The label given to the World Cup in Russia is that it is the pinnacle of 4K broadcasting to date, but Brazilian broadcaster Globo, in association with Intelsat, has gone one step further with trials of live 8K video transmissions in its domestic market.
Over the course of the tournament, content will be broadcast as part of an exhibition at the Museu de Amanhã, Rio de Janeiro’s renown science museum.
The 8K 7680 x 4320-pixel signal will be transmitted as a 200 Mbps video stream at the International Broadcast Centre in Moscow and transported to Tokyo. It will then be carried to Intelsat via the Intelsat point of presence in New York. The signal will be transmitted on the IntelsatOne terrestrial network to Intelsat’s teleport in Atlanta, Georgia, where it will then be re-encoded at 90 Mbps using a dedicated NTT 8K HEVC real-time encoder.
Once the video is compressed, it will be modulated by a Newtec MDM-6100 modem in DVB-S2 and then uplinked to Intelsat 14, the company’s emerging HD video neighbourhood in Latin America which already distributes high-definition and 4K content distribution to companies such as Globo.
“From HD to 4K and now 8K, Intelsat 14 is the premier, new neighbourhood to ensure that viewers across Latin America have access to affordable, exciting, and breatht-aking content that provides them with the most immersive viewing experience for premier sporting and entertainment events,” said Rob Cerbone, Intelsat vice president and general manager, media.
“While 8K technology is still evolving and further advancements in compression technology standards are needed, Intelsat’s premier video neighbourhoods have proven that they are equipped to distribute 8K content to millions of viewers around the world. Since our founding, Intelsat’s satellite solutions have been at the forefront of innovation when it comes to content distribution and with this 8K demo, fans will be able to experience the match as if they are on the field with their favourite players.”