Spain leads Ultra High Definition in Europe
- RTVE will give the keys to its eminent free-to-air UHD broadcasts on DTT scheduled for February 2024 tomorrow at the 4K HDR Summit.
- Andalusia is positioned as the set of Europe and a reference in Ultra High Definition with the presentation of LAND, the Audiovisual and Digital Content Cluster of Andalusia.
- Francisco de la Torre, Mayor of Malaga, and the Minister of Presidency of the Andalusian Regional Government, Antonio Sanz, will inaugurate the ninth edition of the 4K HDR Summit, which will bring together world leaders in 4K and 8K.
Spain becomes the European leader in Ultra High Definition and the 4K HDR Summit is once again the chosen scenario to show the most pioneering advances and bring together key companies in the sector in Malaga. The National Digital Content Pole of Malaga will be the enclave in which the first days of the ninth edition of the event will take place, on November 13 and 14. Subsequently, it will continue in virtual format with a top-level agenda on the 15th and 16th.
The opening day will have a large institutional presence, with the Mayor Francisco de la Torre, the Minister of Presidency of the Junta de Andalucía, Antonio Sanz, the Director of RTVA, Juande Mellado and the president of UHD Spain, Pere Vila, among others. On Tuesday, November 14, Alicia Izquierdo, Councilor Delegate for Innovation, Digitalization and Investment Attraction of the City of Malaga, will extol the value of the city of Malaga as an innovative benchmark in southern Europe.
The importance of this event is, in the words of Ricardo Medina, CEO of Medina Media Events, organizer of the event, “the exchange of ideas and knowledge about the state of the art of 4K“, a technology that offers maximum quality to the viewer and with which the major producers are already working worldwide
Therefore, according to Ricardo Medina, “industry professionals have a mandatory visit to the 4K HDR Summit to see first hand what the developments are that major brands and producers are developing right now, is a pooling, a meeting point for networking in a more relaxed way than in other conventions”.
4K free-to-air through DTT: a reality
As its slogan says, in this event “technology and content have time to talk” and several important milestones around Ultra High Definition will be discussed. One of the highlights will be the participation of Radio Televisión Pública Española (RTVE), whose Ángel García Castillejo, Director of Audiovisual Policies, Public Service and International, and Víctor Sánchez, Director of Media and Operations, will explain the details of the UHD broadcasts through DTS scheduled for next February
According to Ricardo Medina, this step by public television puts RTVE at the world forefront in UHD since “it will reach all the public with a 4K TV set free of charge, through Digital Terrestrial Television, simply by tuning in automatically”.
Andalusia, set of Europe in UHD
On the other hand, the 4K HDR Summit will focus on the work of the Andalusian audiovisual sector with the presentation by the Minister Antonio Sanz of LAND, the Audiovisual and Digital Content Cluster of Andalusia, composed of 19 entities in the sector and captained by Gustavo Fuentes, CEO of ADM.
Ricardo Medina refers, a firm commitment is being made to these new technologies from the south: “Andalusia is called to be the set of Europe and all recordings are already being made in 4K”, he said.
New developments in the broadcasting of sporting events
One of the events that can be enjoyed on the new Ultra High Definition channel of RTVE will be the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, and precisely, sports broadcasts will be one of the subjects to be discussed on the second day of the event with the presence of Mario Reis, Director of Telecommunications & OTT of Olympic Broadcasting Services (OBS) and Mickaël Raulet, CTO of Atemewho will talk about the challenges facing Paris 2024
Likewise, Isidoro Moreno, Head of Engineering and Guillermo Jiménez, Broadcast Engineering Director of Olympic Broadcasting Services (OBS), will explain all the technical details in 8K and 5G that they are working on for the next Olympics and Úrsula Romero, Executive Producer of International Sports Broadcasting (ISB) will talk about the production of live sporting events.
Exclusive demonstrations area
As every edition, visitors who come to the Digital Content Pole of Malaga on Monday November 13 and Tuesday November 14 will be able to enjoy an area of unprecedented demonstrations: What does Space look like in 4K or the most remote places on the planet? What is a 4K Mobile Unit for live broadcasts like inside? Can you imagine watching your favorite series in the Metaverse? Would you dare to try a T-shirt designed to live an immersive experience while playing video games?
The answers to these questions will be at the 4K HDR Summit. In addition to learning about Samsung’s latest 8K TV model, visitors will be able to enjoy an innovative experience watching sports broadcasts in 4K quality via 5G, OWO’s haptic gaming system and many more innovations related to this technology that will not leave the viewer indifferent.
The latest developments in the industry
Once again, the 4K HDR Summit will once again be an excellent opportunity for professionals to learn about the latest developments. Among them, attendees and accredited professionals will be able to learn firsthand the success story of a pioneering test conducted by UHD Spain in which a streaming broadcast in UHD was achieved through 5G technology.
In addition, attendees will enjoy top-level presentations on the latest developments in the industry, such as advances in the world of Live IP by Kristof Van der Veken, Senior Solutions Architect Live IP EVS or new techniques to reduce the cost of understanding and distribution of live 4K thanks to the presentation of Ulrich Grönewald, Video Lead Network Solutions Engineer Synamedia.
The Ultra HD and 8K associations worldwide will once again be represented at the event: Ian Nock, Chair of the Interop Working Group, and Benjamin Schwarz, Communications Chair of Ultra HD Forum; Tonio Di Stefano, President of Ultra HD Forum Italia; Mike Fidler, Executive Director of 8K Association, and Michael Hoog, President of the UHD Alliance Promotions Group.
Attendees will also be able to enjoy content in 4K and 8K, a subject that will have a great prominence: Prashant Chothani, CEO of Travelxp, Olivier Chiabodo, CEO of The Explorers and Karlos Simón, CEO of Karlos Simón Viajes y Expediciones, will present their more than a thousand hours of content in UHD and incredible images of Africa and the marine world in 8K.
In this regard, the capture of these contents with the latest technology such as Flex Zoom optics will be discussed, as Aron Randhawa, Senior Product Marketing Specialist at Canon, will explain. Other multinationals such as Fraunhofer IIS, Mediakind, Hispasat, Eutelsat, Cellnex or AJA will also provide their latest advances and solutions related to UHD.
The conferences of the 4K HDR Summit 2023 can be followed through ‘The Observatory‘ of Medina Media Events. On this platform, attendees will also be able to schedule video meetings with other participants and speakers, as well as visit exclusive online demos. This edition will be held on November 13 and 14, in person, at the Digital Content Hub in Malaga, and on November 15 and 16, virtually.
The ninth edition of the 4K HDR Summit is supported by the City of Malaga through the National Digital Content Pole, the Digital Agency of Andalusia, ATEME, Canal Sur Radio and Television, Axion, Fraunhofer IIS, Mediakind, Synamedia, EVS, Telefónica Servicios Audiovisuales, ADM Group, AJA, Hispasat, Cellnex, Eutelsat, Rohde & Schwarz, Canon, SONO, Hurí, Sapec, UHD Spain and Europa Creativa Media Desk Andalusia.
