Harmonic contribution and distribution solutions were deployed to facilitate the live broadcast of the 2010 FIFA World Cup by the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC), all of which reaches a fascinating and surprisingly Euro-centric conclusion this weekend.
The SABC selected Harmonic Ellipse™ 1000 contribution encoders, Electra® 8000 HD broadcast encoders and ProView™ integrated receiver/decoders (IRDs) along with Atecom’s ATM adaptors from local Harmonic partner Graphic Image Technologies (GIT). Harmonic and GIT were selected due to their video quality, scalability, support, integration and performance.
To bring the matches live to fans, an Electra 8000 dual-channel HD encoder and 12 Ellipse 1000 SD encoders, ProView 2900 SD IRDs and ProView 7000 HD decoders were seamlessly integrated through Atecom Falcon ATM units over the local Telco’s ATM network into SABC’s video infrastructure. The link-up facilitated networking the FIFA International Broadcast Centre (IBC) to the SABC’s Broadcasting Centre at the Sandton Convention Centre (SCC) and their master control room (MCR) in Auckland Park for final broadcast.
“We chose Harmonic to improve and power our broadcasts simply because the company, through its local partner GIT, provided a good quality, cost-effective, integrated and feature-rich video solution to meet our needs,” said David Wilson, Hi-Tech Manager TVOB at South African Broadcasting Corporation. “This latest deployment provided the added performance we needed to bring the World Cup matches, in good quality, to our viewers.”
“With Harmonic’s contribution and distribution solutions, we were able to offer SABC, the host broadcaster, a unique and integrated solution that further enhances scalability, improves performance and eases management of their video services,” said Mark Chertkow at Graphic Image Technologies, Harmonic’s local partner in South Africa. “With this deployment, SABC has expanded its use of Harmonic’s video delivery solutions and implemented an efficient solution for increasing its live event programming.”
