ARCTEK Blazes New Territory Transmitting Super Bowl in HD to SKY Sports London

ARCTEK Satellite Productions, LLC, has upgraded its Tandberg encoders and decoders to DVB-S2. The modulation scheme allowed SKY Sports London to transmit two HD signals on half the bandwidth for its pre-game show from the Super Bowl in Glendale, Ariz. last month.

"By transmitting DVB-S2 at 8PSK we were able to cut the amount of satellite bandwidth needed in half," said Brian Stanley, ARCTEK partner and vice president of sales and operations. "This could have a positive economic impact on HD satellite transmission as users become more familiar with the technology. We know of at least one network news organization already testing DVB-S2."  

ARCTEK believes that the additional cost of satellite space for HD has prevented network and local news operations from doing more HD live shots.

"SKY had two Sony 900 HD cameras in the stadium for its pre-game show," said Shawn Erickson, ARCTEK partner and vice president of production. ARCTEK's job was to transmit two separate feeds so SKY could switch its own show from London. "The cool part was SKY wanted to transmit HD in the DVB-S2 modulation scheme. We took the challenge and upgraded our ARCTEK Red KU HD truck to be DVB-S2 capable. After some testing with London, we were heading to Arizona," continued Erickson. "It was a honor to be called upon to broadcast such a high-profile event."

ARCTEK RED, the company's KU HD transmission vehicle, transmitted two 15-megabit channels for SKY's pre-game show. Path one was a talent camera, and path two was a beauty shot with both cameras inter-cut with the FOX HD world feed. ARCTEK upgraded its Tandberg 5788 encoders and Tandberg receivers to be able to transmit and receive the DVB-S2 HD signals. 

"Using 15 megabits of satellite space, we were able to transmit more than 40 megabits of data. If we were to do DVBS, we would have needed 36 megabits of satellite bandwidth," said Stanley.

"SKY's plan for implementing this type of show required the services of an uplink truck equipped with  DVB-S2, encoders and converters," said Millie Coffey, president of KamalaMillie, Inc., a domestic production coordination firm hired by SKY to manage all aspects of its Super Bowl coverage. "In addition to housing the equipment," Coffey continued. "It was necessary to hire an engineer with vast experience in and knowledge of the DVB-S2, (a technology rarely used with dual path in the US). Thank you ARCTEK, for being that company we needed and relied on to put together a show that was technically sound and managed by an engineer whose performance was clearly indicative of the quality service ARCTEK offered and clearly provided. Without a shadow of a doubt, ARCTEK has set a benchmark for all to notice and beat."

To learn more about DVB-S2, download the white paper from www.arcteksat.com.