Setting the Agenda: Richard Tan, Blackmagic Design

• Features

• 19/02/2018

Richard Tan from Blackmagic Design talks about the steps the broadcast industry is taking with regards to 4K and higher resolution signal transmission for upcoming sporting events in APAC. Can AV can learn a thing or two from the decisions being made?

While Asia Pacific is poised to become the biggest market for the professional AV industry in the years to come, at present many believe it to be lagging behind the rest when it comes to adoption of the latest technology and products.

Richard Tan, director at Blackmagic Design Asia, gives a frank appraisal of the situation: “In the US and Europe they are very quick to adopt new technology and the market is very forward looking. In Asia, there are a number of different factors that need to be considered. The outlook towards technology depends on the country’s outlook. China or Singapore or South Korea are different from Vietnam, Malaysia and Thailand. A lot depends on the country’s infrastructure and the state of the economy. We have both laggers and front runners in Asia Pacific.”

The front runners in Asia are pushing the envelope when it comes to broadcast technology. Two major sporting events, the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, Korea and the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan, are fuelling progress.

The Tokyo games are expected to be broadcast in 8K. Tan details: “NHK in Japan is very forward looking. They are trailblazers in terms of video platforms and how to show content. They are working on 8K broadcast and to be honest we have not done anything for that process.”

The matter at hand however is 4K broadcast. The Winter Games in Pyeongchang are to be broadcast in 4K and are right around the corner. Tan says: “The need for 4K broadcast solutions in Korea is pressing and they are adopting it. The systems to be used have been more or less fi nalised and vendors have been chosen. Blackmagic Design is part of the plans which is good for us. The government has taken an active approach along with the TV stations. Over the last two years, there has been a lot of Korean representation at broadcast shows like NAB. Korea is at an advanced stage when it comes to 4K broadcast because they have a cut-off and a deadline.”

He continues: “We feel that our end-to-end products for 4K production and post production are well positioned for whatever 4K needs arise presently. We have been introducing 4K ready products over the course of the last 24 months. So even though there was no need for the products, our partners had the chance to familiarise themselves with them. Now when demand for 4K is increasing, they are ready and profi cient in their understanding of the 4K process and Blackmagic Design’s 4K products.”

However, Tan believes that there is still some way to go before 4k becomes prevalent. He says: “The only thing holding 4K back at the moment is content. In live broadcast and live production, 4K is everywhere. Blackmagic Design has the products necessary for 4K production right now. The question is that if broadcasters switch to a 4K platform, do they have 4K content to show for 24 hours? They need documentaries and dramas in 4K and this content is short in supply on a global scale.”

For broadcast, the decision on how to transmit 4K signals has been effectively made. Tan explains: “Broadcast has been debating the 4K transmission issue and we had two ways in front of us. There was IP or 12G, we never use UTP. Blackmagic Design’s solution, 12G, is easier to adopt. All the engineers are familiar with SDI cables and not with IP. In my opinion, broadcast is poised to adopt 12G with an eye on IP for the future because there is no immediate need for IP right now.”

He continues: “HDMI 2.0 has come out with support for 4K60 and the projectors that are delivering 4K have HDMI 2.0 ports. The issue is how to transport 4K from source to output, as HDMI cannot carry signals over long distances. Do I convert it to IP, UTP or SDI? At Blackmagic Design we use one cable, 12G-SDI, and it is as simple as that.

“I think AV presentation will go down the same route. The proven method is SDI. It is about getting the signal from point A to point B. IP gives you a transmission distance similar to 12G. But you need switchers and routers for IP which come at a signifi cant cost. AV can just use HDMI to SDI convertors, which are already on the market, to solve their 4K transmission problem.”

Tan believes that 12G-SDI, is the best solution for 4K transmission at present. But he is not dismissive of IP’s possible future applications. Tan says: “Say for example you have a convention hall with a central control room and you want to route 200 signals in and out. In this case you can consider IP as a possibility and you can save costs by choosing network cables and connectors. But if you have a lecture theatre or a corporate boardroom or a hotel ballroom, what the user has is projectors, speakers and input points that they want connected to the control room to manage. They don’t want to deal with IP routers and fiddle with IP addresses. So in this case, SDI is perfect. The important thing is that we can see the need for 4K presentation, whether in fi xed installation or live environments, emerging. AV will soon come to learn about the different transport systems and options available and will have to make the choice.”