The EBU’s UHDTV strategy group has updated the EBU Exchange Parameters for UHD/HDR programmes for both live (EBU R 153) and file-based content (EBU R 153).
It follows work from EBU Members and are designed to make the recommendations easier to use.
The main changes for the live recommendation include the reference to the single-master HDR production workflow, as described in EBU Technical Report 070, the use of eight audio channels for channel-based audio production, and reference to EBU-TT/IMSC instead of EBU STL if subtitling is provided.
The file-based exchange parameters now recommend the use of XAVC MXF (or IMF where multiple versions are required), and the use of EBU-TT-D (EBU Tech 3380) for any subtitling. Readability of the audio section has been improved by clearly outlining two options: A) conventional audio, and B) metadata-guided audio.
The updated EBU recommendations are to facilitate content exchange between EBU Members, other broadcasters, service providers and production companies. The guidance is meant as a ‘safe starting point’, for use when no other agreements between two parties for UHDTV programme exchange are in place.
Separately, related work on the distribution of subtitles has resulted in a further recommendation, EBU R110.
The EBU Timed Text group on distribution aspects of subtitling has updated EBU R110 recommending the use of IMSC Text Profile / EBU-TT-D to ensure compliance with the subtitling technology used on various distribution platforms (DVB-TTML, HbbTV, and DVB-DASH).
