A roundup of vendor and operator news from around the globe. Today's edition includes Europe, Asia and South America.
Germany
ZDF: For the transition to DVB-T2 HD, ZDF, a public broadcaster in Germany, selected the Rohde & Schwarz AVHE100 encoding and multiplexing solution with HEVC technology from Fraunhofer HHI for its headend implementation. The transition to DVB-T2, including switching off DVB-T, was accomplished in just one night.
The Rohde & Schwarz system handles the central signal processing as well as encoding and multiplexing for the new DVB-T2 network. The system provides real-time HEVC encoding of resolutions up to 4K/UltraHD at up to 60 frames per second. The integrated HEVC encoder was developed by the Fraunhofer Heinrich Hertz Institute HHI. The R&S AVHE100 is a software-based encoding and multiplexing solution that runs on standard IT components.
Telekom: Accedo is working with Telekom in Germany to launch a mass-market virtual reality (VR) experience for live concerts. Magenta Musik 360 launched on June 2 with live video streaming in VR from the Rock am Ring music festival. Telekom delivered VR content from multiple stages, with bands performing simultaneously. Magenta Musik 360 is available across a range of devices, including Samsung Gear VR, Android and iOS phones and tablets as well as a responsive website.
It is being delivered using Accedo's AppGrid cloud-based video experience management platform. Magenta Musik 360 will be extended to more devices, platforms and types of music events in the future.
Japan
At the Cable Tech Show 2017 in Japan, Harmonic (NASDAQ:HLIT) will demonstrate its software-based solutions for broadcast and OTT video up to UltraHD-HDR at low bitrates.
Demonstrations will include the cloud-native VOS Cloud media processing application and VOS 360 software-as-a-service (SaaS) solution, EyeQ video compression solution, and Harmonic's end-to-end solution for live and on-demand UltraHD-HDR applications.
Chile
Chilean telecommunications company GTD is the latest major TV operator to deploy Amino's ENABLE virtual set-top box software platform. GTD is using the technology to upgrade its set-tops and provide a unified user interface across its customer base, while extending the lifespan of its legacy devices. Amino ENABLE is intended to help TV operators to migrate to an all IP/cloud infrastructure by "upcycling" existing set-top boxes.
GTD Manquehue, a subsidiary of the Grupo GTD, offers fixed-line and pay TV in and around capital, Santiago. The company, which has a 20,000-kilometer fiber network, also controls Telsur, covering Chile's south with IPTV, voice and Internet service.