Chinese Television System Taps Harmonic for Live HD, UHD Coverage of Summer Universiade

Harmonic has announced that Chinese Television System (CTS) will use a comprehensive video contribution and distribution (C&D) solution from Harmonic during the 29th Summer Universiade, Aug. 19-30, in Taipei, Taiwan. The Universiade is organized by the International University Sports Federation (FISU) as a worldwide multi-sports event for university athletes. Harmonic is providing CTS with a complete solution for transmitting live HD video content, as well as HEVC-encoded UHD during the grand opening and closing ceremonies, from the various sports stadiums and facilities in Taipei back to its international broadcast center for IP network distribution to television stations, with ultra-low latency transmission.
“The Universiade is one of the highest-profile international sporting events. Given the extensiveness of the event, in terms of number of competitions and participating countries, it is imperative that we have a reliable solution for delivering high-quality live video coverage,” says Joe Lee, deputy manager at CTS. “Harmonic’s solutions support our entire workflow — from content reception and decoding to encoding and delivery over IP networks — ensuring pristine video quality and no delay.”

Globally, UHD TVs will reach 102.8 million units by 2020, with Asia-Pacific representing the largest market, according to Global Industry Analysts. Harmonic’s C&D solution enables CTS to capture crystal-clear video at the front end of the broadcast chain and deliver an immersive UHD experience with high-resolution and high-frame rate technology.

CTS is using a complete C&D workflow solution from Harmonic that includes ViBE CP3000 contribution encoders, ViBE CP6000 contribution platforms, ViBE 4K UHD encoders, and ProView integrated receiver-decoders (IRDs). Harmonic’s solution supports HEVC UHD and AVC HD 4:2:2 10-bit compression and decompression, resulting in a low-latency, ultra-low delay contribution workflow for CTS, with nearly lossless video quality.

“Delivering live sports events in UHD transforms the viewing experience, keeping consumers happy and watching longer,” says Tony Berthaud, vice president of sales, APAC, at Harmonic. “Harmonic provides the most complete and innovative solution for contribution and distribution, enabling Chinese Television System to provide an unrivaled user experience by delivering low-latency coverage of the Universiade in stunning HD and UHD formats.”

Harmonic will showcase its market-leading portfolio of video delivery solutions at IBC in Amsterdam, Sept. 15-19, on stand 1B20.