Depending on the project, the Studio Berlin team can either be found out in the field with one of its five OB vans or a custom fly pack, or in one of its studios in Berlin, Cologne or Munich.

“Every project is a learning experience, and with each one, we’re able to raise the bar in terms of what’s visually achievable,” said Matthias Alexandru, CTO, Studio Berlin. “For most UltraHD HDR broadcasts, we’re starting with previously shot HD or even SD SDR content, so we lean heavily on AJA’s FS-HDR real-time HDR/WCG converter. FS-HDR provides diverse settings that allow us to adapt to whatever source material we’re working with to ensure that we can always achieve the desired output. It also helps us implement the various formats required at the end of the production chain.”

Studio Berlin leverages the FS-HDR in a number of ways, such as to broadcast live HDR content to Astra's UltraHD channel, and in parallel, convert and map the production in HD SDR for distribution to other channels.

Alexandru added, “Because we convert the UltraHD HDR product into HD SDR via the AJA FS-HDR, rather than run parallel Ultra HD HDR and HD SDR productions, our customers can deliver captivating images in both formats, without the time, equipment and personnel costs that parallel production would incur.”

For ‘Europakonzert’, a live classical concert from the Philharmonie in Berlin that Studio Berlin broadcast in May, camera signals were recorded individually in UltraHD SDR, with FS-HDR powering up-conversion to provide the editorial team with the highest quality source material for post-production.

“FS-HDR has become a standard for mapping, among other HDR production demands. It provides a broad range of functionality, an intuitive user interface, and unmatched reliability; the sheer flexibility it provides was a key factor in our decision to use it,” Alexandru explained. “AJA also continues to release new firmware updates that make the technology that much more robust and our jobs that much easier. The fact that we have five of the units speaks volumes.”