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The UK's National Theatre has delivered its first HDR/UHD production live to over 2,500 cinemas in 60 countries, including more than 700 cinemas in the UK. Angels in America marks National Theatre Live's 60th production, since it launched in 2009. Featuring an all-star cast, including Andrew Garfield, Nathan Lane, Russell Tovey, Denise Gough and James McArdle, the two parts of the production were broadcast on 20 July and 27 July respectively.
The two-part live broadcast of the National Theatre Live's Angels in America was produced by Production Company, Creative Broadcast Solutions together with OB company, Telegenic. Snell Advanced Media (SAM)'s Kahuna production switcher was running the latest version of the FormatFusion technology, bringing HDR capabilities to all inputs and outputs, and was deployed in Telegenic's OB truck.
"As this was the 60th production we decided to shoot it in UHD and exploit HDR and everything that comes from that", said Christopher Bretnall Technical Producer, at Creative Broadcast Solutions. "Although Kahuna has been used for NT Live productions in the past, this is the first time we have used it to its full capability."
Creative Broadcast Solutions issued a competitive tender for the project, following which the project was awarded to UK OB company Telegenic. Creative Broadcast Solutions worked together with Telegenic to ensure that their choice of kit – which included SAM's Kahuna –was suitable for what needed to be achieved and that the full UHD experience was delivered in a much more robust fashion than ever before.
"Kahuna with FormatFusion4 enabled us to deliver both SDR and HDR, and exploit rec.709 and rec.2020 at the same time. The ability to put in non-UHD content was also very appealing, so we could put anything in to the switcher and get what we need out of it," Bretnall added. "The Angels broadcasts were delivered seamlessly through the SAM UHD switcher. Its capabilities ensured that the mixed-format sources were effortlessly integrated into the UHD capture and live broadcast".
Version 4 of SAMs FormatFusion software adds HDR capabilities to its Kahuna production switcher range. The FormatFusion engine is at the heart of the Kahuna switcher and is the key to its multi-format capabilities. HDR capabilities are available to all inputs and outputs on SAM's Kahuna production switcher. The technology seamlessly handles SDR and HDR in parallel for Sports, News and Entertainment productions. FormatFusion4 supports the Electrical Optical Transfer Functions (EOTF) for Realtime control of Perceptual Quantizer (PQ), i.e. HDR 10(+?) and Dolby Vision, Hybrid Log Gamma (HLG) and the Sony S-Log3 profile, aswell as color space support for Wide Color Gamut (BT709 and BT2020) in all formats (1080i, 1080p and UHD).
SAM's Kahuna with FormatFusion4 technology also was a key part of BT Sport and Telegenic's 4K HDR workflow in June at the UEFA Champions League Final in Cardiff.
Robert Szabo-Rowe, EVP and General Manager, Live Production & Infrastructure, SAM said, "SAM has always been a firm believer in the benefits of HDR in combination with UHD and we are committed to enabling our customers to seamlessly use any combination of format and resolution that suits their needs. We're very excited that our technology has been used to mark this important milestone in the National Theatre's history."
The two-part live broadcast of the National Theatre Live's Angels in America was produced by Production Company, Creative Broadcast Solutions together with OB company, Telegenic. Snell Advanced Media (SAM)'s Kahuna production switcher was running the latest version of the FormatFusion technology, bringing HDR capabilities to all inputs and outputs, and was deployed in Telegenic's OB truck.
"As this was the 60th production we decided to shoot it in UHD and exploit HDR and everything that comes from that", said Christopher Bretnall Technical Producer, at Creative Broadcast Solutions. "Although Kahuna has been used for NT Live productions in the past, this is the first time we have used it to its full capability."
Creative Broadcast Solutions issued a competitive tender for the project, following which the project was awarded to UK OB company Telegenic. Creative Broadcast Solutions worked together with Telegenic to ensure that their choice of kit – which included SAM's Kahuna –was suitable for what needed to be achieved and that the full UHD experience was delivered in a much more robust fashion than ever before.
"Kahuna with FormatFusion4 enabled us to deliver both SDR and HDR, and exploit rec.709 and rec.2020 at the same time. The ability to put in non-UHD content was also very appealing, so we could put anything in to the switcher and get what we need out of it," Bretnall added. "The Angels broadcasts were delivered seamlessly through the SAM UHD switcher. Its capabilities ensured that the mixed-format sources were effortlessly integrated into the UHD capture and live broadcast".
Version 4 of SAMs FormatFusion software adds HDR capabilities to its Kahuna production switcher range. The FormatFusion engine is at the heart of the Kahuna switcher and is the key to its multi-format capabilities. HDR capabilities are available to all inputs and outputs on SAM's Kahuna production switcher. The technology seamlessly handles SDR and HDR in parallel for Sports, News and Entertainment productions. FormatFusion4 supports the Electrical Optical Transfer Functions (EOTF) for Realtime control of Perceptual Quantizer (PQ), i.e. HDR 10(+?) and Dolby Vision, Hybrid Log Gamma (HLG) and the Sony S-Log3 profile, aswell as color space support for Wide Color Gamut (BT709 and BT2020) in all formats (1080i, 1080p and UHD).
SAM's Kahuna with FormatFusion4 technology also was a key part of BT Sport and Telegenic's 4K HDR workflow in June at the UEFA Champions League Final in Cardiff.
Robert Szabo-Rowe, EVP and General Manager, Live Production & Infrastructure, SAM said, "SAM has always been a firm believer in the benefits of HDR in combination with UHD and we are committed to enabling our customers to seamlessly use any combination of format and resolution that suits their needs. We're very excited that our technology has been used to mark this important milestone in the National Theatre's history."