facility with a user friendly GUI; a detailed campaign description monitoring all its aspects; and finally, a wide variety of invoicing possibilities. In a nutshell, defending your slice of the pie is now a piece of cake when your chef uses cutting-edge software. TMBi - 55

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We try

Casio XJ-L8300HN

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Casio XJ-L8300HN

Let there be light, and there was light Lab testing performed by Javier Guerra

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Like every year, a new edition of the ISE show was held in Amsterdam at the beginning of February. Seeing how the show has grown in recent years, there is no doubt that it has become a must for any professional related to the audiovisual world. It is, therefore, not surprising, to see the Japanese manufacturer Casio at its large stand in a prominent position of the main pavilion of the exhibition, exhibiting its catalogue of products in general and its range of projectors in particular, to those present. From all the equipment on display, there was one impressive piece of TMBi - 58

equipment that attracted the most attention. It was the machine that we were lucky enough to try in this edition, the Casio XJ-L8300HN. I was able to spend some time on it there and then to check its characteristics and performance. It was more than enough time to earn itself the right to pass through our laboratory, despite having had to show its virtues in a place so unsuitable for a projector, such as an audiovisual show as the one held in the Dutch capital. As soon as I had the opportunity to speak with the editor of our publication, I conveyed my interest in

analysing this model in depth. I had no problem in offering a convincing answer when asked about my special affection for this device. From my humble point of view, we are faced with one of those devices that only appear from time to time, capable of marking a turning point in certain technologies. I don't want to come across as a fanboy in the description of this Casio, but I think it has deservedly earned the right to be recognised as the first -and so far, the only- projector on the market, which offers a 4K resolution, a laser lighting system and the ability to offer 5000 ANSI

Casio XJ-L8300HN

Lumens on the screen at a retail price of less than €6,700 plus taxes. But before delving into the analysis and assessment of our guest device, let me tell you some interesting facts about the maker of this dazzling device and its projectors. The Japanese giant, Casio -supercommitted to its leading role in the imaging industryembarked on a journey of no return towards making greener products that contributed towards preserving the environment several years ago. This journey was aimed at wiping out mercury vapour lamps as a light source from its entire range of projectors and today, all we have to do is take a look at its product catalogue to see that all of its projector models -more than 20 grouped in six different series- have dispensed with lighting systems based on lamps. Thanks to this strategic decision, Casio has become the world's leading manufacturer of spotlights for the seventh year running, serving the sales of more than 2,500 ANSI Lumens with solid-state lighting systems (LampFree) devices.

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“Made in Japan” is always synonymous with quality. Knowing that Casio projectors are manufactured in a premium factory located in Yamagata is always an exciting advance into what follows. The XJ-L8300HN occupies the highest rank in the LARGE VENUE category while representing the highest step in the Japanese manufacturer's entire range. This striking feature could probably lead us to believe that it is a huge device, difficult to transport but, in spite of not being a portable equipment, we can safely say that it will not be difficult to find a set-up place for it. In spite of its almost 57 centimetres long and 47 centimetres wide and 19.8 kg on the scales, it is relatively simple to set up, thanks to its more than

generous lens-moving system, both in the vertical (+-60%) and horizontal (+25%) axes and the correct choice of the lens focal length range. This will allow us to obtain a screen size in 16:9 wide format with a base of 3 metres -about 136-inch diagonal- with a projector delay of between 4 and 6 metres from the screen depending on the zoom position we use. If given a choice, I would have liked both the zoom drive and the lens focus and lens shift mechanism (Lens Shift) to have been motorised, but among all the manufacturers that use this chassis made by the Taiwanese Coretronic as the basis of their products, I don't remember any of them equipping these functions with a remote control. In the connections section,

The Japanese giant, Casio -supercommitted to its leading role in the imaging industryembarked on a journey of no return towards making greener products that contributed towards preserving the environment several years ago. TMBi - 59

