ITV

Tag: Ultra High definition

  • Travelxp’s Prashant Chothani’s 4K HDR TV global mission

    Travelxp’s Prashant Chothani’s 4K HDR TV global mission

    MUMBAI: Prashant Chothani is probably India’s most underrated TV professional and entrepreneur.  The 49-year-old founder of the infotainment channel Travelxp looks more like a typical Kutchi baniya businessman probably involved in the commodities trade. But, Chothani is actually a wiz at all things tech, all things high definition and all things Ultra HD.

    He has been beating a pioneering 4K or UHD HDR (ultra high definition – High Dynamic Range) trail globally. In the process, he’s been getting oodles of accolades worldwide — at almost every 4K gathering  – apart from his home country, India, where almost everyone scoffs at what they call a technology which is years away. Especially considering the rickety cable TV infrastructure that distributes television channels to more than 100 million homes. Chothani is the only Indian who has been co-opted on the Global Ultra HD Forum, which is the organisation responsible for setting standards for the format.

    Since a prophet is respected but in his own home, Chothani has been pushing his Travelxp 4K HDR channel globally. And he’s got a big supporter in the world’s top two satellite operators – SES and Eutelsat – who have been goading him to spread his tentacles even further. Says he: “SES and Eutelsat have been going all out to promote the 4K ecosystem. We have partnered with them for our launches.”

    Earlier this year, he rolled out Travelxp 4K – the world’s first 4K HDR travel channel – in the US with the help of the satellite company SES. The greatest potential is, of course, in Uncle Sam, where operators serving close to 30 million TV homes are currently testing 4K delivery.

    “Operators are hungry for 4K HDR channels. There’s a lot of demand, but limited supply. And, they are awaiting 4K boxes,” says Chothani. “Subscribers are already signing on, as we have signed distribution deals with three small to medium-sized operators.”

    On 1 October, Travelxp 4K HDR  was officially launched in Europe off Eutelsat’s Hotbird 13E.

    Says Chothani: “The majority of operators are planning to launch 4K services in the next six months, and they were waiting for a HDR channel. That is where we come in. The operators will now start testing and sampling it.”

    Hotbird’s market-leading penetration in cable and IPTV networks across Europe, the Middle East and North Africa, gives it a wide footprint to get Travelxp the widest coverage. There are plans to widen it even further by taking the channel to APAC and Latin America in the next few months.  To date, Chothani’s company Media WorldWide has a clutch of 10 channels under its belt. 

    At the time of writing Chothani was in Russia, exploring a distribution deal for Putin’s land, and he chatted with Indiantelevision.com over Whatsapp.

    Travelxp 4K has close to 50 hours of 4K HDR content –arguably the largest library globally. “It costs close to $500,000 to produce a good hour of 4K HDR content,” he says. “If you dig for gold, how much you spend to get it is your creativity. But, the market price is what you get when you sell the gold.”

    To get more value out of the content, Chothani has dubbed the Travelxp HD and 4K HDR content filmed all over the world with multicultural hosts in several languages. The programmes are currently available in English, Spanish, Italian, Polish, Serbian, Croatian, Czech and Dutch, and more languages are slated to follow suit.

    The channel has selected HEVC encoding with 10 bits of colour depth (one billion colours), at 50 frames per second. It broadcasts in 10 bits REC 2020 colour space using the new HDR (high dynamic range) standard developed by the BBC and NHK that creates richer and more dynamic images by increasing the contrast ratio between the lightest and darkest areas of the screen and expanding the volume of colours displayed. This standard uses HLG (hybrid log-gamma) technology, enabling legacy standard dynamic (SDR) displays to decode the HDR standard.

    While Chothani has a long way to go with Travelxp 4K HDR, his HD channel has travelled a lot, and is available in around 50 million homes globally.

    “There are other launches planned for the HD service,” he says with a gleam in his eyes. “Very soon. Very soon.  We will be in about 100 million homes in SD and HD worldwide by end-2018.”

    He adds: “We were amongst the first to launch HD programming in India. Now, we are amongst the first in 4K HDR in the world when HD is on its way down worldwide. A year down the line when UHD HDR will have taken root globally, Travelxp 4K will be in every 4K basic packs of most operators by virtue of it being the first mover and because of the quality of HDR content.”

    Chothani would like to make an appeal to the regulator and the TV industry in India.

