New Ultra HD content from SPI International and Anixe has provided Eutelsat with an ANGA COM boost.
SPI International will be previewing its 4K FunBox UHD ahead on the HOT BIRD 4K1 channel, ahead of a full commercial launch on the Eutelsat Hot Bird (13 degrees East) later this year.
The two channels are now broadcasting on Hot Bird 4K1 and will do so for the duration of the German trade fair (Cologne June 9 to 11). Assuming a suitable demodulator and HEVC decoder is installed, it will be possible to view the channels across Europe, the Middle East and North Africa.
SPI International previews “4K FunBox UHD” Ultra HD channel in advance of commercial launch at Eutelsat’s HOT BIRD position
For SPI International, the demo represents the first preview of native Ultra HD content to be shown by 4K FunBox UHD.The channel is targeting Germany and other international markets.
“With 4K FunBox UHD viewers will be able to experience more nuance, faster frame rates, exceptional contrast dynamics and extended colours,” says Berk Uziyel, Executive Director of Filmbox International Ltd..
“In addition to wildlife documentaries, some of the eye-popping content we are showing includes the San Francisco skyline, an amazing study of cloud movements and skylight as well as the Ultra HD footage of Asian cities by night. We are also planning to add sports programming and musical events, all in 4K quality,” he adds.
Anixe HD Television has also selected Anga Com to air 15 minutes of exclusive Ultra HD content on “Hot Bird 4K1”. The footage includes extracts of lifestyle and documentary magazines, a cooking show, a cinema magazine and spectacular outdoor productions filmed with Ultra HD cameras.
“We see strong evidence of a vibrant Ultra HD environment taking shape, including an array of Ultra HD TV panel producers, broadcasting expertise by operators such as Eutelsat, a competitive price-performance ratio of 4K scanners and video camera, and potential for TV advertising. With the new measuring method developed by Smart TV Data and accepted by TV consumers we now have a solid base to work on from the first day of our venture into Ultra HD,” said Emanouil Lapidakis, managing director of Anixe HD Television.
12 months ago Eutelsat ran a highly successful collaboration with Red Bull TV. The satellite operator’s test channel has become a focal point for the industry.
Hot Bird 4K1 was launched in May 2014 as Europe’s first channel encoded in HEVC (High Efficiency Video Encoding) and broadcasting at 50 frames per second with 10-bit colour depth.
