…It appears you may be embarking on a journey together – at least this was one of the core themes emerging from the TVBEurope 2020 conference in London last week.

These two particular topics are ones that we are of course all familiar with.  Almost as soon as HD arrived on our screens, it seemed as though UHD and 4K emerged as the heirs apparent – which have now themselves evolved into a broader discussion around the ‘quality and quantity’ of pixels – most notably drawing in the topic of HDR.  Another conference favourite sitting parallel to this dialogue has been the question of transitioning SDI networks to IP – with the potential benefits this affords around economies of scale, skills access and new development approaches, counter-balanced with the challenge as to whether less standardised IP environments can truly meet the specialist needs of the real-time broadcast world.

So what’s new?

Well, the first point that was striking from the TVBEurope 2020 conference is that on both topics, the discussion has moved from ‘if’ to a strong ‘when’.  UHD in particular stands out as a topic that’s moved on from perhaps the preserve of the screen manufacturers to one that is also now being driven by the broadcast community, most notably of course with the recent announcement of BT Sport’s new UHD channel.

But what’s the significance of the two things together?  It’s long been understood that one of the drivers to move to IP (from SDI) is the ability to better manage large file sizes.  Now you don’t necessarily need IP to deliver UHD, but a strong feeling from the TVBEurope conference audience was that given the wider, perhaps longer term benefits that IP can offer over SDI, perhaps now is the moment – so UHD becomes the catalyst or tipping point where it makes sense to embark on the larger network transformation.

Heady stuff. But before we get carried away on a wave of ‘can-do’ positivity, it’s worth remembering of course that those challenges to IP – such as standardisation and technical immaturity – haven’t gone away, in addition to the commercial challenge of how we pay for this move.  But the point, and it does feel significant, is that it we’ve hit upon both the reason and desire to seriously consider the change.

So, interesting times ahead.  Of course this doesn’t mean that we’re all about to execute on these strategies. In fact what’s more likely is that our immediate industry dialogue will move more into a phase concerned with how we execute as opposed to whether it’s worth it.  But still, make a mental note – this was perhaps the start of the change.  A change that requires careful planning in the transition, and a change of some significance in defining how the ‘digital broadcasters’ of the future will operate.

Kris Hardiman, Head of Product Marketing