SES Launches North American Ultra-HD Demo Channel

Artist’s rendition of SES 3. Photo: SES

[Via Satellite 06-17-2015] SES has launched an Ultra-HD demonstration channel for North America from the SES 3 satellite. The channel is SES’ first Ultra-HD demo channel in the continent.

SES previously announced the channel at NAB in April. Broadcasting from 103 degrees west, the channel will enable cable operators to prepare and test their networks for Ultra-HD trials.

SES has three Ultra-HD demo channels across Europe, broadcasting at 19.2 degrees east, 28.2 east, and 5 degrees east. Compared to the company’s approach in Europe, SES plans to target cable operators more heavily to deliver live and linear Ultra-HD to their networks. The North American demo channel uses SES’ linear content delivery network and a camera-to-screen ecosystem, leveraging the multicasting capability of the DOCSIS 3.0 transmission standard that cable systems often use today. The Ultra-HD demo channel is expected to reach cable subscribers’ homes later this year.