Screen capture of an NSSLGlobal broadcast using bonded HDR. Photo: NSSLGlobal

[Via Satellite 06-30-2016] NSSLGlobal has recently worked with the BBC to enable a series of live “bonded HDR” (High Data Rate) satellite television broadcasts from on board M.V. Aquarius, a Nongovernmental Organization (NGO) vessel in the Mediterranean Sea. A morning broadcast on May 13, 2016, and subsequent news bulletins throughout the day, featured an eight-minute segment live from the vessel as it rescued migrants making the perilous crossing from Libya to the coastline of the European Union.

According to NSSLGlobal, HDR video services typically transmit at around 650 to 700kbps, but by bonding two portable Broadband Global Area Network (BGAN) Explorer 710 satellite terminals, the company could deliver double the normal HDR bandwidth for this transmission, using Inmarsat’s satellite network. The extra bandwidth allows for the transmission of sharper images, and can also accommodate the higher data throughput of highly dynamic images such as moving backgrounds or extremely active scenes.

In March 2015 NSSLGlobal enabled its first live bonded HDR broadcast as part of a comic relief segment on “The One Show” that featured Lenny Henry live from Uganda. In 2013 the company also helped deliver its first-ever HDR television broadcast live from South Africa, as part of the coverage surrounding Nelson Mandela’s death. NSSLGlobal plans to make bonded HDR available as a product via its website, allowing broadcasters and other organizations to easily set up high-bandwidth satellite feeds of this kind.