Technology Updates:The OB view from France


Catherine Wright covers the adoption of new imaging technologies by French broadcasters and the French industry's plans for 2017.French broadcasters have been testing 4K, HDR and VR in 2016 but have yet to push the button on big rollouts for live production. Some however getting close to making the switch to 4K for capture and production, and service providers have been investing and upgrading to anticipate future requirements.

On the whole, it's safe to say that French broadcasters have been taking a slow approach to adopting UHD for capture, production and transmission of live events. Many of them got burnt by investing heavily in 3D technology when it was all the rage and hyped by manufacturers, only to find viewers never really wanted it. And it wasn't too long ago that they all had to make the switch to HD technology. Most therefore decided to play it safe in 2016 by conducting trials without making a big commitment.

2016 was the year of the Euros. TF1 was one of the broadcasters involved in producing and transmitting UEFA matches in UHD to telco Orange's new 4K set-top box, launched in time for the competition. The setup involved 12 of Sony's HDC-4300 hybrid cameras (pictured below). "We found it worked well on a technical and editorial level. There were less close-ups and slow-mo shots than with HD, but the images we saw on Orange's set-top box were a big improvement on the HD ones," says Olivier Ou Ramdane, TF1's MD for new business.But the broadcaster doesn't say when it will adopt the technology more extensively, notably for capture: "We are working on it and can't reveal more at the stage. But we think that we have overcome most of the technical barriers. And more and more TV sets and set-top boxes have been acquired by the public," hinting that it could be quite soon. 

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