Rendering of three satellites in the Eutelsat Hot Bird satellite group. Photo: Eutelsat

[Via Satellite 05-28-2014] Eutelsat launched a demonstration channel for Europe’s first High Efficiency Video Encoding (HEVC) ultra-HD broadcasting channel with a frame rate of 50 frames per second and a 10-bit color depth.

The channel was launched via Eutelsat’s Hot Bird video neighborhood, which provides Direct-to-Home (DTH) services to customers in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa. This channel will be the first that customers can receive directly using the newest 4K TV panels equipped with HEVC decoders and Second Generation Digital Video Broadcasting -Satellite (DVB S2) demodulators. Content for this ultra-HD channel includes portions of a performance of Monteverdi’s “Vespers” conducted by Sir John Eliot Gardiner in the Royal Chapel at Versailles.

“The launch of this new channel is another milestone taking us closer towards the commercial roll-out of 4K TV channels that will propel broadcasting into a new era,” said Michel Cabrol, director of marketing innovation and digital cinema at Eutelsat. “Immense progress has been made with partners in the broadcasting chain since the launch in January 2013 of the first demonstration ultra-HD channel on a Eutelsat satellite.”

Ateme was tasked with encoding the ultra-HD content.