TV specialist brings its skills to the game for World Cup coverage

Timeline Television is delivering the outside broadcast facilities for BBC Sport’s first ever UHD HDR live streaming of the FIFA World Cup on BBC iPlayer.

Timeline provides broadcast technology and services and includes an operation in Salford’s MediaCityUK Studios.

The FIFA World Cup kicked off in Russia on June 14 and the final will be staged on July 15 at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow. Last night England progressed to the quarter finals after a 4-3 penalty shoot-out victory over Columbia.

Timeline’s award winning UHD HDR outside broadcast truck, UHD2, is on site for the duration of the tournament and at the heart of the operation based out of Moscow’s Red Square.

It is delivering the BBC presentation studio with a simultaneous UHD Hybrid Log Gamma output for the BBC iPlayer platform.

Viewers with an HDR TV are able to watch the World Cup matches in superb UHD HDR, as well as in HD.

A joint partnership between the BBC and NHK over the past few years has led to the release of HLG (or Hybrid Log Gamma).

This form of HDR is royalty free and is essentially backwards compatible with non-HDR UHD TV sets.

In recent weeks, Timeline have partnered with BBC R&D running various trials at York City Rugby Club and The Royal Wedding using the Sony PXW-Z450 camcorders as UHD HDR radio cameras.

Due to the success of these trials Timeline and the BBC are now able to provide the FIFA World Cup coverage in UHD HDR.

Six cameras make up the basis of the studio.

This is combined with the world feed from each stadium and brought together at Timeline’s operation in Red Square.

This allows the BBC to base its operation onsite and provide a spectacular backdrop to the on-air programmes.

Timeline’s portfolio includes outside broadcasts, post-production facilities in Soho, Ealing Studios and MediaCityUK Studios, RF and satellite, managed services and system integration.

It works with some of the biggest brands in the UK and international television market, including the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and BT Sport.

Timeline delivers technical and creative facilities for programmes as diverse as live music and awards shows, political conferences, global and domestic sporting competitions, light entertainment and current affairs.

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