More than 130 people participated in this year's EBU Production Technology Seminar, which came to a close yesterday in Geneva. With 24 individual presentations, seven tutorials, five technology demonstrations and a lively interactive panel discussion, it represented a hectic two and a half days for those involved.
One of the main themes that emerged across the event was the need for more dialogue and better understanding between the technical and editorial staff at broadcasters. This year's programme included a number of presentations from a non-technical perspective. Mark Harrison's opening keynote on behalf of the Digital Production Partnership emphasised the need for a space where technologists and creatives can communicate; and two mornings later Bill Scanlon (below) returned to this theme when talking about his experiences as a producer working for the first time with new UHDTV formats.
The interface between journalists and technology experts was also highlighted as a point for collaboration and communication. ORF's Dieter Bornemann talked about the trend towards converged newsrooms and warned about the many potential barriers to a successful transition. Digital strategist Kevin Andersen explored new tools that empower journalists to navigate through Big Data to develop new methods of digital storytelling.In both of these cases communication between journalists and technologists is crucial.
One of the other themes underpinning this year's PTS was the impact of the arrival of UHDTV right across the broadcast production chain. With "external" drivers like the consumer electronics industry and Netflix having a big influence, the EBU is at the heart of efforts to ensure a standards-based approach that will serve the needs of EBU Members and their viewers in the years ahead. UHDTV will have an impact across the board, from aquisition through production infrastructures, compression, post-production and display, as well as the metadata that glues it all together.
An important element of this is the definition of UHDTV parameters. Throughout PTS 2014 the EBU's BeyondHD group ran group viewing sessions to develop better methodologies for image dynamic range testing. Higher Dynamic Range is likely to be a key UHD parameter, and the preliminary results of this week's tests were positive. While further testing is required, it is already apparent that the benefits of increased dynamic range are independent of viewing distance, unlike resolution.