The AsiaSat 4 satellite’s C-band footprint. Photo: AsiaSat

[Via Satellite 06-02-2015] AsiaSat is planning to deploy a dedicated Ultra-HD broadcast platform in the next few months, starting with a C-band transponder on the AsiaSat 4 satellite at 122 degrees east. The platform will be able to deliver two to five full time Ultra-HD channels, which will be transmitted Free-to-Air (FTA). Terrestrial TV stations, pay-TV platforms and home viewers across Asia will have means to receive the channels with the right decoding equipment and a C-band antenna as small as 2.4 meters.

AsiaSat is working with the UHD Research Laboratory, set up at the operator’s Tai Po Earth station in Hong Kong, to incubate the reception of Ultra-HD content within AsiaSat’s footprint. The lab is tasked with evaluating solutions including the technical compatibility of satellite reception and transmission, playout and compression technologies, as well as content providers. Over the past few months the lab successfully conducted tests using various High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) equipment, including off-air and real-time transcoding of channels at various bit rates. AsiaSat’s Ultra-HD platform is based on Digital-Video Broadcast-Satellite Second Generation (DVB-S2) and HEVC solutions.