Multi-platinum complaint rockers Linkin Park will become the first band to have a live set live broadcast in 4K Ultra HD.
Thanks to a partnership between satellite operators SES and Samsung, the band’s November 19 gig at the O2 Arena gig in Berlin will be live streamed on the Astra Ultra HD satellite test channel.
Owners of Samsung’s 2014 series Ultra HD TVs will be able to access the demo channel and watch the show live from 8:00pm UK time.
The six-piece band, fronted by the heavily-inked Chester Bennington, have occasionally brought heavy duty laser displays to concert and festival appearances, so the broadcast should be heavy on the eye candy.
The gig will be broadcast via satellite encoded in the HEVC standard at a resolution of 3840×2160 at 50fps (frames per second) on the Astra Ultra HD demo channel, which can be accessed on Samsung’s 2014 series Ultra HD TVs.
Ferdinand Kayser, Chief Commercial Officer at SES said: “The successful broadcast of a live concert will mark another milestone in the development of the Ultra HD eco system and power the way for more live content to be broadcast live via satellite in the coming years.”
So far 4K tests have mainly involved broadcasters filming live sporting events. Sky, Sony and the BBC have all shot Premier League football games, Wimbledon finals and more recently the 2014 World Cup in Ultra HD.
During the World Cup final the BBC ran tests to see how 4K TV would work on Freeview and superfast broadband connections.
However, Sky’s live football test footage, also shot at 50fps, didn’t totally blow us away when it was demoed back in May. Although the level of detail was impressive, fast camera movements, such as panning across the crowd, caused some lag. Many broadcasters have hinted that 50fps might not be enough for 4K to really deliver the redsults, hinting that 100fps or even higher is needed.
If a higher frame rate is needed, then we might have to replace all those 4K TVs as HDMI 1.4 and 2.0 connections won’t be able to handle 100fps.
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