Turkish pay-TV platform DigiTürk has launched an Ultra HD (4K) demonstration channel as part of a partnership with Eutelsat Communications.
The transmission on Eutelsat 7A (7 degrees East) is the first time that a 4K broadcast has been shown in Turkey.
Intial broadcasts took place on April 2 at Digitürk’s headquarters in Besiktas.
“Eutelsat is proud to be Digitürk’s chosen digital satellite partner for almost 15 years and to embark on this new venture in 4K broadcasting,” said Ali Korur, Eutelsat’s Turkey, Middle East and Africa manager. “Supporting the broadcast industry along its continuing path of innovation is a core part of our DNA. It was in this spirit that we launched demonstration HD and 3D channels as these formats and ecosystems took shape, and the same spirit is driving this new initiative.”
Emre Uysal, Digitürk’s product development and broadcasting systems operations manager, says that the establishment of the standards and infrastructure for 4K are now actively underway, underlining that Digiturk has the infrastructure and service capabilities required for 4K. “We have 4K capability as of now and aim to be ready for commercial broadcasts once standards of this ecosystem are finalised and consumer equipment is available in the market. This demonstration channel gives us a powerful platform to show the vivid experience afforded by Ultra HD and will enable us to build the broadcasting chain from content production to home viewing.”
In January, Eutelsat launched Europe’s first 4K test channel using capacity on its Eutelsat 10A craft.
