The 4K-HDR Summit celebrates its fifth edition, bringing together the most cutting-edge technology and content in 4K and 8K

The 4K-HDR Summit, which has Panorama Audiovisual as a media partner, is the main international summit that annually brings together experts, companies and large multinationals from around the world in the capital of the Costa del Sol to present the latest advances in 4K and 8K technology.

Ricardo Medina, CEO of Medina Media Events, y Susana Carillo, CEO of Innovation and Urban Digitalization of the Malaga City Council, have inaugurated this Wednesday along with other personalities the fifth edition of the 4K-HDR Summit at the Digital Content Center of Malaga.

The 4K-HDR Summit, which features Panorama Audiovisual as media partner, is the main international summit that annually brings together experts, companies and large multinationals from around the world in the capital of the Costa del Sol to present the latest advances in 4K and 8K technology.

In total they will be 24 presentations and 4 panels in which reports, proposals and visions will be offered on this new technology, which for three days brings together in Malaga the best speakers from other international forums such as NabShow in Las Vegas, the IBC in Amsterdam and the MIPCOM in Cannes. Are 16 countries participating in this edition, represented by speakers, sponsors and attendees from the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Colombia, India, Korea, Japan, Holland, Canada, Norway, Mexico, Finland, Italy, Turkey, Switzerland and Spain.

Within the framework of this international summit, the awards ceremony of the Malaga 4K Fest Short Film Festival, on Friday, November 8 at the Albéniz Cinema starting at 7:00 p.m. (free access until capacity is reached) and the presentation of the UHD Spain Association (non-profit association of which companies and professionals interested in the development of Ultra High Definition in Spain may join).

UHDF and 8KA, in Malaga

Thierry Fautier, president of the Ultra High Definition World Forum (UHDF) and Michael Zink, Chairman of the UHD Alliance, will participate in a panel where they will talk about the challenges of both global associations. Fautier will share his vision on 4K and 8K. For Fautier: "8K is not at the same level of maturity as 4K, and it is not yet as widely deployed internationally. We must continue advancing in 8K and observing its evolution." For its part, Michael Zink, will talk about the creation of Filmmaker Mode, a solution created by the UHDA that allows the creative intention of filmmakers to be preserved from their own homes.

For its part, Richard Moreton, representing the 8K Association (8KA), will talk about the maturation of the 8K ecosystem and its creation value within the current landscape of device manufacturing and Ultra High Definition content production.

from space

Carlos Fontanot, Imagery Manager of the International Space Station (ISS) NASA will participate again in the 4K-HDR Summit to discuss the use of 4K and 8K aboard the ISS, the challenges of downloading files to the ground, the impact of gamma rays on sensors, the training that crew members receive, and working with commercial partners to distribute and widely use NASA material. It will also expose the challenges of replacing the current HD cameras aboard the ISS. The right set of cameras for Gateway and NASA's 2024 lunar mission, among other issues.

For the first time in Spain you will be able to see the 8K images recorded from the International Space Station by NASA. It will be on the exclusive QLED 8K televisions from Samsung, in the demonstration area of ​​the 4K Summit. Entry will be open to the public, who can register for free at this link. Attendees will also be able to enjoy the latest 4K, 8K and HDR devices and content.

Global analysts

In the fifth edition of the 4K-HDR Summit, the world's leading Ultra High Definition analysts, the British multinational IHS Markit, Paul Gray y Maria Rua, will provide their reports on the audiovisual sector. María Rua will analyze the current situation of the 4K market on the first day and Paul Gray will close the summit by providing his conclusions on the presentations and panels of the event.

Mohammed Hamza, another of the world's leading UHD analysts, from the American multinational S&P Global, will also participate in the Malaga Summit, where it will present an exclusive report on 4K and smartphones, which have Ultra High Definition (UHD) cameras and screens, and whose quality is increasingly valued by manufacturers and by the youngest consumer.

For its part, Michel Chabrol, Senior Vice President New TV Formats of Eutelsat (France) will offer an exclusive report on the capacity of satellites to transmit in 4K and 8K.

The best 4K and 8K content

Prashant Chothani, CEO of TravelXP of India, the world's leading 4K travel channel, will present its best productions at the 4K Summit. For its part, Pablo Alemán, Managing Director of the Spanish company Wild Stories, will show unique images in 4K HDR of recordings made in the middle of nature, where man does not have access. On the other hand, Amos Rozenberg, CEO of the French production company Paramax Films, will talk about broadcasts of Jazz festivals in 4K and 8K.

Paramax Films es una productora especializada en la filmación y distribución de conciertos en todo el mundo. Tienen más de 100 horas de conciertos de jazz, pop y rock con prestigiosos artistas (Macy Gray, Maroon 5, Sly & Robbie, Justin Bieber, Will I am, Black Eyed Peas, 50 Cents…). Representando a Movistar+ will be Nicolas Lecocq, Senior Manager Video Business, who will talk about the second season of one of the most acclaimed Spanish series in recent times: To Fish. The Colombian corporation also joins Snail TV, hand in hand with Eymard Cabrales, to talk about their latest 4K productions for Netflix.

Regarding sports content, Emili Planas, CTO Operations Manager de Mediapro, will talk about the company's experience acquired during two and a half years of top-level sports productions in UHD-HDR and the keys to obtaining spectacular images in HDR.

