25 XTREME 4K
ast month’s US Open Golf tournament ended in another win for Brooks Koepka. It was the first time the same golfer won two consecutive US Opens since Curtis Strange’s win in 1989. Another landmark for this year’s event was that US broadcaster Fox Sports covered the tournament in 4K high dynamic range, delivered over a 5G network. The trial was aimed to showcase what is almost certainly the future of outside broadcast. There’s still a bit of squabbling about what the benefits of 4K will be – what content it might best suit, whether HD paired with HDR is more than adequate, how relevant 4K might be in a world increasingly eager to watch content on a phone. But when it comes to sports, there’s no end to the craving for greater realism and detail. Whatever else may happen with 4K technology, it has a future at events like the US Open. In last month’s trial, however, the most important thing wasn’t 4K. The big advance was the use of 5G wireless technology to transport live 4K footage. Footage from two cameras at hole 7 of the Shinnecock Hills Golf Club was transmitted to a production vehicle via 5G and made available for delivery by DirectTV. Fox Sports teamed up with MediaKind (the rebrand of Ericsson Media Solutions), Intel and network provider AT&T. TAKING ON G Sometimes 5G is rolled out as a panacea for all possible networking woes, a kind of electromagnetic miracle that’s will usher in a golden age of connectivity. But the truth is, a fully connected 5G future is going to allow for some really cool stu, including ultra-low latency, multi-gigabit download speeds and easy connection and
A FULLY CONNECTED G FUTURE IS GOING TO ALLOW FOR SOME REALLY COOL STUFF
HOLE IN ONE Fox TV not only covered this year’s US Open in 4K, the company also trialled live transmission via 5G wireless technology
feedzine feed.zine feedmagazine.tv
Powered by FlippingBook