„Ist es die da, die da, die da oder die da? … (Is it her, her, her or her?)“

December 20, 2014 – the Hanns-Martin-Schleyer Hall in Stuttgart is sold out, the crowd is cheering, the singers from the German hip-hop band “Die Fantastischen Vier” (The Fantastic Four) are in top form. The Fraunhofer Heinrich-Hertz-Institut (HHI) is also part of the show and is broadcasting a concert in 4K for the first time ever.

For the first time a concert is being broadcast live in Ultra High Definition quality (UHD or 4K) to selected households and to the ARRI cinema in Munich. The HEVC (High Efficiency Video Coding) Live Encoder, developed by Fraunhofer HHI, enabled extremely high image resolution and particularly high color depth.

Indeed, the chemistry between “Die Fantastischen Vier” and the Fraunhofer HHI seems to be just right as the Fraunhofer HHI has already supported the band in another world premiere: In September 2010 their concert in the Steintor-Varieté in Halle (Saale) was broadcast live in 3D to 88 cinemas in five countries. With the help of the STAN (Stereoscopic Analyzer) software created by the Fraunhofer HHI, stereo images could be captured and analyzed during recording. The settings of seven double cameras in various positions throughout the hall were adjusted in real-time and any remaining distortion could immediately be corrected electronically. “Die Fantastischen Vier” were able not only to reach the audience in the hall but simultaneously thousands of other viewers, who, by putting on their 3D glasses, had the feeling of being right there in the middle of it.