Future of UHD centerstage at IBC forum

Ultra HD Forum will share findings from industry research into operators’ UHD expectations during its IBC 2017 Masterclass.

The findings will first be revealed during a meeting of the forum’s membership, then shared broadly, during a Masterclass open to all IBC attendees on Monday September 18, from noon until 2 p.m., in the RAI’s Emerald Room. This information on the industry’s priorities will help the Forum plan its future work on what it calls “Phase B,” the next generation of UHD technologies, expected to be deployed beyond 2018.

The Ultra HD Forum is the global organisation defining industry best practices for the introduction of technologies to facilitate the ultra-high-definition (UHD) viewing experiences. This year at IBC, the Forum will share insights from research on more than 50 TV operators for technologies needed to deliver the next generation of entertainment based on UHD standards.

“Our masterclass will focus mainly on what’s still to come with UHD, reporting on major field trials and early launches of Next-Gen Audio and HDR. We’ll also dive deeper into the Next-Gen Audio technologies with the industry’s three key technology providers,” said Ben Schwarz, who chairs the Forum’s Communications Working Group.

In other UHD news, Thierry Fautier, President of the Ultra HD Forum, announced an increase of the Forum’s activities in the Asia-Pacific region, with public interoperability demos set for China in the Fall, followed by a member’s meeting in Korea prior to the 2018 Winter Olympics. Fautier said, “The Ultra HD Forum goes where the UHD action is, and China is the #1 country for UHD sets, while Korea has the first UHD terrestrial broadcasting deployment, using the ATSC 3.0 standard.”

Fautier added, “It is key for us to engage with regional organisations to understand operator needs from around the world. We’ll continue, for example, with our presence at the 4K-UHD Summit in Malaga this November.”