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ASTRA to Upgrade its Network with Harmonic

By Nathesh, TMCnet Contributing Editor

Harmonic (News - Alert) has stated that ASTRA Platform services have selected them for their network upgrade. ASTRA will be using Harmonic’s DiviCom Electra 7000 high definition (HD) encoders and DiviTrackIP statistical multiplexing to substantially enhance and expand its HD MPEG-4 AVC (H.264) service.

 

Harmonic is a provider of video solutions that enable service providers to efficiently deliver the next generation of broadcast and on-demand services including high definition, video-on-demand, network personal video recording and time-shifted TV.

 

ASTRA Platform Services GmbH (APS), a subsidiary of SES (News - Alert) ASTRA, operates broadcasting centers in Europe, providing services including digital archiving, multiplexing, satellite uplinks and internet streaming to broadcasters.

 

Harmonic has stated that its high performance encoding and IP-based statistical multiplexing solutions can enable APS to combine multiple MPEG-4 AVC HD channels in a single pool, resulting in more efficient use of network capacity and reduced operational complexity.

 

ASTRA will also gain greater flexibility and scalability in its channel line up because it can provide both SD and HD channels via a shared statistical multiplex pool.

 

"Over the years, Harmonic has been a valued solution provider for our standard definition TV infrastructure, and has also helped us to increase the performance and availability of our digital television service," said Jorg Eich, vice president, APS. "In 2005, APS achieved a key milestone in the rollout of HDTV in Germany, and we completed a rigorous selection process for the HD service upgrade. Harmonic continues to demonstrate that they are able to provide very flexible high performance solutions, which can be seamlessly integrated into our infrastructure."

 

"APS is a pioneer in satellite broadcast services in Europe and we are proud to be able to now also supply them with the latest in HD MPEG-4 technology," said Jean-Christophe Morizur, director of digital video product marketing for Harmonic.

 

"Harmonic has been advancing the state of the art in video technologies for twenty years. Our IP-based DiviCom Electra encoders are preferred by leading service providers around the world, and today power nearly 1,800 HD H.264 channels. The Electra 7000 HD encoder offers uncompromised HD video quality at ultra-low bit-rates, enabling customers such as APS to seamlessly upgrade their networks, expand channel capacity, and deliver the best in HD television to their clients,” added Morizur.

 

The Electra 7000 encoder is said to deliver up to four channels of full resolution video alongside four simultaneous low resolution outputs for applications such as picture-in-picture and multi-channel mosaics. DiviTrackIP is a distributed statistical multiplexing solution that can offer operators more flexibility and reduces operational expenditures while further enhancing compression efficiency.

 

Harmonic claims that by making use of its design efficient platform considerable rack space is saved and power consumption and costs are lowered.

 

 

Nathesh is a contributing editor for TMCnet. To read more of Nathesh’s articles, please visit his columnist page.

 

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