EBU uses NovelSat for 4K World Cup
July 14, 2014
Last week, the EBU treated World Cup viewers to 4K resolution. Using NovelSat satellite modulators, the EBU broadcast three full live World Cup games from Brazil in Ultra-HD quality, including the Final between Germany and Argentina.
According to Graham Warren Network Director at EBU, broadcasting such a widely-viewed event as the World Cup Final in 4K was an interesting challenge for the EBU. “The NovelSat solution proved reliable as it has in the past at major events that we have broadcast by satellite.”
“Knowing that our NovelSat NS3 technology was used for the satellite broadcasting in HD of the most watched event worldwide is very exciting,“ said Itzik Wulkan, NovelSat CEO. “And being a part of the first 4K resolution satellite broadcast of full World Cup games is like being a part of history. We fully expect NovelSat satellite transmission solutions to play a role in making 4K the worldwide broadcast standard.”
Using NovelSat NS100 Modulators, the EBU successfully distributed high-quality live HD signals of all 64 games from 12 different stadiums to their rights holders. Using the same NovelSat equipment for the 4K transmission of the final games both reduced the complexity of the total broadcast operation in Brazil and helped The EBU to better control the cost of their satellite bandwidth requirements.
“The EBU is always on the lookout for ways to innovate and delight our customers,” said Paolo Pusterla, Head of Procurement & Partnerships at EBU Network. “The satellite bandwidth costs of broadcasting full World Cup games in 4K posed a particular challenge and NovelSat proved to be the right solution, especially since the equipment was already a part of our satellite network.”
NovelSat NS3 also supports 8K video channels when broadcasters and digital cinema distribution customers choose to shift to that standard down the road.