2018 FIFA World Cup Russia

I could put this in the generic sport mega thread but figured before long it will require a thread of it’s own. ITV have today launched their promo for the World Cup.



The ad will premiere on air this weekend, on ITV Network from Friday night, with spots also on Sky Sports during Premier League Super Sunday, Gillette Soccer AM and the Barcelona F1 Grand Prix this weekend.

https://www.itv.com/presscentre/press-releases/itv-unveils-2018-fifa-world-cup-promo

ITV have also announced their line up today

http://www.itv.com/fifaworldcup/the-2018-fifa-world-cup-live-on-itv

I think it was Benjamin Franklin who said that the only certain things in life are death, taxes, and Gabriel Clarke reporting for ITV.

What's this year's World Cup going to be for him as there 'man on the road' reporter?

It's coming...#HistoryWillBeMade #bbcworldcup pic.twitter.com/UO2lkFTLc4

— Match of the Day (@BBCMOTD) May 19, 2018

BBC iPlayer did another UHD/HDR test yesterday for the second half and post match of the Cup Final. Looking more likely we'll get some World Cup matches in UHD.

Confirmed BBC UHD for the World Cup

The BBC is to stream dozens of World Cup matches live in 4K resolution and high dynamic range colour (HDR) to UK-based audiences in June and July.

It will mark the first time iPlayer has covered one of the major sporting events in such quality.

However, it will limit the number of screens with access, and will do so on a first-come first-served basis.

The BBC also plans a separate virtual reality experience. One expert said the news had been highly anticipated.

"There had been a couple of earlier trials that had not been highly publicised, but now everyone who has compatible equipment should be able to see some of the best picture quality made available via a terrestrial broadcast," commented Andy Madden, content editor at What Hi-Fi? magazine.

"They should see a marked improvement in detail and a brighter, punchier picture than they had previously."

| more details …….. | NEWS on BBC.CO.UK | 31-May-2018 @ 06:50 |

Thats excellent, just brought a Roku streaming stick +, fastest finger first!

For Ultra HD, audiences will need an internet connection of at least 40Mbit/s for the full 3840 pixel Ultra HD or 20Mbit/s for 2560 pixel Ultra HD. Footage will be played at 50 frames per second.

| from …….. | MEDIACENTRE on BBC.CO.UK | 31-May-2018 @ 11:44 |

Yes - I expect the BBC will limit the lower resolutions of the UHD/HDR MPEG-Dash option to ensure people don't get SD quality.

AIUI there were two bitrates for 2160/25p Blue Planet II at 2160p, then 1440p and 1080p options in the MPEG-DASH manifest. (Wireshark is your friend)

Yes - BBC has confirmed :

40Mbs 3840x2160p50 (I wonder if there will be a lower quality >16Mbs but <40Mbs 2160p stream or if they want to ensure only the best quality UHD is seen for this)
16Mbs 2560x1440p50
10Mbs 1920x1080p50
7Mbs 1280x720p50

These are all 10bit HEVC/H265 compressed with HLG HDR.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/rd/blog/2018-05-uhd_hdr_world_cup_2018

The peak current SDR HD iPlayer (*) stream is ~5Mbs 1280x720p50 8-bit AVC/H264. (And HEVC/H265 is a lot more efficient than H264/AVC so the 720p and 1080p streams should look very good too)

(*) Sky offers 1920x1080i25 (which is still 50Hz motion) at 8Mbs I believe - but that's not a BBC CDN-provided stream, and is a progressive download via Sky's CDN.

Sad that they can't find a way of compatibly offering 5.1 audio - I guess DD/DD+ as used by Netflix and Amazon Prime isn't an option, and some TV manufacturers may struggle with streamed AAC 5.1 (though Freeview HD uses it)

This was wrongly posted in the "650 channels licences in limbo due to Brexit" thread.

Ssshhhhh. I think I got away with it.