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 TEST AREA Casio's engineering team wanted to give a blow of authority and let things fly with a side panel that includes: two HDMI inputs, one of which being suitable for UHD signals thanks to its compatibility with the HDCP 2.2 anti-piracy standard, to which they add the most uncommon HDBaseT digital video input as a clear sign of their Professional vocation. We also find an analogue data input and output with VGA connectors, two USB terminals, two mini-jack connectors for remote activation and a trigger signal, an audio output for external speakers, an RS232 terminal for control purposes and to complete such a display of possibilities, the XJL8300HN is even equipped with a LAN Network input, with which we can connect it to a local network. On the same side panel, we find a keyboard with direct access to the user menu and, therefore, to all the functions of the device, which will make the use of the remote control unnecessary. The remote control leaves much to be desired, and during the viewing tests, it came across as quite uncomfortable and with a very limited range of action. TMBi - 60

TECHNOLOGY INNOVATIONS Continuing with the description of the device, we have now reached the two most outstanding and innovative features. First and foremost, it uses a chip based on Texas Instruments DLP technology, with the ability to display 8.3 million pixels in 4K resolution on the screen. You may have noticed that I have not used the usual description of "Native 4K Resolution" since it would not be the entire truth, but in the world of UHD resolutions there is an interesting debate between the different technologies and you will allow me to express my opinion here. The Large Venue projection market offers different models of devices with native 4K resolutions of 4096 x 2160 pixels. Equipment based on reflective LCD systems from brands such as Sony or JVC have been occupying a by no means negligible market share with highquality achievements for several years. Similarly, there are devices equipped with DLP technology -mainly used in Digital Cinema applications- that are based on native 1.38" diagonal 4K

Technical Data Sheet • Reference: XJL8300HN • Wireless connections: Optional with compatible WiFi receivers with HDMI • Luminosity: 5000 ANSI lumens • Projection relation: 1.38-2.02 to 1 • Resolution: 4K UHD (3840x2160) • Size and weight: 471 (AN.) × 565 (PROF.) × 206 (AL.) y 19.8 Kg • Price VAT included: €7999

DMD chips, which contain the same number of micromirrors, each representing the information contained in the signal from the input

Casio XJ-L8300HN

It uses a chip based on Texas Instruments DLP technology, with the ability to display 8.3 million pixels in 4K resolution on the screen source of the same resolution, known as 1:1 mapping. Unfortunately, we run into the same wall in both technologies: they are expensive devices, and there is not much to choose from, which greatly limits their presence in low budget installations.

(1920x1080 pixels) from which we managed to duplicate each of these points, diagonally diverting half a pixel from their on-

screen presentation. This produces twice as many pixels, but it should be borne in mind that each pixel is repeated and that despite reproducing a UHD 4K signal, the image displayed contains only the 2 million different dots corresponding to the FullHD resolution. In early 2016, Texas Instruments introduced the XPR technology incorporated in a new Chipset based on a small-

With the aim of being able to reproduce 4K/UHD signals even with a bandwidth as high as 18Gb/s, several manufacturers have been implementing cheaper solutions to handle these signals, and for a couple of years, we have witnessed fierce competition between different versions of the socalled "False 4K". Some manufacturers that use LCoS technology implement an ingenious solution based on a refined electronic process that is already in its fifth generation, and based on the use of a native panel of FullHD resolution TMBi - 61

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ď&#x201A;¤ TEST AREA size DMD device -0.66â&#x20AC;? diagonal- containing 2716 x 1528 micro-mirrors which means a native resolution of more than 4 million dots. However, in addition to doubling the resolution of the competition, the best was yet to come, because the XPR technology is capable of handling a native 4K input signal, and thanks

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In the XJ-L8300HN, the LED that generates the red colour is dispensed with, and the entire task is assigned to a Blue Laser diode source, which combines high output and ultra-precise alignment, capable of generating a luminous flux of more than 5000 lumens

