Ravensbourne Technical Standards for Programme Delivery

Ravensbourne 2011

High Definition Programming

Technical Standards for Programme Delivery

Version 1.0

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 Ravensbourne Technical Standards for Programme Delivery

1 Introduction! 3

2 Technical Responsibilities for Programmes! 4

2.1 General Responsibilities! 4

2.2 Exemptions! 4

3 General Technical Requirements! 5

3.1 Video Standard! 5

3.2 Video Levels and Gamut! 5

3.3 Aspect Ratio! 5

3.4 Safe Areas for Action and Captions! 5

3.5 Time-code! 6

4 Audio General Technical Requirements! 6

4.1 Audio Standards! 6

4.2 Audio Level, Reference Level and Measurement! 6

4.3 Line-up Tones! 7

4.4 Sound to Vision Synchronization (Lip-Synchronization)! 7

5 General Quality Requirements! 7

5.1 Technical Quality Grading! 7

5.2 General Vision Quality Requirements! 8

5.3 General Audio Quality Requirements! 9

5.4 Flashing Images / Visual Patterns - Photosensitive Epilepsy (PSE)! 9

6 Submission! 10

6.1 Line-up Test Signals, Clock and Leader! 10

6.2 Copyright Legislation! 10

6.3 Technical Acceptance Procedures! 10

6.4 Submission Procedure! 11

6.5 Feedback! 11

6.6 Submission Dates! 11

Appendix A ! 12

Version History ! 12

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 Ravensbourne Technical Standards for Programme Delivery

1 Introduction
This document defines the technical standards for all high definition programmes that
have been commissioned for the Ravensbourne 2011 Event and applies to both pre-
recorded and live content. The contents of this document does not apply to Standard
Definition programming or 3D programming for the SD technical standards see the
document titled ʻRavensbourne 2011 Standard Definition Programmingʼ and for 3D
standards 0see the document titled ʻRavensbourne 2011 3D programmingʼ.

This document includes both technical and production specifications in a compact

document so it can be used as a simple reference for operational staff and engineers
who are involved with content creation. It does not have any relevance to programme
content. For the regulations on programme content please see the document titled
ʻProgramme Content Specificationʼ

As well as technical requirements this document also includes Operational and Quality
standards to ensure that transmitted material is not only compatible with transmission
equipment but also of high quality and legal to broadcast.

If there are any areas of the document that are unclear or you have further questions
about then please contact a relevant person (see 2 Technical Responsibilities for
Programmes)

The standards set out in this document must be met otherwise the content will not be fit
for broadcast and a revision of the programme that complies with the guidelines will be
asked for. Any problems with content received will be clearly outlined and helpful
advice can be given to ensure that content complies with these standards and can be
transmitted.

This document refers to three types of standards as laid out below:

Technical Requirements

This describes the technical standards required by Ravensbourne 2011 so that the
programme can be processed easily within the system. These are pass / fail objective
measurements.

Quality Requirements

This deals with broadly subjective quality issues with the pictures and the sound. To
judge this we will be using the CCIR-5 point grading scale.

Operational Requirements

This deals with delivery standards such as the line-up sequences and metadata.

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2 Technical Responsibilities for Programmes

2.1 General Responsibilities

The Heads of Quality control are required to ensure that broadcast programme
technical quality is maintained to a satisfactory standard.

The Heads of Quality Control this year are:

Ashley Spires Peter Basma-Lord

Mobile: 07889547394 Mobile: 07970963161

E-mail: a.spires@students.rave.ac.uk E-mail: p.basma-lord@students.rave.ac.uk

2.2 Exemptions

Although all programmes are expected to meet the standards outlined in this document
however exemptions can be made in some cases. The criteria for exemption from the
standards is strict and is not flexible, also it may not be used for the convenience of
programme makers.

These are the categories for technical exemption:

Historic Interest: Programmes which use archive material to support the programme
content. This includes footage from previous productions where current standards
could not be met due to the constraints of the equipment at the time.

Actuality Material: Features or documentaries where broadcast quality has not been
possible due to limitations such as the format or physical size or value of equipment.

