European cultural channel Arte will transmit in Ultra HD on April 2, 2016 for the first time.
From 19.00 to 22.00 CET, the German-French broadcaster will screen the new choreography of classic opera Le Corsaire live from the Vienna State Opera.
The transmission will take place unencrypted via satellite on Astra (19.2° East) on showcase channel UHD1 by Astra/HD+ on the frequency 10.994 GHz H (SR 22,000, FEC 5/6) as well as on the two Eutelsat satellites Hot Bird (13° East) on showcase channel Hot Bird 4k1 on 10.727 GHz H (SR 30,000, FEC 3/4) and Eutelsat 5 West A (5° West) on Fransat Ultra HD on 11.634 GHz H (SR 29,950, FEC 3/4).
DTH satellite households across Europe can receive the broadcast using an Ultra HD/HEVC TV set.
In collaboration with German broadcast technology research institute IRT, Arte will also test an Ultra HD livestream through its app Arte HbbTV. A few days after the live transmission, the broadcast will be available on the app’s catch-up service for several weeks.
On the internet, the concert will be streamed live in HD quality on Arte’s music portal Arte Concert.
“The high resolution of Ultra HD emphasises the visual quality of the ballet. The sets, the dancers’ movements and their costumes look very vivid from every angle,” said Alain Le Diberder, programme director of ARTE. “With this pilot project, Arte underlines its position as an innovative broadcaster, delivering programmes in the highest quality available to a wide audience.”
