NASA has launched a new Ultra HD channel, which was produced by video delivery infrastructure provider Harmonic and will be distributed by Luxembourg-based satellite operator SES S.A.
Following its September White Paper on the exponential growth it anticipated for the Ultra HD movement, SES S.A. today announced it will be providing the US government space agency NASA with the first Ultra HD (UHD) ecosystem capable of providing cable systems with linear live UHD content.
This Ultra HD platform was first unveiled by SES together with Harmonic at April's NAB Conference, which was followed by cable operator trials of the plug-and-play service as well as the launch of North America's first Ultra HD demonstration channels.
"Our three satellites at the foundation of SES’s North America Ultra HD platform enable the programmers to potentially reach more than 100 million U.S. television homes through virtually every cable TV, IPTV and direct-to-home provider across the region," explained Steve Corda, Vice President of business development for SES in North America.
He continued: "Armstrong is currently undergoing trials across their cable plant, and other operators are receiving our Ultra HD channel feeds over SES satellites and will undoubtedly be very excited to add NASA’s UHD channel to their viewing line-ups."
"SES has been a driving force towards making Ultra HD channels available to the millions of households that now own and will own Ultra HD TVs," added CMO of Harmonic, Peter Alexander. "Together we can drastically reduce the time to market and total-cost-for-ownership (TCO) for UHD rollout, with the amazing video experience that comes from this exciting new format."
The new UHD channel is due to be launched on 1 November 2015.