Casio XJ-L8300HN

to the speed with which the mirrors move -we are talking about microseconds-, it can create two contiguous pixels at the same time with different content displayed on screen at the same time, thus offering the 8.3 million physical, active and individually assigned pixels within each frame capable of creating a true UHD

image. Without wanting to start a debate, I am among those who think that the image I see on the screen is, without a doubt, a native UHD 4K signal. The second outstanding feature of our guest device is its lighting system based on the use of a laser diode. With the only exception of

this model that we are analysing compared to the rest of the LampFree range of projectors brought by the Japanese manufacturer, the mass-used system is a hybrid combination of blue laser, which is capable of generating the green colour signal thanks to its internal processing through the use of a phosphorous wheel, to

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ď&#x201A;¤ TEST AREA which the red colour signal is added coming from an LED in charge of this task. However, in the XJL8300HN, the LED that generates the red colour is dispensed with, and the entire task is assigned to a Blue Laser diode source, which combines high output and ultra-precise alignment, capable of generating a luminous flux of more than 5000 lumens. This beam of light is driven by two synchronised colour wheels -the first with phosphorous and the second with additive colour segments, which

ensures maximum colour rendering performance- all within a Light Engine in which the DMD chip is hermetically sealed, allowing high resistance to heat and degradation. Within the user menu, you can choose between two intensity of light variants; the normal mode that achieves stratospheric brightness values and the ECO mode, which, with approximately 70% of the default value, provides more than enough illumination for a large number of utilities and can triple the system's lifespan from 20,000 hours

Fig. 1 Luminosity in Eco Mode and Normal Mode Before Calibration.

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initially planned to 60,000 hours, making it a perfect candidate for 24/7 applications, that settle for less than 3,500 lumens.

CALIBRATION, IN-DEPTH ANALYSIS AND V IEWING T ESTING In an attempt to extract the maximum performance from our guest device, we used a 4K Panasonic DMP-UB 900 UHD reader and a HighPerformance PC. Before, to be able to give a fair judgement on the capabilities of this device,

Casio XJ-L8300HN

Fig. 2 Luminosity in Eco Mode and Normal Mode After Calibration.

we used to calibrate using Spectracal's Calman software. I prefer to start with the least good, and from among the few things that could be improved, I would say the lack of support for 4K HDR and Extended Colour Gamut signals stands out. Gentlemen of Casio, please make a firmware revision that includes the support for these signals, because with the magnificent projector you have created and the tremendous amount of light

available, I guarantee you will overcome the only hurdle I see preventing it from becoming a True 4K Benchmark Projector. If there is something that catches the eye immediately after the projector is turned on, it is, first of all, the speed with which the laser can deliver its maximum performance -just a few seconds after pressing the power button- and above all, the incredible amount of light that it is capable of emitting on screen. In order

to give you an idea, the theoretical ideal of appropriate brightness -in footLambert units- for the correct viewing of SDR broadcasts in commercial cinemas must be between 12 and 16fL. In the following two graphs (Fig. 1 and Fig. 2), we can see that before starting the calibration and projecting on a 106" diagonal Da-Lite screen of 1.0 gain in 16:9 format, the luminance value in ECO Laser mode that we obtain produces a result of 65.52 fL and this value rises to a TMBi - 65

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Fig. 3 RGB, Gamut and Gamma Balance Before Calibration.

blinding 95.16 fL in Normal Laser mode. What's best of all is that, thanks to its excellent factory setting, these values remain virtually unchanged and after full calibration, they can reach 61.33 and 90.18 fL, respectively. To get an idea of what this actually means, the best example we can give is that any large plasma TV, playing HD content from a TV tuner, clearly looks "off" when you place it next to this bad boy. Needless to say, in screen sizes up to 3.5 metres of base, it can reproduce any content with the normal ambient light of a meeting TMBi - 66

room while maintaining a viewing comfort that would make many competitors that double or triple in price go pale. Continuing with the virtues of this device, in the following image (Fig. 3), we see the measurements we have made of the unit before starting the adjustments. You can see that by choosing the Normal picture mode and Natural Colour Temperature, the basic parameters of brightness, contrast, dye, saturation and sharpness, as well as the grayscale balance of this projector are calibrated by default to plug in and start enjoying straight away. An

outstanding mark for those who have made an effort to ensure that a device that was theoretically designed for presentations and applications in educational environment, reaches such a degree of accuracy in video parameters that they are able to offer a D65 white with an almost identical contribution of the three basic colours always close to 6500ÂşK in virtually the entire scale, except in the clearest part of the image where there is a slight deviation of green from 70 IRE onwards. If they told me that it was a device designed for utilities where colour accuracy is an