Domestic Equipment: Programmes which use excerpts created by consumer quality

equipment which fits in with the context of the programme.

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3 General Technical Requirements

These technical requirements must be met so that material can be passed through
transmission systems reliably and with little noticeable impairments. Ultimately allowing
the end user to view material in the best possible quality.

3.1 Video Standard

All programmes shall be of the 1920 x 1080 interlaced at 25fps standard otherwise
known as 1080i/50 and in the DVCPRO HD 100 codec unless otherwise agreed with
the Head of Quality Control. Signals will be assessed according to the recommendation
ITU-R BT.709-5

3.2 Video Levels and Gamut

Video levels including line-up must fall within the specified limits so that the programme
material can be used without adjustment.

Video levels are based on the PAL System I which specifies 0 to 100% RGB Limits.

Signals must meet EBU Recommendation R103-2000 which states:

Luminance limits from -1% and 103%

Chrominance 105% max - RGB values to not exceed limits -5% to +105%.

The video should not suffer from composite errorʼs such as cross colour, banding, and
moiré.

3.3 Aspect Ratio

All programmes must be in 16:9 aspect ratio.

Full programmes in 4:3 will not be accepted.

Format changes within the programme will not be accepted.

16:9 Programmes may contain short sections of floating 4:3 material but must be
Pillarboxed. The programme must not include black bars at the top or bottom of the
picture as this can cause unwanted zooming on some Tv sets which have auto-zoom
functions enabled.

3.4 Safe Areas for Action and Captions

All programmes will be in 16:9 format and therefore must be protected for 14:9 safe
area.

All captions and main programme action shall be within the safe areas defined in
Appendix A.

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 Ravensbourne Technical Standards for Programme Delivery

3.5 Time-code

Timecode should conform to EBU specification 12M-2 (SMPTE 12M2-2008).

Programme start should be at Timecode 10:00:00:00

Timecode must not span across the midnight (00:00:00:00) boundary.

All time-codes must match including LTC, DVITC, ATC.

4 Audio General Technical Requirements

4.1 Audio Standards

Programmes shall be delivered in dual mono or stereo format at 48 kHz per channel.

Left audio shall be present on the A leg or Channel 1.

Right audio shall be present on the B leg or Channel 2.

Mono shall be in Dual Mono format with identical and phase coherent audio on both
Left and Right channels. This is so that it may be used amongst stereo programmes.

Finished programme material intended for transmission with stereo sound, whether
recorded or for live transmission, must carry sound in A/B (Left/Right) form. M/S (Mid/
Side) is not acceptable for delivery.

4.2 Audio Level, Reference Level and Measurement

For Digital Audio the reference level is 18dB below the maximum coding value
(-18dBFS) as per EBU recommended practice R68. Reference level is referred to as
“Zero Level”, “Line-up Level”, “0dB”, “0dBu” or PPM4.

Programme audio levels should be measured using Peak Programme Meters (PPM) to
BS 5428.

The Maximum or Peak Programme Level shall never exceed 8dBs above the
programmes Reference Level (i.e. PPM 6 or -10dBu).

Programme audio level should not drop below PPM4 for any longer than 10 seconds.

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4.3 Line-up Tones

Line-up Tones serve to identify individual signal channels and to provide reference
levels to indicate that without adjustment the programme transmitted will be within the
signal level limits specified.

All tones must have been sourced to a tolerance of +/- 0.1dB.

Stereo Line-up Tone shall be at a frequency of 1kHz +/- 100Hz and shall indicate the
Left and Right programme legs with EBU Stereo Tone at 8dB (PPM4 / Zero Level) with
only the left leg identified by 250ms breaks every three seconds.

All tones must be sinusoidal, free of distortion and shall be phase coherent between
channels.

4.4 Sound to Vision Synchronization (Lip-Synchronization)

The relative timing of sound to vision should not exhibit any perceptible error.

Sound should not lead or lag the vision by more than 10ms.

5 General Quality Requirements

5.1 Technical Quality Grading

The following principles of excellence apply to both audio and video.