    “The first round of digitisation of cable TV saw some plain vanilla set-top boxes being brought in to meet deadlines,” he says. “Now, planning for 4K HDR needs to be borne in mind when set-top box standards are drawn up. It requires very little extra investment in hardware and software. This will prevent regrets in the future. I would like Indians to enjoy the experience of 4K HDR from an Indian TV channel provider. ”

    Clearly, this is a man for whom 4K HDR is not just a business,  it is a passion. And, that is the first ingredient needed to achieve success.

    Also Read :

    Travelxp becomes first travel channel to launch in 4K on SES-1 satellite

    Travelxp’s Prashant Chothani’s 4K HDR TV global mission

    Travelxp to launch new Tamil channel; 4K feed before Feb  

    Lifestyle genre: Travel XP HD enters & NDTV Good Times exits Top 5 list in Wk 29

    July: 2 Viacom & 3 south channels among 9 permitted, far short of MIB’s March target

  • Digital signage market likely to reach $27.34 billion by 2022

    Digital signage market likely to reach $27.34 billion by 2022

    MUMBAI: A ‘Digital Signage Market by Product (Kiosks, Menu Boards, Billboards, Signboards), Offering (Hardware (Display Panels, Media Players, Projectors), Software, and Services), Application, and Geography – Global Forecast to 2022’, published by MarketsandMarkets says that the digital signage market was valued at $16.88 billion in 2015 and is expected to reach $27.34 billion by 2022, at a CAGR of 6.7 percent between 2016 and 2022. The base year considered for the study is 2015, and the market size forecast is provided for the period between 2016 and 202

    The demand for emerging technologies used in ultra-high definition (UHD), LED-LCD, OLED displays is likely to accelerate the growth of the digital signage market during the forecast period says the report. With the increasing demand for digital signage, improvements in technology offerings, and infrastructure expansion is likely to fuel the digital signage market to continue the positive outlook during the forecast period. In addition, the integration of real-time data management tools, big data analytics, and smart content with multiple presentations and dynamic interfaces would further drive the market for public commercial displays.

    The market for software offerings is expected to grow at the highest rate during the forecast period. The expected growth of the digital signage market for software offerings is higher than that for hardware offerings as hardware devices such as displays, media players, projectors, and mounts and other accessories do not require frequent purchases or replacements. The high growth of the market for software offerings is because software licenses need to be regularly updated.

    Kiosks held the largest market share of the global digital signage market for products in 2015 and are expected to dominate the market till 2022. Kiosks plays a significant role in the digital signage market for providing access to information and communication, commerce, entertainment, education, and other applications. Kiosks are quick and effective solutions which can be used virtually in all locations.

    North America is expected to hold the largest market share and dominate the Digital Signage Market between 2016 and 2022, owing to the large number of suppliers of digital signage technologies and services in the region. The digital signage market in APAC and Europe is expected to have a promising future with tremendous opportunities, especially in commercial and infrastructural sectors.

    The major players in the digital signage market include Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (South Korea), LG Display Co., Ltd. (South Korea), Sharp Corporation (Japan), Sony Corporation (Japan), and Panasonic Corporation (Japan) among others.

  • Digital signage market likely to reach $27.34 billion by 2022

    Digital signage market likely to reach $27.34 billion by 2022

    MUMBAI: A ‘Digital Signage Market by Product (Kiosks, Menu Boards, Billboards, Signboards), Offering (Hardware (Display Panels, Media Players, Projectors), Software, and Services), Application, and Geography – Global Forecast to 2022’, published by MarketsandMarkets says that the digital signage market was valued at $16.88 billion in 2015 and is expected to reach $27.34 billion by 2022, at a CAGR of 6.7 percent between 2016 and 2022. The base year considered for the study is 2015, and the market size forecast is provided for the period between 2016 and 202

    The demand for emerging technologies used in ultra-high definition (UHD), LED-LCD, OLED displays is likely to accelerate the growth of the digital signage market during the forecast period says the report. With the increasing demand for digital signage, improvements in technology offerings, and infrastructure expansion is likely to fuel the digital signage market to continue the positive outlook during the forecast period. In addition, the integration of real-time data management tools, big data analytics, and smart content with multiple presentations and dynamic interfaces would further drive the market for public commercial displays.

    The market for software offerings is expected to grow at the highest rate during the forecast period. The expected growth of the digital signage market for software offerings is higher than that for hardware offerings as hardware devices such as displays, media players, projectors, and mounts and other accessories do not require frequent purchases or replacements. The high growth of the market for software offerings is because software licenses need to be regularly updated.

