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NEWS & VIEWS
December 2018
China Mobile and Huawei
tap 5G for 8K VR broadcast
WUZHEN – At the fifth World
Internet Conference in China last
month, Chinese telco China Mo-
bile and Huawei jointly unveiled
what they claimed as the first 5G
network-based 8K virtual reality
(VR) live broadcast.
The 8K VR live broadcast dem-
onstration is delivered via Zhejiang
Mobile’s 5G network, which com-
prises of Huawei-developed 5G
C-band sites and the core network.
Leveraging the uplink and
downlink transmission conditions
of bandwidth over 100MHz in the
5G network, the 8K VR 360-degree
camera captured views of the
picturesque South Lake in Jiaxing.
The compiled videos were then
uploaded for cloud rending in real
time, while the scenery videos were
then downloaded at a 5G speed to
VR headsets.
The result was a panorama of
islands scattered throughout the
lake, combined with red boats and
gardens featuring “vividly accurate
colours and rich details” that allow
audiences to enjoy a “fully immer-
sive and mesmerising sightseeing
experience”.
In a joint statement, the com-
panies pointed out that VR is
“destined to become a popular
future application”, and is already
China Mobile and Huawei collaboratively demonstrated an 8K VR live
broadcast, which was delivered over 5G network.
increasingly being recognised
throughout the industry as one
of the top 5G services. Viewers
are able to not only enjoy scenic
spots, concerts and sports events,
but also gain access to gaming,
entertainment videos, healthcare,
real estate, retail, distance learning
and engineering, among others.
Compared with 4K/Ultra HD
(UHD) VR live broadcast, which
requires 50-80Mbps, 8K VR services
require a higher data rate of 100-
160Mbps and wider bandwidth,
the companies added. The faster
network speed and increased dis-
play resolution will also allow users
to benefit from a “more detailed,
true-to-life, and immersive experi-
ence”.
China Mobile and Huawei
have also jointly verified multiple
5G key solutions in terms of cell
throughput, single-user peak data
rate, and user experience data rate.
In addition to the demonstration
of 5G 8K VR live broadcast, the
two companies also took the op-
portunity to launch another two
5G services with 100Mbps data
rate — 8K live broadcast, and in-
ambulance telemedicine.
IMDA, Mediacorp employ tiered approach to
help households make the digital switch
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DTV equipment suppliers
“Since the first announce-
ment of Singapore’s decision to
switch to DTV in December 2013,
a joint IMDA-Mediacorp taskforce
has been set up to look into a
tiered approach in the nationwide
#Switch2DTV marketing campaign
— firstly, to create awareness of the
DSO date and secondly, education
on the benefits of DTV and the
different ways to switch. This is fol-
lowed by last-mile above-the-line,
below-the-line and direct outreach
efforts to drive conversion.”
Particularly for Mediacorp, the
broadcaster adopted a 360-degree
approach by leveraging its multiple
platforms — out-of-home (OOH),
print, radio, TV, digital — and utili-
sing on its strengths to amplify
direct-to-home (DTH) messages.
These include star appeal via ar-
tistes’ presence at heartland road-
shows and shoutouts during drama
promotions, as well as curated
content, including DTV messages in
Mediacorp’s variety programmes,
dramas and news coverage.
“Direct outreach efforts via
Are you ready for digital TV? As part of a outreach programme, Mediacorp
staff have been visiting households in Singapore to advise residents on how to
switch to digital TV.
house visits by staff are also on-
going to help Singaporeans in this
last lap of the nation’s journey in
DTV conversion,” said Goh.
As to any transformational
changes that Mediacorp can expect
to enjoy after the DSO has been
completed, he is keen to point out
that Mediacorp’s internal broadcast
facility has been converted to
digital for many years.
“With DSO and more people re-
ceiving DTV, Mediacorp will be able
to leverage the digital transmis-
sion to introduce and experiment
on services like Hybrid Broadcast
Broadband TV (HbbTV) and 4K/
Ultra HD (UHD),” Goh added.
“HbbTV uses both broadcast
and broadband to allow a seamless
experience for viewers to go from
offline to online and vice versa.
“We have already launched the
Toggle Red Button service in 2016
and will continue to develop the
service.”
Singapore will be the first
country in South-east Asia to com-
plete the DSO, with ASEAN having
mandated a 2020 deadline for all
countries in the region to complete
the transition to DTV.