Programmes shall be capable of meeting the grading requirements as given by

the ITC using the CCIR 5-point grading scale, namely:

Live programmes using systems that meet the performance figures in the ITC
Handbook should achieve a sound and vision grade of 5.

Recorded programmes based on electronic production should achieve a grade of at

least 4. The absolute minimum quality that is normally acceptable is grade 3.

Ravensbourne 2011 Management reserves the right not to broadcast programmes

which in its opinion are technically unacceptable.

The CCIR 5-point grading is:

Quality ! ! ! ! Impairment
5 - Excellent. ! ! ! 5 - Imperceptible.
4 - Good. ! ! ! 4 - Perceptible but not annoying.
3 - Fair. ! ! ! ! 3 - Slightly annoying.
2 - Poor. ! ! ! ! 2 - Annoying.
1 - Bad. ! ! ! ! 1- Very annoying

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 Ravensbourne Technical Standards for Programme Delivery

Typical Factors that Depict Grading

Video Hop and Weaving Over-Exposure

Jittering Under-Exposure
Drop-Out Poor Definition
Streaking Soft Pictures
Video Noise Crushed Black Level
Colour Cast and Shading Low Contrast
Errors Saturation
Mixed Lighting
Vignetting

Picture monitors on which video parameters are assessed and gradings made should
be grade 1 (reference EBU Tech 3263-E) and lined up to professional standards. A
PLUGE (Picture Line Up Generating Equipment) signal shall be used prior to the
assessment to ensure proper adjustment of brightness, contrast and grey scale.

5.2 General Vision Quality Requirements

By its nature this is a subjective area. All presented commissioned programmes will be
graded subjectively. A competent post-production provider should be able to make an
educated view during editing.

These guidelines are not to prohibit the use of any production techniques or to prevent
innovative programming provided that a suitable quality is achieved.

In general:

a) The picture must be sharp and well lit (unless artistic considerations require otherwise).
b) The video signal must be free of black crushing and highlight compression. Transient
response shall be such that streaking, ringing, smear, echoes and overshoots are not
noticeable. Moiré‚ and other patterning shall not be visible. Hum, crosstalk and other
spurious signals must not be apparent.
c) Colour rendition, especially skin tones, must be a realistic representation of the scene
portrayed unless artistic considerations require otherwise.
d) Video processing (e.g. effects devices) must not introduce unintentional changes to
luminance and chrominance levels nor cause perceptible timing shifts on entry or exit
from the effect.
e) Appropriate audio or video delay must be used to compensate for lip-sync errors.
f) There must be no visible contouring / artefacts caused by multiple D-A and A-D
conversions or compression. Quantisation Noise shall not be apparent. In general,
recordings made “off-air” from digital sources (DTT, DSAT and D-Cable) should not be
incorporated into new programming as these signals have already been significantly
compressed.

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5.3 General Audio Quality Requirements

a) The audio shall be free of spurious signals such as noise, hum and cross-talk.
b) Sibilance and distortion, wow and flutter shall not be apparent.
c) The audio shall not show dynamic and frequency response artefacts as a result of the
action of noise reduction or low bit rate coding systems.
d) Audio compression should be used as little as possible as the effects of compression
used for broadcast distribution and transmission can exacerbate impairments.
e) Dynamic range shall not be excessive. It shall be suitable for the whole range of
domestic listening.
f) Care shall be taken when incorporating background music and effects with dialogue, or
people with a hearing impairment and poor listening conditions can find the dialogue
difficult to hear.

5.4 Flashing Images / Visual Patterns - Photosensitive Epilepsy (PSE)

Flickering or intermittent lights and certain types of repetitive visual patterns can cause
serious problems for some viewers who are prone to photosensitive epilepsy.
Teenagers are a group where photosensitive epilepsy is considered to be a particular
problem.

Television is by nature a flickering medium but steps can be taken to reduce

unnecessary risks and to reduce the incidence of seizures to an acceptable level,
although they cannot remove the risk entirely.

