Japan Technical Specifications (for senders outside Japan)

This is the Japan TV specification for advertisers outside Japan sending ads to TV destinations in Japan. Files made to this spec can also be sent to digital destinations. If you are a Japanese advertiser sending ads within Japan, use the standard Japan TV specification.

If you are not sure which specification to use, you can check the exact specification for your ad in Cape Advanced TV (see Which technical specification should I use for my ad?).

All files uploaded to Cape Advanced TV are immediately run through an Auto QC process. To ensure files are not rejected please adhere to the guidelines below.

File Layout

Files must be frame-accurate to exact duration.

No pre-roll or post-roll such as clock/slate, bars, black, hold, freeze or audio tone is required.

The first and last 15 frames of the commercial must be silent (-60 dBFS).

For any commercials delivered cross-border from outside Japan, the Cape Advanced TV Japan Customer Success team will help to create the broadcast slate and TVC layout for the final video.

Please provide slate information together with media contact info for delivery to our local support team at support.jp@cape.io as follows:

Sample Slate template

Mandatory Fields:

• 1 - 素材広告主名 (Advertiser Name)
  • Name of advertiser (2-byte characters, up to 20 characters incl. spaces)
• 2 - ＣＭ素材名 (TVCM Title)
  • Title of TVCM (2-byte characters, up to 30 characters incl. spaces)
• 3 - 10桁ＣＭコード (10 Digit Code)
  • Must be unique per version (1-byte characters, shown as the “4 digit advertiser code” and the “6 digit material code”, e.g. 13ZV=123456. The letters “O” and “I” cannot be used)
• 4 - 秒数 (Duration)
  • Specify duration in seconds (1-byte characters: “15秒” (15 sec.) / “30秒” (30 sec.) / “60秒” (60 sec.) / other, e.g. “120秒”)
• 5 - 音声種別 (Audio Type)
  • Specify audio type (2-byte characters: “ステレオ” (Stereo) / “モノラル” (Mono) / “５．１＋Ｓ” (5.1 Surround))
• 6 - ＣＭ字幕有無 (Closed Captioning)
  • Specify if closed captioned or not (2-byte characters: “有り” (CC’d) / “無し” (Not CC’d))

Optional Fields:

• 7 - 商品名 (Product Name)
  • Name of product (2-byte characters, up to 20 characters incl. spaces)
• 8 - 制作広告会社名 (Creative Agency)
  • Name of creative agency (2-byte characters, up to 20 characters incl. spaces)
• 9 - 制作会社 (Production House)
  • Name of production house (2-byte characters, up to 20 characters incl. spaces)
• 10 - 特記事項 (Special Note)
  • Special notes (free to use)
• 11 - 録画日 (Rec. Date)
  • Recording date (free to use)

Naming Convention

Version ID Logic = "$4DigitCode=$6DigitCode"

Example: 13ZV=ATEM05

$4DigitCode = All advertisers in Japan must be registered with a central body in Japan called the Code Control Center (CCC). When creating an order, you will need to use the official Japanese name on this database, so it also links the registered 4 digit code to the version. You can search for the advertiser’s registered code via this website https://www.ccc.or.jp, but if you have questions please contact support.jp@cape.io.

$6DigitCode = This is a unique identifier for the version. It is issued and managed by the Advertiser. Restrictions on this field: numbers (0~9) and capital letters “A-H”, “J-N” and “P-Z”. “I” and “O” are prohibited to avoid confusion with “1” and “0”. “-” (hyphen) and “ ” (space) are also prohibited.

The 10 Digit Code is the primary reference key for agencies and broadcasters making TVCs and booking airtime. Please provide this exactly.

Video Levels

Levels must be in accordance with ITU BT.709 for HD content, and EBU R103-2000 recommendations:

Luma = Level 16-235 (not RGB 0-255 level), equivalent to 0% - 100% or 0mV - 700mV.

Chroma = Level 16-240, equivalent to maximum 100% RGB.

All content should be upper/first field dominant throughout and must be free of encoding artefacts, dropout, glitches, blocking, interlace issues or excessive aliasing and considered broadcast quality throughout.

Audio Levels

Audio True Peak level must not exceed -1 dBTP or -3 dBFS.

Audio Loudness = -24 LKFS to -28 LKFS (recommended to upload audio loudness at -24 LKFS to -24.1 LKFS). Note: if you deliver something lower, your TVC will sound different to all others. If average loudness is below -28 LKFS, a written explanation must be included with the TVCM print to explicitly confirm that the low loudness is a creative intention.

Audio should be free of any distortion, glitches or excessive sibilance and must be in phase and in sync with the video throughout.

Safe Area

Please ensure all on-screen text is free from spelling and grammatical errors, and within the relevant Safe Area within 90% of the entire visual.