IBC
BT Sport COO Jamie Hindhaugh outlines how the
broadcaster’s Champions League final coverage will be the first time a live
sports event will be broadcast in HDR to mobile devices.
The all-English clash in the UEFA Champions League
Final will make a winner out of BT Sport which aims to prize maximum publicity
out of expected massive domestic interest in the game between Liverpool and
Tottenham Hotspur.
For a start, BT will ensure its coverage can be
watched by anyone by broadcasting it for free on YouTube.
“The aim is to make this the most connected
Champions League Final ever,” asserts Jamie Hindhaugh, chief operating officer,
BT Sport.
The event on June 1 will also act as a showcase for
BT Sport’s High Dynamic Range (HDR) offering as the telco seeks to wrest the
title of most innovative broadcaster from Sky. The company claims that this
will marks the first time that a live sports event will ever be broadcast in
HDR to mobile devices.
Mediapro is broadcasting UEFA’s world feed, but it
will not feature HDR, so BT Sport has taken upon itself the task of producing
separate HDR-specific coverage.
In fact, it will produce three entirely separate
versions of the live match from three OB trucks at the Wanda Metropolitano
stadium in Madrid – home of Spanish football’s Atlético Madrid.
Aside from a version of the host feed, which will
be augmented by BT’s unilateral cameras and presentation, it will produce a
different BT-specific HDR version and another bespoke one in 360 VR.
The world feed is produced in 4K UHD with Dolby
Atmos for distribution in the UK on BT Sport channels (also through Virgin and
Sky), and without Atmos, on BT Sport’s YouTube channel and on BT Sport’s
website.
Main match coverage will follow the template laid
out in previous Champions League finals consisting of approximately 50 cameras
into which BT will insert replays for its own presentation.
Gary Lineker leads studio punditry with talent
including Rio Ferdinand. Additional BT crews will be at fan parks in Tottenham
and Liverpool for pre-match, halftime and post-match reaction.
The HDR feed is being produced out of a Telegenic
truck and made available to BT Sport’s 5 million+ subscribers through the BT
Sport app, and via mobile devices, taking advantage of the HDR displays on most
new handsets as well as on devices including Xbox One, Samsung Smart TV and
Apple TV.
It’s a curtain raiser to an HDR mobile service
launching for the start of the next football season in which up to 70 events
will be produced live in HDR a year.
“The HDR feed will be the only place to see the
whole of the opening ceremony,” Hindhaugh says. “With HDR you see the real
pitch colour, detail and colour in the shirts and you’re much more immersed in
the game.”
He explains: “When we’ve done HDR trials previously
we’ve done so as a single workflow. Because of the nature of the event in which
we’re not the host we are doing a separate coverage from 20 camera positions.
The key is to make sure the World Feed stays clean.”
There are four broadcast cameras behind each goal
for example: two for the host and two for BT Sport’s HDR output. There will be
a bespoke commentary.
“We need to replicate the normal camera plan as far
as possible. It needs to be a compelling watch. This is no experiment,” adds
Hindhaugh.
“With our expertise in HDR we think we are further
ahead of the game than most other broadcasters. Even when we’ve output SDR
feeds recently we’ve been down-converting those from HDR.”
The format is HDR10 PQ since alternative format HLG
works less well on mobile – and mobile is the telco’s primary target for the
HDR service, particularly given the launch on 30 May of 5G networks in six UK
cities by BT-owned mobile operator EE.
The HDR is being output in HD, even though 4K
resolution is possible. “To be frank if we’re looking at mobile first then data
usage for 4K is prohibitive whereas with HD HDR it is minimal. Also, when you
consider the size of the mobile screen then adding 4K adds nothing [in terms of
perceptual image quality]. Most of our perception of depth comes from contrast,
not resolution.”
While its strategy for mobile is HD HDR, users will
also be able to get 4K HDR when the proposition launches.
“Depending
on what device and connectivity you have you will get different flavours of the
same event.”
A third BT truck is dedicated to 360-VR. This will
be captured in 4K (output as HD), unlike a trial during the FA Cup Final
earlier this month which was produced in 8K.
The VR from Madrid will be captured from 12
multi-camera rigs, stitched live and directed with separate commentary from
Spencer Owen. BT has been producing 360-degree highlights for major events for
some time and plans to continue that going forward but for this Champions
League Final is will live stream the entire match in virtual reality.
“We can offer different angles to that which you
would normally get,” explains Hindhaugh.
“Ultimately where we want to migrate to is to
capture VR in 8K and offer users the chance to ‘pinch and zoom’ into the
picture on their phones,” he says. “The image quality at 8K is so much better
for this interactive experience.”
The 8K test at Wembley used two rig positions and
Blackmagic Design Micro Studio cameras. Pictures were rendered using
Tiledmedia’s encoding software and switched using the BMD ATEM Constellation
8K.
Hindhaugh says: “I’ve always believes that people
will gravitate to watch events like this on the biggest screen available, but
we are also about giving different viewing experiences all of which will take
fans close to the heart of the live sport.”
BT Sport debuted as Europe’s first 4K broadcaster
in 2016, produced the first 4K UHD host broadcast of a Champions League Final
in 2017 from Cardiff, and made a worldwide debut of Dolby Atmos broadcast sound
in 2017.
“What we are doing in Madrid, we did at Cardiff
only in much more trial form,” he says. “It’s easier when you’re in control of
the end to end chain and when you are not it creates a bigger challenge. This
final is also not on our doorstep, so the logistics are more challenging but
one we are comfortable with.”
A few years ago, when Sky was the only horse in
town, it was pursuing stereo 3D as the height of the live sport viewing
experience. Hindhaugh doesn’t think it will make a comeback.
“I’ve always said we’ll never do it. When you see
HDR in purist quality with 4K then it looks three dimensional. I don’t think 3D
works for live sport since sport is a social event you want to watch with
friends, not behind goggles.”
Hindhaugh was speaking to IBC365 from Madrid having
just flown in from Baku where he oversaw BT Sport’s coverage of the other
all-English final - the UEFA Europa League. He acknowledged that the atmosphere
before and during the game suffered from the game being held in a location many
fans could not get to.
He adds: “Baku went as well as it could when you
have a stadium that size and the pitch is a long way from the seats. We can
only work with the stadium we are in and the audience who are there, but our
team covered it well.”
There will be no such doubts ahead of Saturday’s
match which will see England dominate Europe for a short while at least.
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