World Cup 2018 has become a showcase for 4K, as several MVPDs are offering tournament matches in that format.
RELATED: World Cup 2018 Sets Stage for Video Tech Showcase
However, Intelsat and Latin American broadcaster Globo will be taking it up a notch by demonstrating live 8K video transmissions during the big soccer tourney.
Starting today through July 15, the companies will work together on an 8K exhibition at the Museu de Amanhã in Rio de Janeiro’s science museum, showing off signals that support 7680 x 4320 pixel resolution.
Altice USA Offering World Cup Matches in 4K
The demo signal, transmitted in a 200 Mbps video stream, will travel quite the route to its end destination at the demo site.
The signal initially will be generated at the International Broadcast Center in Moscow and be transported to Tokyo. From there, it will be carried to Intelsat via the company’s point of presence in New York and sent via the Intelsat One terrestrial network to the company’s teleport in Atlanta, where it will be re-encoded at 90 Mbps using a special NTT 8K HEVC encoder.
Once the video is compressed, it will be modulated by a Newtec MDM-6100 modem in DVB-S2 and uplinked to the Intelsat 14 satellite, a new video neighborhood for Latin America that specializes in HD and 4K content distribution.
The World Cup demo enters focus as 8K-capable displays just start to trickle into the market. According to a forecast from IHS Markit, just 1% of displays in the 60-inch and larger category will support 7680x4320 pixel resolution this year, and climb to 9% in 2020 and 19% by 2024.
RELATED: 2018 to Mark Starting Point for 8K Displays: IHS Markit
“While 8K technology is still evolving and further advancements in compression technology standards are needed, Intelsat’s premier video neighborhoods have proven that they are equipped to distribute 8K content to millions of viewers around the world,” Rob Cerbone, Intelsat’s VP and GM, media, said in a statement.