    Kiosks held the largest market share of the global digital signage market for products in 2015 and are expected to dominate the market till 2022. Kiosks plays a significant role in the digital signage market for providing access to information and communication, commerce, entertainment, education, and other applications. Kiosks are quick and effective solutions which can be used virtually in all locations.

    North America is expected to hold the largest market share and dominate the Digital Signage Market between 2016 and 2022, owing to the large number of suppliers of digital signage technologies and services in the region. The digital signage market in APAC and Europe is expected to have a promising future with tremendous opportunities, especially in commercial and infrastructural sectors.

    The major players in the digital signage market include Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (South Korea), LG Display Co., Ltd. (South Korea), Sharp Corporation (Japan), Sony Corporation (Japan), and Panasonic Corporation (Japan) among others.

  • High 4K TV partners Splendid Media for India launch

    High 4K TV partners Splendid Media for India launch

    MUMBAI: The New York headquartered multi-genre linear Ultra High Definition (UHD) entertainment channel – High 4K TV, which features a mix of travel, entertainment, lifestyle, sports and original content in 4K, is slated to launch in India via Splendid Media.

    The channel will be available on digital TV platforms and Splendid Media is in talks with various DTH  and cable companies for the channel’s distribution.

    High TV head of business development Justin Borrelo said, “It is indeed a major milestone for us, as an international 4K channel, to be present in India through a leading media company such as Splendid Media, with the highest reach. We are excited to be bringing the very best in lifestyle and entertainment programming to an audience that embraces entertainment as the very essence of their culture.”

    Splendid Media founder and CEO Amit Srivastava added, “We are delighted to be the exclusive agents of High 4K TV in the Indian sub-continent. We will be tying up with various leading DTH and digital cable providers for bringing this unique experience to Indian consumers. We are confident that our viewers will be truly entertained by the breadth and depth of lifestyle and entertainment coverage, as well as benefit from the tips that High 4K TV programs offer.”

  • High 4K TV partners Splendid Media for India launch

    High 4K TV partners Splendid Media for India launch

    MUMBAI: The New York headquartered multi-genre linear Ultra High Definition (UHD) entertainment channel – High 4K TV, which features a mix of travel, entertainment, lifestyle, sports and original content in 4K, is slated to launch in India via Splendid Media.

    The channel will be available on digital TV platforms and Splendid Media is in talks with various DTH  and cable companies for the channel’s distribution.

    High TV head of business development Justin Borrelo said, “It is indeed a major milestone for us, as an international 4K channel, to be present in India through a leading media company such as Splendid Media, with the highest reach. We are excited to be bringing the very best in lifestyle and entertainment programming to an audience that embraces entertainment as the very essence of their culture.”

    Splendid Media founder and CEO Amit Srivastava added, “We are delighted to be the exclusive agents of High 4K TV in the Indian sub-continent. We will be tying up with various leading DTH and digital cable providers for bringing this unique experience to Indian consumers. We are confident that our viewers will be truly entertained by the breadth and depth of lifestyle and entertainment coverage, as well as benefit from the tips that High 4K TV programs offer.”

  • Videocon d2h lines up new 4K UHD content across genres

    Videocon d2h lines up new 4K UHD content across genres

    MUMBAI: Direct to home (DTH) operator Videocon d2h has revamped its 4K content being shown on its 4K Ultra High Definition (UHD) channel – d2h Life 4K, which is India’s only 24 hours DTH channel service in 4K.

     

    D2h Life 4K will now offer a plethora of 4K UHD services and will telecast fresh new content spread across genres like movies, cricket, extreme sports, travel destinations, infotainment, nature, lifestyle, fitness and cooking amongst others.

     

    Videocon d2h has been revamping its 4K library for nearly a year to deliver a comprehensive collection of 4K entertainment. D2h Life 4K offers a unique combination of rich pictures with custom soundtracks. The programming is created to delight viewers every moment of the day. The channel will offer premium UHD movies exclusively on High 4K, premium Fashion Reality, premium Ultra HD Fights, from Extreme Amateur Fighting to Ultimate Power lifting Championships, music videos and intimate interviews from some of the top names in music today in 4K. High 4K will also take you into the kitchen of some of the world’s most famous chefs, open the doors to innovation of Automotive Technology in 4K, exciting lessons in 4K from a top fitness trainer.

