The grain of the hardwood floor was in pristine stain. One could easily discern the rotation of the ball in flight on long 3s. Flailing arms and hands in pursuit of loose balls sprang onto the screen.

The scene: Neulion’s Live 4K streaming presentation of the Jan. 15 matchup between the Milwaukee Bucks and New York Knicks from London’s O2 arena at NBA headquarters in New York.

BT Sports produced the game in 4K – the first for a major U.S. sports league – which delivers 4000DPIs, quadruple the resolution of images seen on most high-definition TVs.

Executives at Neulion, which also streamed Knicks-Bucks live to executives and clients in its San Diego office and who will be showcasing the Global Game contest to others, talked up the imminent promise of 4K. They mentioned how many TVs are already properly equipped; that Hollywood is up-converting or  filming to some degree in the format; that GoPro cameras and Samsung Galaxy phones can capture images thusly; that Comcast,  DirecTV, Netflix and Amazon are in the game: that IPTV protocol will afford consumers personal  4K choices.

Still, the likelihood that consumers will get to see a lot of sports in 4K anytime soon is remote.

NBA executive vice president of operations and technology Steve Hellmuth, on a phone call from London during the telecast, said 4K cameras are in fairly wide play in the production flow, citing ESPN's use during some NBA games to cover everything for referees’ replays. He also noted that Fox filmed some of the 2014 World Series action in the format, as did CBS during Super Bowl XVIII.

Full-scale 4K production is another matter, though. Asked if TNT might shoot the 2015 All-Star Game at Madison Square Garden in the format, Hellmuth said it physically can’t happen:  there aren’t any mobile production trucks in the States yet.

That's expected to change in April when the Mobile TV Group is scheduled to roll up a truck armed with a full array of 4K-capable equipment to the NAB convention in Las Vegas.

Might that mean use during the NBA Finals, or other events? Sports fans should hope so.

BT Sports/Neulion’s images were spectacular on the 65-inch TV screen in Olympic Tower.

When New York’s Carmelo Anthony lowered his shoulder and drove Milwaukee’s John Henson to the floor before Buck teammate Jared Dudley hacked the crap out of the Knicks star from behind, you could feel each of the player's pain.

A close-up of an O.J. Mayo baseline jumper over Shane Larkin accentuated the height and lift differential between the opponents.

In short, 4K provided real courtside vistas of the proceedings.

Conversely, at points there was also a bit too much reality reproduction. A view of the wrinkles in Kareem Abdul Jabbar’s neck as he waved to the London crowd was better left unseen, while the bald spot/hole in the beard  of Milwaukee's Mayo became all too noticeable during a halftime interview

One final visual takeaway from the 4K telecast: Phil Jackson’s 2014-15 New York Knicks suck in any format.

UP's distribution stock just went up.

The independent programmer has inked a multiyear distribution agreement with the National Cable Television Cooperative. Under terms of the master agreement, the nearly 1,000 NCTC members can sign on to carry both the standard- and high-definition feeds of the network, as well as video-on-demand content in both formats.  The pact, financial terms of which were not disclosed, will also encompass the network's "TV Everywhere" services in the near future. 

The NCTC deal with UP, which counts some 70 million subscribers, does not pertain to ASPIRE, the Magic Johnson-owned service for which UP handles affiliate and ad sales.

“Through this agreement, UP will be made available to all NCTC member systems, further expanding our channel’s reach, but also making our full slate of trustworthy family-friendly programming available to communities of all sizes across the country,” said Hal Rosenberg, senior vice president of content distribution and marketing at UP. “We are delighted to be working with everyone at the NCTC to spread the word about UP’s positive, inspiring and entertaining programming.” 

The news about the Co-op affiliate contract follows the exit of vice chairman Brad Siegel, who helped start the network, then known as Gospel Music Channel, with president Charlie Humbard in 2004. Humbard said the service hopes to find a successor to Siegel, a former Turner and AMC executive, soon.

Subscribers to those NCTC members that sign up with UP will be able to watch 500 hours of uplifting holiday fare under the "Everything You Love About Christmas" banner. Highlights include UP original telefilms and world premiere movies, Naughty & Nice (Sunday, Nov. 9 at 7 p.m. (ET),Paper Angels (Sunday, Nov. 16 at 7 p.m.), The Tree That Saved Christmas (Sunday, Nov. 30 at 7 p.m.), Marry Us For Christmas (Sunday, Dec. 7 at 7 p.m.), Nativity! (Saturday, Nov. 29 at 7 p.m.)Nativity! 2: Danger in the Manger (Saturday, Nov. 29 at 9 p.m.), 12 Dog Days Till Christmas (Friday, Nov. 28 at 7 p.m.),Christmas in Palm Springs (Sunday, Nov. 23 at 7 p.m.) andThe Christmas Tree Miracle (Wednesday, Nov. 26 at 9 p.m.). 

It’s October, the new National Hockey League season has faced off, and the National Basketball Association’s preseason is in full flight.

At Madison Square Garden, that means the New York Rangers, despite a stumbling start, have resumed the chase for the Stanley Cup, and the Knicks hope their prospects improve under new team president Phil Jackson and head coach Derek Fisher.

