FRANCESCO DONATO, EMG ITALY'S CTO EXPLAINS: "WE HAVE ENHANCED THE TV PRODUCT AND IMPROVED THE OVERALL QUALITY OF SERVICE".

The conclusion of the merger that had began about a year ago of the three pre-existing Italian subsidiaries, 3Zero2 TV, Global Production and Netco Sports, was officially announced on January 31, 2022 and gave birth to the new brand "EMG Italy".

Francesco Donato, Chief Technology Officer at the helm of the technologies and innovations department, anticipates some peculiarities of the new company from his point of view and in relation to the most recent project implementations.

He stated: “EMG Italy intends to consolidate the path of technological innovation already undertaken to achieve a rationalization of all production processes based on reference technologies and professionalities at the highest level.

The results of our commitment are already visible: the acquisitions of orders relating to excellent customers such as Lega Serie A, Dazn, Sunset + Vine for Amazon Prime Video, for all of which we are working to guarantee services with a complex profile and the aim of guaranteeing top quality results, visible not only on a technical level but also at a tv product level".

ONE OF THE IMPORTANT ISSUES

"The driver has always been the customer's request" - continues Francesco Donato "always keeping in mind that the company's development and investment prospects must be implemented in the name of a concrete and tangible result: the customer asks us in addition to quality, visible results which must mark the difference on the entire production chain.

To achieve the objectives, we have decided to diligently put into practice a solid strategy of "sharing resources" as a fulcrum for the selection of the consequent technological choices".

THE "LIVE SPORTS GRAPHICS" PROJECT FOR LEGA SERIE A CLIENT

This project constitutes a service continuity solution for an already well-established customer such as Lega Serie A, for which EMG Italy has been packaging graphics services for many years in a "remote" production environment.

For the new IBC production centre in Lissone, EMG Italy has designed and built the whole plant, integrating with its system architecture without impacting in technical and operational terms, and in perfect harmony with the other partners that contribute to the production chain of the LNPA product.

This was possible thanks to the already consolidated experience in the field of production process management based on the concept of "remote production".

Francesco Donato comments: "In essence, this project has offered us the opportunity to increase the potential in terms of enriching the television product, increasing the quality of our service both in terms of offer and process of statistical data and related publication.

With our participation in the launch of the IBC in Lissone, the national graphics have also been centralized in this new and ultra-modern production center, where we have implemented the workflow already in action for international circuits".

ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY IN UHD

The novelty, that is the step forward made in partnership with Lega Serie A and EI Towers, was essentially to concentrate all the activities relating to the Serie A product in a single building and under a common infrastructure.

Francesco Donato underlines: "From our starting point we have set ourselves the goal of migrating from the interlaced standard to the progressive one and as a direct consequence we have also structured ourselves to deliver our services also in UHD SDR / HDR standard.

The main theme of the technical and operational comparison was precisely related to the migration from interlaced to progressive signals. 

So, issues relating to the impact on the entire content shooting and production chain were addressed.

By reviewing all the process components involved, I would say that we have really retraced every single step "end to end".

The transformation of the entire production chain has allowed a tangible increase in quality and management. This is the result of a series of tests and comparisons that have seen EMG Italy, EI Towers and Lega Serie A engaged side by side.

The results have certainly generated a qualitative improvement, but above all the new workflow has resulted in full compatibility with all digital publishing platforms".

REMOTE OPERATION AND UHD/HDR

The transformation of EMG Italy's process technique has impacted all the technical equipment, both the mobile vehicles and the production centers, as well as engaging them to raise the "cultural" level of the personnel on field.

The transition to the typical operational methods of remote procedures has made it possible to establish more linear but no less complex processes, and it is fair to point out that also the new shooting setup has also been positively and heavily updated.

There are three outdoor mobile television production units, engaged on the Serie A fields, capable of delivering services in UHD SDR / HDR standard.

Francesco Donato concludes with a comment on the new scenario: “The transformation and transition to the production of multi-platform content passes through an important investment process of a technological, but above all cultural nature. 

The new flows and processes are now consistent with the final destination which - in this case - is the digital device.

It should also be said that, together with the digital transformation, the evolution of shooting techniques in UHD and SDR / HDR environments, and therefore also the facilities that host sporting events, have been subject to intervention. This to adapt the context and to guarantee a visible and appreciable result by the end user.

Along with this experience we have also gone through a change in terms of communication management between the parties involved in the long production process: the adaptation of the coordination process of the activities was one of our objectives to arrive at what today we can define a harmonized and organized environment, at all levels and functions".