     

    Videocon d2h executive chairman Saurabh Dhoot said, “Our focus is on creating the highest-quality consumer experience possible. We will be focusing on providing a variety of content as the demand for 4K Ultra HD content continues to increase and evolve. 4K content is the future and with this development we are completely geared up and future ready. Our new 4K UHD content is another way for our customers to enjoy stunning premium 4K content on our active 4K UHD channel 4K Life.”

     

    Videocon d2h CEO Anil Khera added, “We are committed to continuously enhancing our products that make consumers interaction with content a greater experience. Our goal is to provide premium experience of quality 4K UHD content across various genres. We would be offering Ultra HD movies, sports and various other programs that raise the bar on quality and innovation that customers have come to expect from Videocon d2h.”

  • Mariam Zamaray’s Insight into Ultra HD TV

    Mariam Zamaray’s Insight into Ultra HD TV

    Mumbai: At first glance, you would think she is a host of a television show or an on-screen talent. But don’t make that mistake when you meet up with the very attractive Television Entertainment Reality Network (TERN) CEO Mariam Zamaray who recently launched Insight at MipCom in Cannes. A factual entertainment, youth-targeted, cross media  ultra high definition channel (UHD or 4K TV), it is currently beaming over Europe, Russia, Australia and India.

    The lady knows her television for sure, having worked with Fox International Channels in Amsterdam for a couple of years as channel manager in the previous decade. She later founded Luxury Life a life style cross media format with which she was associated for eight years. And she also got into bed with WizCraft’s IIFA Awards which were held in Amsterdam in 2005 as its local partner.

    Around a year  or so ago, Mariam decided to launch Insight, a UHD or 4K channel, with the backing of General Satellite from Russia and other foreign investors.  To start with she build up a strong management team: Qunita Baars (formely of Fox International Channels), Marjolein Duermeijer (previously head of international sales and development, Tuvalu Media) and Natalie Boot (2waytraffic and Sony Pictures Television interactive manager).

    For production, she roped in leading studios and format owners such as Strix, Kiem, Zodiak Media, among others. For beaming the channel, she hired satellite operator SES Platform Services ( the bird it is beaming from is Astra at 19.2 degrees East), and for online and post-production she hired Dutch company, United4All.  

    “SES was challenged by our requirement of four feeds,” says Mariam.

    More challenges awaited her. There wasn’t adequate 4K content being produced at a frame rate of 50p, most of the productions were at 25p. Additionally, technicians understanding cameras (one shot well underwater, but was not so well indoors)  were few and far between. Online and post-production studios did not have the storage capacity or the processing and rendering power. All these meant costs, and costs.

    But she did not let these hurdles deter her. Her enthusiasm got SES executives coming back to her with a solution within three months. And United4All  decided to invest in post-production gear and storage in order to handle Insight’s high demands.  

    “The producers had no idea how to shoot in 50p 4K.  Most of the UHD shoots were being done at 25 fps. We did 200 days of research and had workshops with them,” she says. “They went out and shots. And when they came back with the product, it looked good and my team gave it the go ahead. If we liked it, we were sure the audience would also like it.”

    Programming includes original factual entertainment shows such as Spartan X (Strix), On The Run (Zodiak Media), Dracula (Strix), 7 Days (Kiem), and Power &… (Kiem). Shows already on air include Around the World in 80 Tricks, Diamond Geezers and Gold Dealers,

    For Europe, InsIght is free to air and is available both as a linear live TV service and as an app for non-linear on-demand content and can be viewed on multiple devices. “Viewers can engage and shape the programmes they watch and they are very interactive,” says Mariam.

     

    The company has partnered with joiz Global for this interactivity and big data and social management.

     

    Insight’s  grab and share interface which allows viewers to reduce the duration of the content they are currently tuned into as per the convenience is something Mariam is banking on. “Consumers can also button down their idea underneath the video and can also upload it on social media platforms. We want to showcase the current trends over technology and content and make it available for the young generation,” she says.

    The channel went live in Europe on 5 October at MipCom in Cannes; and on 8 October in India. It has a 200 hours of 4K programming, most of it original and produced with only 41 hours being acquired.   Mariam is looking to commission and have another 200 hours of 4K content ready by Q2 2016. Additionally, she has ambitiously expressed that she would like to produce a major sports event by October 2016.