MSG Network viewers are also getting new looks at the regional sports channel’s pre- and post-game and halftime programming, courtesy of a fresh set on display at Studio B at 11 Penn Plaza in Manhattan. The change in format and location follows MSG’s sale of music network Fuse to Sì TV Media. The $226 million sale gave Sì TV-owned NUVO tv control over Fuse’s current streetfront Studio A, across the street from the Garden. That pushed MSG to the 1,385-square-foot Studio B, where new equipment and visuals are in play, centered by a new anchor desk.

Behind the oval-shaped desk is a main video wall, containing 15 42- inch high-definition monitors that can be synced to depict one giant picture or separated into distinct images. A primary left-side main camera, a jib and a mobile-tracking slider positioned to the right provide varied vantage points.

There is a flanking cityscape wall and a 3-by-3 studio wall, where Bill Pidto conducts his signature 150-second halftime roundup segments. A functional column (it holds up the ceiling) swathed in appropriate lighting with the team’s colors anchors the middle of the room.

At the rear of the studio is a stairwell that is home to standups and interviews. Analysts are also engaging with a new touchscreen to illustrate action on the ice or the hardwood.

“Wally and Alan can’t wait to get in here and play with that,” MSG executive producer Jeff Filippi said during The Wire’s recent visit, meaning Knicks analysts Wally Szczerbiak and Alan Hahn.

Jackie Lyons, vice president of network operations, said the new studio, designed by James Yates Production Design and built by Creative Dimensions Inc., “will keep energy within the room, because we’re not shifting outside of the space.”

The old street-side Studio A will still be in the mix at times when the Knicks and Rangers are both playing. MSG has built a replica of the large set behind the music network’s design and can change it over in 15 to 20 minutes. “The team has it down to a science,” Lyons said.

A downside of Studio B: It doesn’t face Seventh Avenue. But with remotes affixed atop the arena, Filippi said, “We can still show that we are in the city and that people are walking to and in front of the building. We’re certainly not hiding from the fact that we are the Garden.”

While it will take some time for all to become acclimated to the new surroundings, Filippi said he’s pleased with the early going in Studio B.

“Overall, we’ll have a much more modern feel,” he said.

Why No Video In Broadband Study? It’s Personal

The National Telecommunications & Information Administration released a study last week on broadband adoption, non-adoption and related information, focused on the use of mobile broadband.

The October 2012 survey focused on four Internet-dependent activities — email, Web browsing, downloading apps and social networking, but there were no questions about accessing video. Why not?

Rafi Goldberg, policy analyst in NTIA’s Office of Policy Analysis and Development, told The Wire pollsters only got to ask 12 questions.

At the time they began coming up with queries, in 2010, video was not as big a category, added John Morris Jr., associate administrator of the office.

Morris said NTIA had the raw data from a 2013 survey that included a lot more questions, including ones on use of video, with those results likely ready for release early in 2015. “Stay tuned,” Morris told The Wire.

Why so much time between surveys and their release given the speed of digital and the need to make policy decisions? The Census Bureau surveys include personal data that has to be scrubbed first, they said, and that just takes time.

— John Eggerton

4K or Ultra HD — the terms are nearly interchangeable — is coming with the inevitability of the next polar vortex.

But, like that vortex, the timing is inexact, which means cable operators have time to tweak their networks and standards bodies have time to revisit what needs to be changed to make sure 4K’s arrival is more aesthetically and financially pleasing than 3D.

That’s because 3D was a bust.

“It’s a broader kind of experience than 3D,” Tom Russell, senior director of standards for the Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers, said.

Russell collaborates with international standards bodies and within the SCTE as it works to develop specifications to 4K a reality for consumers, programmers and MSOs. Within SCTE, these include constraint documents for HEVC/H.265 adaptations of International Telecommunications Union (ITU) and International Organization for Standardization (ISO) specifications configured specifically for cable.

Most consider HEVC (High-Efficiency Video Coding) to be the key ingredient that makes 4K happen, because its compression schemes lower bitrates and improve bandwidth consumption to the point where 4K can be introduced across existing infrastructure without disruption. HEVC’s advances have been likened to the move from MPEG-2 to MPEG-4.

While essential for 4K, HEVC “floats all boats. It makes HD look better, DSL [digital subscriber line] work better,” Joe Del Rio, associate product line director at Broadcom, said. “Lowering the bitrate even helps the transmission of content wirelessly.”

That wireless part is good and bad for cable. It’s good that HEVC will help cable operators pump content through to 4K-enabled devices when they pop up in all those new WiFi hotspots. But it might also be bad, because it helps cable’s mobile competitors push more aggressively into offering their own broadband-delivered video services.

“It’s a significant increase in the aspect and resolutions that are being deployed,” Jamie Miles, group vice president of content operations at Time Warner Cable, said. “The HEVC codec is significantly more optimized for dealing with video.”

Better Pictures, Better Pixels, Better TV

That’s important because 4K produces lots more pixels — about 4,000 overall, give or take a pixel — compared to today’s HD sets that max out at 2,160. More pixels, though, are only one-third of 4K’s foundational building blocks.