The ITC (UK) issues guidelines for PSE. The following guidance on the major factors
involved is provided for reference. However, the ITC guidelines should be consulted for
complete information.

• Rapidly flickering images should not change at a fast rate (i.e. less than 9 frames
between each flash).

If more than 6 flashes per second then the material will fail immediately and be
rejected.

This applies across all submissions

• If brightness changes for a given area of a picture are less than 25% of screen
maximum brightness then that area may be discounted.
• In marginal cases such images should be avoided if they are positioned near the centre
of the screen.
• Changes in colour are not a problem unless they affect the red channel substantially.
• Prominent and regular patterns which cover a large proportion of the picture area
should be avoided, especially if they represent bars, spirals, or ‘dartboard’ patterns.
Moving or flickering regular patterns are particularly hazardous.
• Care needs to be taken also with computer generated images, which, if highly detailed,
can cause a high degree of 25Hz inter-line flicker in the displayed television picture.
• Video luminance level as measured on a waveform monitor does not simply equate to
screen luminance (brightness) and cannot be used to assess brightness without
correcting for Gamma.
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6 Submission
6.1 Line-up Test Signals, Clock and Leader

The start of programme and any subsequent part should be preceded by a countdown
clock indicating programme production number, programme title and programme
producers name.

The clock must provide a clear countdown of 10 seconds with the first frame of the
programme laid back three seconds. The clock must appear round when viewed on a
16:9 display.

Timecode Active Picture Audio Channels 1&2

09:59:17:00 EBU HD Colour Bars (75%) Constant 1kHz Tone
09:59:47:00 Ident and Clock Silence
09:59:57:00 Black Silence
10:00:00:00 Programme Picture Programme Audio

Please note: At the end of the programme, sound must end naturally or be faded to be
out by the end of the programme. There should be a freeze or living hold for 10
seconds.

6.2 Copyright Legislation

It is the programme makers responsibility to ensure copyright laws are not breached,
this includes literary, musical, sound recording, films, plagiarism etc. All programmes
must abide by the current Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. For more
information please visit;

http://www.copyrightservice.co.uk/copyright/p01_uk_copyright_law

6.3 Technical Acceptance Procedures

Every programme submitted must pass QC. Any programme not meeting the required
standard will be returned to the programme maker for amendment. Each failed
programme will receive feedback on failed criteria. A subsequent review will then be
carried out to check that any work has been done satisfactorily. Programmes which do
not pass QC will not be broadcast under any circumstances.

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6.4 Submission Procedure

All content must be submitted for QC via the FORK Media Asset Management (MAM)
system.

Once the programme is complete and has been rendered out to with the format
specified in this document (see 3.1 Video Standard and 4.1 Audio Standards) drag the
video file into the ʻQC Drop binʼ located on the MAM.

6.5 Feedback

Feedback will be given via timecode markers with related comments and information
viewable in the FORK MAM client.

Any general feedback or comments relating to the whole of the programme will be
attached to a timecode marker located at the start of the programme material
(10:00:00:00)

The programme makers will be notified if their programme has passed or failed QC. If
the programme has passed QC then the video file will moved into the ʻPassed QCʼ bin
for delivery use.

If the programme does not pass QC then the video file will be moved into the ʻFailed
QCʼ bin and if recently failed it will also appear in the ʻRecent QC Failsʼ bin. The
programme will have to be resubmitted by repeating the submission process.

6.6 Submission Dates

It is highly recommended to programme makers that they submit their programmes as

soon as possible to allow time for further post production and resubmission in the event
that the programme does not pass QC.

19/04/11 – QC Process Begins

Programmes already submitted for QC and any submissions received after this date
will be run through the QC process.

19/05/11 - Final Submissions

Any programmes received after this date will not be run through the QC process and
therefore will not be used for broadcast. This includes resubmissions of programmes
previously failing QC.

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 Ravensbourne Technical Standards for Programme Delivery

Appendix A

High Definition 16:9 protected for 14:9

Version History
Version 1.0 - Prepared by Ashley Spires for Ravensbourne 2011

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