Video delivery firm Harmonic is partnering with satellite service provider Intelsat to launch a new UHD demonstration channel called HVN Intelsat UHD later this year for the North American TV market.
The channel will be transmitted on Intelsat’s Galaxy 13 satellite at 127° West, with a view to giving US video service providers an opportunity to prepare and test UHD transmissions on their own networks and into subscriber homes. The platform will also be available to US cable programmers to conduct their own testing of UHD content.
The two partners plan to demonstrate the UHD channel’s content at IBC 2015 using an end-to-end UHD video processing system from Harmonic which will deliver a live 2160p60 HEVC-compressed signal via C-Band on the Galaxy 13 satellite to Intelsat’s German teleport facility at Fuchsstadt – where it will be uplinked via Ku-band to the Intelsat 905 satellite at 335.5° East, for onward transmission to the RAI centre.
On launch, the new UHD demo channel will leverage a number of products Harmonic will showcase at IBC, including its MediaGrid shared storage system, Polaris playout management suite, new Spectrum X advanced media server system and Electra X3 advanced media processor. These will enable full UHD channel production and transmission from the company’s HVN Center in San Jose, California.