Peer Seitz, production manager at Infront Productions (HBS) from Switzerland, will talk about HBS's experience in the Rugby World Cup 2019 and will present at the 4K-HDR Summit in Malaga the successful 5G-connected camera configuration tests that took place at the 2019 BMW Berlin Marathon, last September. It is the first time that such a configuration has been implemented in continental Europe, on a live public 5G network.

For its part, Rafael Porras, president of Channel On, will also participate in this fifth edition. For five years, Canal Sur has expanded its documentary archive with content from Flamenco, Holy Week, Carnival of Cádiz and El Rocío, among others, produced for the first time in 4K. The network has a 4K pilot channel via DTT thanks to Axion and an Hbbtv application from which you can enjoy its 4K content.

Tokyo 2020

The proposals of the main Asian technology multinationals from Korea and Japan, world leaders in Ultra High Definition (UHD), will be the main protagonists of this new edition of the 4K-HDR Summit. For its part, the Japanese multinational Panasonic will have a relevant role in the 4K-HDR Summit in Malaga with its sights set on 2020, the year in which it will be one of the technological protagonists of the Tokyo Olympic Games, of which it is the main sponsor and supplier of the cameras that will generate the signal that will be transmitted in Ultra High Definition (UHD) to the entire world.

More than 300 Panasonic engineers have been working at the company headquarters for years. NHK, the Japanese public television in charge of producing the signal that will be offered to the entire world through free-to-air channels, pay channels such as Eurosport, platforms such as Twitter or DAZN, etc. The German engineer Stefan Hoffman, responsible for Engineering of the camera equipment, will be in charge of presenting the great role of Panasonic in the broadcast of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

The Korean multinational Samsung, main sponsor of the 4K HDR Summit, will showcase the world's first 8K HDR+ content. Nacho Monge, TV&AV Marketing Director Iberia de Samsung, será el encargado de presentarnos las sorprendentes características del 8K HDR10+ en la primera jornada de la 4K-HDR Summit, el próximo 6 de noviembre, en el Polo Nacional de Contenidos Digitales de Málaga.

Peter Sykes, Strategic Technology Development Manager of the Japanese multinational Sony, will be another of the speakers at the 4K-HDR Summit. In his presentation he will explain the innovations of the last year and the workflows used at Sony for the creation and delivery of Ultra HD images with High Dynamic Range (HDR).

Carlos Castan, Industrial Products Manager Broadcast and Cinema Dept. de Canon; y Salvador Luna, Manager Photo Imaging & Optical Devices de Fujinon, will share the success stories of both companies. Canon will talk about the live broadcast in 4K HDR of the changing of the guard at the Royal Palace of Madrid. For its part, Fujinon will highlight the collaboration with Dorna, which has allowed them to evolve technically since 1985 in the area of ​​on-board cameras.

Inés Sanz, Customer Engineering Manager at Hispasat; and the engineer Rohde & Schwarz, Juan Pachon, explicarán las oportunidades que el 5G ofrece a la tecnología 4K. Inés Sanz explicará las ventajas que suponen los satélites para el 5G y sus aplicaciones prácticas, especialmente al mundo rural, y como complemento ideal de la fibra y de las redes terrestres. El colombiano Juan Pachón expondrá las soluciones que Rohde & Schwarz tiene ya testadas para que la industria audiovisual aproveche todas las posibilidades que ofrece el 5G, especialmente para llevar sus contenidos a los teléfonos inteligentes (“smartphones”) de los consumidores.

In addition to the presentations and panels, this year the 4K-HDR Summit will make a tribute to Luis Martínez, Program Director at Canal Sur Málaga; already Toni Feliu, Senior Manager at Panasonic, two very dear colleagues in the audiovisual sector who have recently passed away.

Next generation audio

The Canadian Ross Video, represented by Nestor Amaya, Vice President of Infrastructure, will explain pragmatic video signal relay infrastructure to reduce system weight and complexity, eliminating dozens of cables in 4K UHD productions.

Olivier Watzke, Product Manager at Product Management Group de la estadounidense Dolby, will showcase a next-generation audio experience. Watzke will explain how Next Generation Audio delivers an exciting surround sound experience for listeners on all types of devices, from TV to mobile.

Mickaël Raulet, Director of Research & Innovation de la empresa de broadcast francesa Atem, will also talk about “next-generation audio” as an improvement in High Dynamic Range (HDR) video services, applied to large events such as Eurovision, Rock in Rio or Roland Garros.

From Norway Appear, Sergio Rentería y Javier Reyes, will explain the challenges and learnings in the compression and transport of UHD signals. Based on use cases across different operators, Appear will present an innovative approach. In their speech, Renteria and Reyes will talk about challenges and benefits for operators obtained from a diverse range of applications, such as the first transmission of a live 8K event, low latency links and high availability for sporting events.

Guy Ducos, HDR Business Development of the Netherlands Philips; Matthew Causon, EMEAR Business Manager of the American AJA Video Systems; y Miguel Churruca, Marketing and Communications Director of the Spanish Brainstorm, they will discuss new solutions for 4K and 8K technology.

For its part, Jose Manuel Menendez, Full Professor at the Polytechnic University of Madrid, will present the Ultra High Definition (UHD) Chair that they are carrying out together with RTVE, presentation to which will be added Jose Manuel Sanz, Multimedia Engineering Department de Cellnex. The University of Malaga will also be present, represented by its vice-rector for strategic projects, Víctor Muñoz. Besides, Francisco José Espinosa, audiovisual technician and trainer, will present the book 4K for beginners.