M&E industry making ‘bigger’
transitional change this year
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ratification of the SMPTE ST 2110
standards suite. Writing in this issue
of APB, Mike Cronk, chairman of
the board, Alliance for IP Media
Solutions (AIMS), suggested: “I
submit we can definitively say that
IP is beginning to have the positive
transformational impact we have
envisioned.”
And IP can perhaps no longer
be considered a pipe dream, with
Cronk pointing out that the likes
of China’s CCTV, South Korea’s KBS,
CNN, Fox Networks and NEP in
Australia have already implement-
ed SMPTE ST 2110-based systems.
(Read more on page 6.)
Recognising the importance
of Asian broadcasters beginning
to understand how they can make
IP work for them, APB, in conjunc-
tion with partners Ideal Systems,
Arista Networks, Dejero, Dell EMC,
Embrionix and AJA Systems, organ-
ised an IP Master Class in Singapore
in June this year.
Converting to IP is not just
about replacing SDI; instead, there
is a “bigger transition” at play,
emphasised Michel Proulx, media
industry advisor and former CTO
of Miranda Technologies. Speak-
ing as the keynote presenter at
the APB IP Master Class, Proulx
referred the “bigger transition” to
the move from hardware-based,
fixed-function solutions towards
software-based solutions.
He explained: “The software-
defined world needs IP because the
real deal of flexibility comes from
software, which will allow fixed
tools to be more agile.
“Moreover, the benefits of mov-
ing to software is greater, as it will
eventually lead to virtualisation and
the cloud.”
Other technologies that have
taken their turns in the spotlight
include virtual reality (VR) and
artificial intelligence (AI). For the
former, its aesthetic appeal and
potential should not be dismissed
out of hand; however, the fledgling
technology would do well not to
follow in the footsteps of 3D, which
for varying reasons — the big-
gest of which, arguably, was those
cumbersome eyewear — failed to
sustain consumer interest.
The latter, in the age of digiti-
sation and the Internet of Things,
is perhaps an inevitable develop-
ment. Alongside machine learn-
ing (ML), AI can potentially offer
broadcasters a more in-depth
understanding of their audiences,
and thus to cater specific content
to specific segments of audiences.
In Asia-Pacific, countries such
as Japan and South Korea have
already begun 4K/Ultra HD (UHD)
broadcasts and in the case of the
former, 8K will be its technical pre-
cursor to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
While the emergence of high
dynamic range (HDR) is continu-
ing to encourage broadcasters to
embrace 4K/UHD, it remains to be
seen if adoption will peak in the
region, particularly when so many
countries have yet to complete the
transition to digital TV.
Take South-east Asia as an
example — ASEAN having man-
dated that all countries in the bloc
complete their digital transition
by 2020 and the clock is ticking
rapidly. Singapore is on track to
be the first country in the region
to complete the digital switchover
(DSO), with all analogue TV signals
to be permanently switched off by
1 January 2019.
And the DSO, perhaps, will be
the most immediate challenge
and priority for many broadcasters
in Asia-Pacific. In order to enjoy
the full benefits of many of the
technologies mentioned above,
it is imperative that broadcasters
complete the DSO as speedily as
possible.
What about emerging technol-
ogies whose potential impact on
the broadcast and media industry
remains uncertain?
Having been brought into the
public consciousness by bitcoin, or
cryptocurrency, what exactly can
blockchain bring to the broadcast
and media industry?
With blockchain technology,
the digitisation of assets can be
decentralised, trustful, traceable,
highly transparent and free of
inter mediaries, said Mock Pak Lum,
senior advisor at Tembusu Partners,
a Singapore-based private equity
firm.
Mock, former CTO of Singapore
pay-TV operator StarHub, added:
“Given that all media assets will be
digitised, the distribution and con-
sumption of media content is well
suited for blockchain adoption.
“With the adoption of digital
identity on blockchain by incor-
porating biometric verification,
we can determine the person in
the family who is consuming the
content.”
Less certain, perhaps, is how
the broadcast and media landscape
will evolve in 2019. Will consumers
continue to strengthen their love
affair with the consumption of vid-
eo content over mobile platforms
and devices? Will we see more
broadcasters and media companies
re-inventing themselves as OTT
and VoD service providers — and
will linear TV’s role as the primary
content consumption platform
continue to diminish?
Come 2019 which technologies
will emerge as the key enablers that
will allow broadcasters to thrive in
these increasingly uncertain times?
The New Year promises to bring
both answers, and questions, in
equal measure.