Optimized audio — still in the labs — and High Dynamic Range (HDR) imaging, a set of techniques used to reproduce a greater dynamic range of luminosity than possible using standard digital imaging techniques, are the other two. HDR makes colors pop out to create the “looking through a window” experience so many associate with 4K television.

“4K is about better pictures; it’s about showing off in terms of more pixels,” Mark Francisco, senior director of advanced technology at Comcast, said. “Ultimately, though, the lasting value comes with a better visual and audible experience.”

There’s still work to be done across the entire infrastructure to routinely deliver that experience.

Detractors find fault with 4K because it’s being driven by a consumer-electronics industry unabashedly shilling pretty pictures to sell new, higher-priced devices. HD, these critics contend, could do the job if only the industry would actually deliver video that shows off actual 1080p video.

The problem is that most content is produced and delivered to a cable operation in lesser quality 1080i or 720p resolution; very little source material comes in at HD’s top-of-the-line 1080p/60 (frames per second). Cable operators, especially with HEVC, could produce more stunning pictures with better HD, but their hands are tied by the availability of source matter.

And content owners can’t bear the full blame because their infrastructure hasn’t been built to handle the higher resolutions.

When To Pull The Trigger?

That leaves a do-it-now or do-it-later scenario for all involved parties.

TV sets, like it or not, are being marketed as “UHD.” Smaller devices, even down to smartphones, tablets and laptops and even PC screens are becoming 4K-enabled. Blu-ray Disc players and other set-top boxes are claiming to be able to capture and display 4K signals. Streaming services like Netflix are boasting 4K libraries, and DirecTV has said it will ready to offer 4K via VOD this year, and live 4K streaming sometime next year or by early 2016.

Do-it-now proponents say, with justification, that consumers want the better viewing experience promised by 4K.

“Even when I look at the best HD, the 4K is better,” TWC’s Miles said. “But are we taking full advantage of the HD world? We’re not. I think there are some things that can be done to make that better without a doubt. There are a lot more gallons in the tank when it comes to HD.”

Doing it later appeals to content producers, especially sports programmers that still smarting from the burden of changing SD cameras and other equipment to HD. 4K only promises more expense for what some say is a less-obvious improvement than moving from SD to HD.

For once, cable operators, often bleeding on the cutting edge of changing consumer trends, are not worried about 4K. That’s partially because all the other infrastructure issues suggest a timeline that will allow them to tweak whatever’s needed to welcome 4K seamlessly into their programming packages, and partially because it’s not the major change — visually or technically — that they experienced when moving from SD to HD and presenting both formats at the same time.

4K has the same 16:9 screen ratio as HDTV and runs off the same HDMI connection. HD sets can display 4K content without the discernible — some would say disgusting — difference between HD and SD, and 4K sets only improve HD. A further benefit of 4K will make items such as a user interface look better on a big screen, Francisco said. “Imagine how much text you could put up on that screen,” he said.

Also imagine how much text or other graphic material could be placed on a tablet or a smartphone. Tablets could be the first widespread 4K devices, because their lower price would produce wider mass market appeal than big-ticket big-screen TVs.

HEVC, (Faster) WiFi Are Key

This tablets-first notion, which many dismiss, could strain cable’s current WiFi networks both inside the home and in hotspots. In a nightmare scenario, the cable home network would collapse under the wireless bandwidth demands generated by 4K tablets, smartphones and laptops.

“That’s one reason why HEVC has become important,” Julien Signes, CEO of Envivio, said.

It’s also a reason why organizations focused on maximizing WiFi are closely watching the advance of 4K.

“Today’s Wi-Fi technology would be capable of streaming with a buffer to a 4K device; it can manage very large video with a buffer,” Kelly Davis-Felner, vice president of marketing at the Wi-Fi Alliance, said.

WiGig, a new WiFi iteration targeted for release next year, will make 4K a piece of cake.

 “If Wi-Fi covers your whole house, WiGig covers a room. I’ve seen demos of WiGig do real-time streaming of 4K video beautifully. WiGig is something that people are going to want to watch, because it’s going to be a very easy way to get video onto a screen,” Davis-Felner said.

The threat of hungry wireless devices won’t hold back 4K, most observers said, just as content, seen by some as a pothole, won’t be a problem — eventually.

Sports programmers, for one, are reluctant to move into yet another new format with technology, — including and especially cameras — lagging. That reluctance will evaporate the minute one sports network steps out of line and marches to the 4K beat, observers said.

“They [content producers] are not enthused, but watch and see: as soon as a couple of them start putting out a lot of content the others will follow along quickly,” Daniel Howard, chief technology officer of SCTE, said. “I hope that it won’t take as long as HD to roll out, but it does take a while for the content providers to get their infrastructure fired up and pump out all of their content in the new format.”

When they do, the cable industry will be ready.

“Technically, we’re there,” Comcast’s Francisco said. “We’ve proven the platforms, whether it’s IP delivery or traditional cable delivery. We have set-top boxes now. If the consumer demand is there and the content is there, we can roll.”