Advanced Television

TDF trials third UHD pilot channel

December 14, 2018

From Pascale Paoli-Lebailly in Paris

French TV transmission services company TDF is launching a third pilot channel as part of UHD trials that are taking place in Paris area and the cities of Nantes and Toulouse, in partnership with TV regulatory body CSA. The new channel complements the two previous demo channels which have been operated since 2014.

TDF is using the trial to check the capacity to broadcast three UHD/HEVC channels within the same multiplex. The experiment, which aims to modernise the DTT platform ahead of the Paris Olympic Games in 2024, will also test the interoperability of various types of feeds (UHD, upgraded HD, UHD/HD in parallel) from image capture to TV broadcast.

Video delivery solutions specialist ATEME is handling the enhanced digital images compression that have been made possible by the improvements brought about by the HEVC standard. “The necessary speed for the multiplex has been reduced from 40 Mbits/s to 33 Mbits/s,” says TDF. “After a recent trial with group NRJ, other media partners should take part into the testing with native UHD feeds.”

Categories: Articles, DTT/DSO, Equipment, FTA, Production, UHD, Ultra-HD/4K