Eutelsat debuts U-HDTV service
January 9, 2013
By Chris Forrester
Paris-based satellite operator Eutelsat has launched a Europe-wide Ultra-HDTV channel. While recognising that the home audience for the channel is extremely limited, Eutelsat see the channel as being a showcase for production companies and other participants looking to gain experience. It will also permit the public to see the transmissions in electrical retailers with suitable 4K displays.
Eutelsat is transmitting the channel on its 10A satellite using ATEME-supplied compression using MPEG4 at 40 Mbit/s. Eutelsat commissioned video crews to capture 4K content on the streets of Paris and this material is beamed up to the satellite from its Rambouillet teleport just outside Paris. Eutelsat and Ateme are sending the signal out in ‘progressive’ format at 50 frames per second.
“This new step towards 4K continues Eutelsat’s longstanding commitment to achieving new broadcast milestones that over the last 20 years have included digital TV, HDTV and 3D,” said Jean-François Leprince-Ringuet, Eutelsat’s Commercial Director. “Early and close collaboration between all players in the broadcast chain will be a key success factor for this new revolution and so we are delighted to propose this first broadcast platform for Europe.”
These are not the first 4K signals that Eutelsat has transmitted, however. For some time it has been beaming encrypted 4K images into cinemas across Europe.