Casio XJ-L8300HN

Fig. 4 Summary of the Grayscale deltaE, Gamma, Contrast and D65 calibration.

important requirement, I would have believed them blindly. In this first measurement before calibrating, we can only quibble the primary and secondary positions on the CIE diagram by choosing the Rec 709 colour space, which differ somewhat from the correct values, in Saturation and Dye and Luminance values. The following image (Fig. 4) shows the data obtained after the calibration session. In the first instance and with the intention of obtaining a more solid black level, we chose to modify the gamma value to 2.4, but the probe did not deceive, and if we

want to obtain the best results in chromatic fidelity, the final value of the gamma curve appears in the value that the device chooses by default, namely 2.2. Thanks to the complete user menu that incorporates controls for a precise adjustment of the grayscale, we have achieved a reference image with an average deltaE deviation value in the 1.3 grayscale -it is worth remembering that values below 3 are assumed to be undetectable to the human eye- and, therefore, a virtually perfect D65 target. The mean Colour Temperature value over the full scale is 6432ÂşK, resulting

in a 1254:1 Full On-Off Contrast Ratio and a 2.18 Gamma compensation value. The results obtained in the adjustment of the already superb grayscale are good, and the possibilities offered by the CMS colour control system, which allows us to rigorously adjust the primary and secondary colours in the three axes of Saturation, Dye and Luminance, are worth mentioning. It is difficult to find a device of these characteristics that enables achieving the level of perfection that we reach in at least 5 of the 6 colours in the race. Too bad there was a slight physical TMBi - 67

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Fig. 5 Gamut Rec 709 and CMS adjustments. Saturation patterns at 75%.

limitation in the colour decoder that prevented us from adjusting the blue colour at its exact point along the coordinate axis. Even so, and compared to the values obtained out of the box, this small detail does not in any way detract from the excellent result obtained in the calibration of the Gamut within the Rec 709 colour space with a perfect yellow, green and magenta, and the rest of the colours with deviations of less than 3, which translates into a white perfectly adjusted to the norm, both in the lower part and in the brightest part of the scale. TMBi - 68

It is difficult to find a device of these characteristics that enables achieving the level of perfection that we reach in at least 5 of the 6 colours in the race To finish with the analysis of the calibration data, we leave you with the last graph (Fig. 6) showing a summary of the values obtained, and that can make those responsible for creating a device like this feel very satisfied.

CONCLUSION I have left my comments on the solidity of the black

level of this apparatus for the end. This obviously suffers greatly due to the extraordinary ability to offer images with a brightness of stratospheric value. However, that should not be a problem, even for the most fanatical of images with a black floor beyond the specifications of commercial cinema, because by combining this projector with

Casio XJ-L8300HN

Fig. 6 RGB, Gamut and Gamma Balance After Calibration.

a technical screen gain of less than 1, you can get a reproduction of the black that allows you to enjoy without problems, of the contents with dark scenes more compromising. It's a pity that the unit I've had the pleasure to test and which had the v1.0 firmware does not support HDR and WCG content playback. If future firmware revisions implement this possibility, they will improve what is already a fantastic device. If you have clients from the hotel, education and museums sector, or even companies that demand a great fidelity in the reproduction of colour and

need a high brightness, or the possibility of viewing the contents under ambient light, do not hesitate to offer this Casio XJ-L8300HN to

them. I assure you that it will not be easy to find a competitor capable of beating it -not at this price level anyway. TMBi - 69

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