14
NEWS & VIEWS
December 2017
This year’s Inter BEE
highlights key
technologies impacting
the broadcast industry
by shawn liew
Koji Yuzawa, senior manager, global business department, sales management
division, Hitachi Kokusai Electric, highlighting how the company is inspiring
4K/UHD and 8K production with its solutions.
John Dale, CEO and president of Media Links: While broadcasters retain a
sense of conservatism, the past six months have seen a marked increase in the
interest in IP.
TOKYO – As Japan continues an
eagerly anticipated countdown to
the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, it was
perhaps inevitable that the 38,083
visitors to Inter BEE 2017 were
drawn to the various displays of 8K.
Adding to the allure was Japa-
nese public broadcaster NHK’s
announcement that it will begin
8K transmission by the end of next
year, leading up to the Tokyo Olym-
pics, which will be broadcast in 8K.
Away from 8K, however, Inter
BEE 2017 also allowed the 643
exhibitors from 33 countries to
highlight their latest developments
covering a range of technologies.
With Japan having started
digital transmission in 2013,
many broadcasters are now going
through an equipment renewal cy-
cle, said Hitachi Kokusai. Currently
enjoying about 60%-70% of the
microwave links market in Japan,
Hitachi Kokusai is working with
the Japanese government on a 8K
bidirectional microwave link for the
2020 Tokyo Olympics. The com-
pany’s SK-UHD 8060B 8K camera
will also be used by the NHK station
for the 2020 Olympics, along with
custom-made transmitters Hitachi
Kokusai designed for NHK.
Another key business develop-
ment area for Hitachi Kokusai is
A total of 38,083 visitors scoured the halls of the Makuhari Messe convention centre in Tokyo during Inter BEE 2017,
where more than 600 local and overseas exhibitors highlighted their latest product developments.
the outside broadcast (OB) and
DSNG van sector. Having built OB
vehicles from scratch for the likes
of Thailand’s Channel 5 and South
Korea’s MBC, Hitachi Kokusai offers
customers the OB-BOX, a fully fea-
tured modular OB facility, which is
delivered to the customer and then
mounted onto a vehicle’s chassis
using a proprietary fixing kit.
At the NTT Group booth, the
company displayed a number
of key prototypes, including a
real-time 4K/UHD 120p + high
dynamic range (HDR) HEVC/H.265
encoder. Calling it the “world’s first”
4K/UHD 120p + HDR enhanced
HEVC/H.265 encoder, NTT said the
encoder, with four units in parallel,
can realise high-quality 4K/UHD
120p + HDR encoding.
NTT also highlighted a 4K
XAVC to HEVC (HDR 10) real-time
file converter, a 4K/UHD ingest
encoder, which supports the HDR
10 format for 4K/UHD and 8K
distribution, and will be available
next March.
Another key NTT showcase is
the viaPlatz 4K/8K software plat-
form, which provides high-speed
IP video recording and playback for
up to 8K60p uncompressed signals.
Looking to provide a ‘wise’
head in an IP and Internet of Things
(IoT) world, NEC highlighted its
total IP studio solution, and dem-
onstrated its media over IP and
integrated playout capabilities.
The company also focused on
NEC the WISE, a new brand encom-
passing a line-up of artificial intelli-
gence (AI) technologies. According
to NEC, its AI technologies are al-
ready being utilised for a variety of
solutions, including an immigration
control system equipped with facial
recognition technology. Broadly
categorised under the categories of
visualisation, analysis and control/
guidance, NEC the WISE will also
provide critical content protection
as broadcasters transition to IP, said
the company.
While many broadcasters re-
main conservative when it comes
to taking the leap to new technol-
ogies, the past six months have
seen a marked increase in the
interest in IP, observed John Dale,
CEO and president of Media Links.
Looking to transform the future
of IP transport, the company is
offering its IPVR solution, which
combines the Media Links MDX
4090 IP video switcher and router,
the MD 8600 video gateway and
low latency media converter, as
well as PCS control software, to
create a network infrastructure for
compressed and uncompressed
broadcast IP content delivery.
Media Links also demonstrated
how its new MDP 3020 IP Media
Gateway processes media infor-
mation by sending and receiving
uncompressed SDI video signals
over IP networks, with support
for SMPTE 2022-2/6/7 and TR-01
standards.
In Japan, there is an increas-
ing demand for robotic camera
systems, said Shotoku Broadcast
Systems, who highlighted the in-
tegration of the TI-12 height drive
with its TP200 studio pedestal.
Designed for studio operations,
the TP200 pedestal is equipped
with air-balance technology to
provide ease of control of the
camera height across the range
of travel. The pedestal can also be
paired with the TI-12 height drive,
which allows camera operators to
remotely control the height of the
pedestal via the Shotoku control
system, such as TR-XT or TR-HP.
To enhance the operation of
remote camera control systems,
Shotoku released the TR-XT touch
control system, which is able