66 Ultra High Definition experts land in Seville for the 4K HDR Summit

• 19 countries will be represented by the 66 4K experts participating in the only congress that brings together the world’s leaders in technology and audiovisual content

• China will participate for the first time through the UHD World Association (UWA) and the Sichuan UHD Video Alliance (SUVA), which together with other international associations represent 430 leading 4K and 8K companies

• The ‘new UHD map’ of Spain for 2025, the leadership of RTVE with regular broadcasts through La1 UHD, the Paris Olympic Games or Artificial Intelligence in the new interactive television will be some of the key topics

Eight years later and already consolidated as a world reference summit on technology and content in Ultra High Definition (UHD), the 4K HDR Summit returns to Seville to turn the capital of Andalusia in the epicenter of the audiovisual industry. This event, “Where technology and content have time to talk”, starts its tenth edition tomorrow Monday at the Cartuja Auditorium with the first of two days (Monday 11 and Tuesday 12), to which are added two virtual (Wednesday 13 and Thursday 14), with the presence of leading experts, companies and industry professionals who will discuss the present, the future and applications of the most advanced technology (UHD/4K, HDR, 8K), also coinciding with the 21st edition of the European Film Festival of Seville.

The Secretary General of Telecommunications of the Ministry of Digital Transformation, Matías González, will head the important institutional representation that will welcome the opening day, which will also be attended by Antonio Sanz, Minister of Presidency of the Andalusian Regional Government; the Mayor of Seville, José Luis Sanz; Juande Mellado, General Director of Canal Sur Radio and Television; Pere Vila, President of UHD Spain; Gustavo Fuentes, President of the LAND cluster; and Manuel Cristóbal, Director of the Seville European Film Festival, among others.

China will be for the first time at the 4K HDR Summit

With the participation of a total of 19 countries from three different continents, the 4K HDR Summit will be attended by experts, companies, multinationals, organizations and associations from the United States, China, Japan, Korea, India, Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, United Kingdom, Spain, France, Italy, Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, Portugal, Russia and Andorra.

For the first time, China will participate in this global summit with the presence of the UHD World Association (UWA), one of the four major global associations of Ultra High Definition; as well as the Sichuan UHD Video Alliance (SUVA). NASA, OBS (Olympic Broadcast Services) or the EBU (European Broadcasting Union), among others, will not miss this event that places Seville and Andalusia in the focus of Ultra High Definition (UHD) worldwide.

UHD ‘New Map’ in Spain

Spain will be one of the main protagonists in the tenth edition of the 4K HDR Summit for its leadership in Europe in Ultra High Definition (UHD) transmitted by Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT). The Ministry of Digital Transformation and Public Function will explain from the hand of Matias Gonzalez, Secretary General of Telecommunications, and Julia Criado, advisory member of the General Secretariat, its future plans to further increase this position at the forefront of the audiovisual industry.

Julia Criado will present the ‘new UHD map’ of Spain and will expose the constant work being done from the Ministry of Digital Transformation and Public Service in the technological evolution of DTT once completed in our country the cessation of broadcasts in Standard Definition (SD) in February this year and that all digital terrestrial television broadcasts in Spain are already in High Definition (HD).

RTVE marks a milestone in the history of DTT in our country

Within this leadership of Spain in Ultra High Definition (UHD) at European level, Radio Televisión Española (RTVE) is a key player, as it has become the first broadcaster in the world to regularly broadcast the programming of its main television channel in Ultra High Definition on DTT, in addition to achieving an important milestone in the history of free-to-air television in our country with the broadcasting of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in Ultra High Definition (UHD) through La 1 UHD.

The opening day of the 4K HDR Summit will feature several representatives of the public broadcaster as José Luis Muñiz, Director of Production and Media RTVE; Victor Sanchez, director of Media and Operations RTVE, and Jesus Garcia Romero, director of technical area RTVE, who will discuss the commitment of Radio Television Española by the Ultra High Definition (UHD), HDR and immersive audio, while also address all the deployment made to broadcast for all Spain in open and free of charge the Paris Olympics 2024 in UHD.

Canal Sur and AI in new interactive television

Artificial Intelligence will be one of the major topics to be addressed during the four days of the 4K HDR Summit. CanalSur Radio and Television, as host television, will present on this first day of the summit the experiences based on AI already used in their day to day through Juanma Blanco Poley, director of CanalSur Media, who will be accompanied by Manu Quero, head of strategic alliances for the European audiovisual sector of Google. For his part, Francisco José Espinosa ‘Tilano’, Author and Television Technician at RTVA, will talk about AI applied to the capture of images on television.

In addition, the Technical Commission of FORTA (Federation of Regional Radio and Television Organizations), formed by the technical directors of the regional television channels, will meet during this tenth edition of the 4K HDR Summit to update their knowledge, progress and the plans that the regional television channels have for the development of Ultra High Definition in Spain.

AI pilot experience in the audiovisual sector at UHD Spain

The UHD Spain association will present a preview of its pilot experience in the application of AI in the audiovisual sector, with the participation of Iván López, RTVE filmmaker; Emili Planas, CTO of Grup Mediapro; Sonia Valladares, from Dolby; and Xavier Bonet, from 3Cat. In addition, José Manuel Menéndez, professor at the Universidad Politécnica Madrid, will be in charge of presenting the 3rd edition of the UHD Spain White Paper.

The first day of the 4K HDR Summit will also feature the presence of very important technology companies covering various fields, including audiovisual. Thus, this inaugural day at the Cartuja Auditorium will be attended by Jaime Herbada, COO of MoMe; Javier Martinez, Broadcast Engineering Lead | Technology & Transformation at Deloitte; Ana Dominguez, senior researcher at Vicomtech; and Araceli Gª Cuartango, CEO at Axion and Lineox.

Exclusive demonstration area

As in every edition, visitors who come to the Cartuja Auditorium on Monday November 11 and Tuesday November 12 will be able to enjoy an area of exclusive demonstrations: Do you know what volumetric capture is? What are the technological advances in color management, IP and cloud? What does Space look like in 4K or the most remote places on the planet? What does a 4K Mobile Unit for live broadcasts look like inside? Do you want to feel a unique experience of immersive audio and video of Extended Reality (XR)?

The answers to these questions will be at the 4K HDR Summit, where visitors will also be able to learn first-hand about the capabilities of AI in the audiovisual sector, both technically and artistically, thanks to the pilot test of UHD Spain; as well as the on-demand content platform of Canal Sur Television. They will also be able to enjoy unpublished images from NASA, the Indian production company Travel XP and the French production company The Explorers produced in 4K and 8K.

The conferences of the 4K HDR Summit 2024 can be followed on Medina Media Events’ ‘The Observatory’ and will be available 24/365. On this platform, attendees can also schedule video meetings with other participants and speakers, in addition to exclusive virtual demonstrations.

The tenth edition of the 4K HDR Summit is organized by Medina Media Events and has the support of the Digital Agency of Andalusia (ADA), Dolby, MOME, Vicomtech, Canal Sur Radio and Television, EVS, Synamedia, Fraunhofer IIS, Axion, Mediakind, Ateme, AJA, Hispasat, Quantum, Cellnex, Eutelsat, Rohde & Schwarz, Canon, Sapec, AEQ, Gsertel, Hurí and UHD Spain, among others.