Keeping Video Quality Pristine throughout the Production Process: Introducing 10-bit 4:2:2 AVC/H.264 encoding

This paper discusses how using the 10-bit 4:2:2 AVC/H.264 encoding profile for transmission can maintain quality throughout the production process workflow. Upto now an MPEG-2 4:2:2 8-bit profile was used, the new AVC/H.264 encoding profile will allow for significantly lower transmission bandwidth or higher quality for the same transmission links. The profile is also compatible with pre-existing native SDI signal infrastructures used already in production processes. Furthermore 4:2:2 10-bit processing can help to preserve quality during multi-generation encodes/decodes that can happen often in the production process. This paper presents empirical results using real-time implementations to demonstrate the advantages of using this profile. Examples are also presented where this new technology can assist in production workflows ranging from remote uplinks of live broadcasts, non-collocated collaboration of dailies, support of playout-totape infrastructures, to international distribution & editing of content. Introduction The production process has been a collective work of many individuals effort ranging from producing dailies for film shoots, film scanning, editing of live remote event material, CGI production, and final assembly of the work [9]. Increasingly it is becoming a collaborative effort of non co-located groups (interstudio) involved in these processes starting from not only film but from a full digital content workflow, originating with camera capture to eventual re-versioning of the content. Transmitting, storing, editing video in as pristine a quality as possible in this workflow while addressing infrastructure limitations is critical. It becomes especially evident when considering future and transitional infrastructures that will need to be supported. Keeping video quality pristine throughout the production process: Introducing 10-bit 4:2:2 AVC/H.264 encoding