Sony has valued a multi-year relationship with Vatican Media, the official institution responsible for broadcasting the activities of the Pope and the Vatican as a whole. Established by Pope John Paul II in 1983 as Centro Televisivo Vaticano (CTV), Vatican Media is the Vatican’s own television production center. Documenting the activities of the Holy Father and the government of the Roman Catholic Church, it brings religious events into the homes of millions of people across the world via its own programs and through content provided to other broadcasters. CTV has amassed over 10,000 hours of material that are stored on more than 20,000 media of various kinds including U-matic tape and other formats. One of the first innovations Sony brought to Vatican Media was the opportunity to digitize the irreplaceable footage for tapeless storage.
“It’s necessary for us to find a way of preserving all this material, sheltering it from such damaging factors as humidity, abrupt changes in temperature and other stresses,” says Dario Eduardo Viganò, Director General, CTV. “Above all it is important for us to make it readily available in a flexible and functional manner to future scholars, who will no longer study parchments or papal bulls but audio-visual records.” The Vatican made a long-term storage investment based on Optical Disc Archive (ODA) library technology, combined with Sony’s Media Backbone Conductor (MBC) integration and workflow orchestration platform. “This is the only medium that will give us peace of mind for fifty years, which is the amount of time for which the storage capacity of these optical discs is guaranteed,” notes Msgr. Viganò. “Moreover, they are resilient and not affected by humidity or temperature changes, which means that they do not need to be in a facility equipped with sophisticated air conditioning systems.”
Vatican Media is responsible for capturing and preserving one-of-a-kind events like the canonization of Pope John XXIII and Pope John Paul II. It also brings seminal Catholic events to viewers around the world, a responsibility that has long been supported by Sony, often with ground-breaking technical innovations. For the Catholic Holy Year in 2015, Sony was there to capture the Closing of the Holy Door by Pope Francis, a breathtaking pageant that brought the “Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy” to a close. It was a technical event too, the first live POC (proof of concept) 4K HDR S-Log3 production by Vatican Media, showing how a single production line can support distribution of multi-format broadcasts. The Vatican Television Centre used twelve of Sony’s 4K HDR cameras and a Sony HDR S-Log3 system for the live production as part of an end-to-end 4K HDR live system. The workflow also provided a simultaneous feed in 4K Ultra HD with Standard Dynamic Range (SDR) and in High Definition (HD) with SDR. The S-Log3 dynamic range curve can master content with more advanced information both in terms of dynamics and chromatic range, ensuring full, realtime compatibility with all broadcast platforms currently used by the Vatican. The broadcast used the Hybrid Log-Gamma (HLG) profile for delivery, an HDR standard approved that year by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and which was used in the pioneering broadcasting test. “For the first time ever in history we saw the live television broadcast of Papal ceremonies in Ultra HD with High Dynamic Range (HDR), which ensures the highest quality of images available today,” Msgr. Viganò recalls. “This is a state-of-the-art set up that reflects Pope Francis’ aim to keep up to speed with the rapid developments in global technology, to support the Catholic’s Church communication mission.”
In the years since that mission has continued, as Sony and Vatican Media have continued to refine and upgrade systems–most recently Sony has created a custom package with the smallest possible impact on the beautiful and historic surroundings of the home of the Catholic church.
Starting in 2020, the entire broadcast system of the Vatican was updated to a more streamlined fiber network, connecting 4K cameras to the production control rooms via Sony’s HDCE-100 adaptor.
The fiber optic infrastructure inside the Vatican has been designed by the Technical Direction of the Dicastery for Communication to be able to carry audio video signals and controls either baseband or IP networks for SDVN applications.
The system also leaves a smaller footprint on the historical buildings, as the HDCE-100 unit used is small, silent, and easily hidden and thin optical fiber cables can used on long distances “Thanks to Sony’s innovative solutions, we’ve built a high quality and future-proof system which will transport viewers to The Vatican and help spread our message worldwide better than ever before” says Francesco Masci, Director of the Technology Department, Vatican. “Building such a complex system while in-keeping with the historic location was never going to be an easy task, but by using the expertise of our long-term partners Sony we were able to find the perfect solution.”
All cameras across the Vatican have been progressively upgraded to produce high quality images, essential for preserving and reflecting the events happening around the most important sites in the Vatican complex. Sony’s HDC-5500s have replaced previous generation cameras, providing superior image quality and creative flexibility. The devices can shoot in 4K, HD, and HDR which allows them to capture 4K images with exceptionally low noise, perfect for the impactful, low light (and therefore difficult to capture) atmosphere of the Vatican. The upgrade includes the use of a new and efficient technique, where two camera heads are connected to a single camera cable. Operations are monitored on the Sony PVM-X series monitors which allows side by side comparison in the production suite.
“Our long-standing partnership with Vatican Media has enabled us to offer a scalable and reliable system that meets the need for shooting, producing and broadcasting around the world with a low impact on historical environments,” comments Norbert Paquet, Head of Live Production Solutions, Sony Professional Europe.
In another update, Sony BRC-H800 PTZ cameras have been installed inside the iconic St Peter’s Basilica. The cameras small size made them perfect for installing discretely around the building, so as not to impact on the historic surroundings. The PTZs can also be controlled remotely meaning there’s no need for camera operators, reducing the footprint of production while allowing for more creative production as filming can take place from new angles not accessible by people.
Since late 2022, a Sony FX9 serves to improve image quality, and to provide a more cinematic feel which better captures the feeling of such a unique and spiritual place whilst remaining completely reliable. This is a continuation of a longstanding relationship between Sony and Vatican Media.
“Thanks to Sony’s innovative solutions, we’ve built a high quality and future-proof system which will transport viewers to The Vatican and help spread our message worldwide better than ever before” says Francesco Masci, Director of the Technology Department, Vatican “Building such a complex system while in-keeping with the historic location was never going to be an easy task, but by using the expertise of our long-term partners Sony we were able to find the perfect solution.”