    The channel claims It is reaching out to 60 million homes courtesy its partnership with DTH service TriColor (which is linked to General Satellite) in Russia and Information TV Network in India and SES.  In india she had a chat with iTV CEO Kartikeya Sharma, who was a college mate and a deal was struck.

    While it is free to air and commercial free  in Europe, it is being positioned as a pay TV service for India, Asia, Latin America.

     

    “We are not looking for immediate revenues. I am against inserting advertising breaks for the first nine months in Europe. We will however offer drop down menus to advertisers. But India will have a different feed which will have ad breaks,” she says.

    She is confident of revenues from India as it is a priority market for the business, along with Russia.

     

    “The Indian DTH operators are enthusiastic and prices for 4K sets are also coming down. We will be pushing both the 4K and HD feeds. Advertising too will play a role,” she says.

    Content syndication is one of the revenue streams which will keep providing cash flows to TERN. “We are looking for buyers from the US and Canada,” she expresses. “And we are licensing content to mobile operators too. We will be managing the talent which is on the channel as well as licensing the music and our original formats. That will keep our cash register ringing.”

     

  • Tata Sky demos 4K TV with FIFA World Cup quarter-final match

    Tata Sky demos 4K TV with FIFA World Cup quarter-final match

    MUMBAI: The era of India being a country that lags behind the more developed nations is gone. Indian  DTH operators in the country are waking up, ancticipating  future desires of Indian TV viewers. Which is why one of the oldest and largest DTH operators Tata Sky, is keeping itself and its subscribers up to date with the  introduction of its 4k Ultra HD service.

     

    The first quarter of 2015 will see Tata Sky roll out its set top boxes (STBs) for its 4k Ultra HD service. The STBs are being made by Technicolor and are based on the high efficiency video coding (HEVC) format that 4k uses the world over. However, prices of the STB are not yet known as the DTH operator wants to reveal it closer to the commercial launch date.

     

    At a demonstration event in Mumbai, Tata Sky along with Sony Six unveiled the 4k UHD service with a live uninterrupted broadcast of the France versus Germany FIFA World Cup 2014 quarter final. The FIFA 4k signal rights had been bought by Sony Six while the cost of acquisition and transmission was split 50:50 by the broadcaster and the operator. The telecast took place live via satellite transmission.  

     

    Indiantelevision.com readers will note that Videocon d2h had previewed its 4K service on 3 July 2014 too, a day before Tata Sky..

     

    Even though most industry professionals  claim that it is too early to launch 4k Ultra HD in India, Tata Sky chief commercial officer Vikram Mehra feels otherwise. “When we launched HD in 2010, people doubted us saying it won’t work. As you keep enhancing TV experience, the viewer will appreciate it. So, Ultra HD is our endeavour in that area. A technology becomes popular when mainline pay-TV adopts it.”

     

    Mehra feels that movies and sports will be the initial drivers for 4k technology and talks with broadcasters have already commenced. In three to four years, he expects it to be the way of life for most Indian TV viewers. Even though currently there is a lack of 4K content, he feels that it isn’t too far away. “We will make a product that makes sense to the customer. Customers will not buy STBs to adorn their homes. They will buy it for content,” he says.

     

    Sony Six business head Prasana Krishnan feels that more sporting events should be produced in 4K soon, probably in the next year or so. “4K is the future of broadcasting, specially sports. We saw technology move from SD to HD and now HD has become standard. 4K is next,” he says. Krishnan is aware that a full-fledged 4K channel can’t be expected very soon. Big sporting events will have 4K production on crucial days such as the finals, while the run up matches will be in HD and SD.

     

    The 4K screening of the FIFA World Cup 2014 quarter finals that took place in Mumbai yesterday, 4 July saw the Sony Six logo being superimposed on the FIFA feed on an 84 inch Sony television set that is soon to be launched in India and across the world. 4K screens give four times the clarity as compared to an HD feed.

     

    Mehra  was not willing to venture any guesstimates about how much uptake the Tata Sky 4K service will have when it launches next year as he feels making futuristic statements is of no use. However, the fact that the DTH operator is confident about its prospects is clear from the contract that it has signed with Technicolor, according to which deliveries of 4K set top boxes in “volume” are expected to commence in early 2015.

     

    Adds Mehra: “We started active service in 2007 and today we have 2.9million people paying Rs 45 each for them. Close to 65 per cent of our STBs sold today are HD. This from our total subscriber base of 13.5 million.” It is pertinent to note that Tata Sky, since late last year, has stopped buying any more SD boxes.