Harris (a global expert in video processing) has announced that the global satellite operator Eutelsat has chosen Harris's ProStream®1000 and ACE® streaming and transcoding solutions to optimize bandwidth allocation for its Direct-to-Home (DTH) services in Africa. Utilizing the highly scalable and ultra-dense ProStream platform, Eutelsat has implemented dual illumination of DVB-S/MPEG-2 and DVB-S2/MPEG-4 video content, significantly enhancing satellite capacity and delivering DTH services, as well as providing exceptional video quality to users.
"The main goal of this project is to leverage the bandwidth efficiency provided by MPEG-4 while ensuring that the quality of service for our customers remains unchanged," said Jerome, head of the Platform Engineering and Operations team at Eutelsat. "The ACE transcoder ProStream 1000 delivers outstanding video quality at extremely low bitrates, allowing us to offer more channels at more competitive prices."
ProStream 1000, ACE solution maximizes Eutelsat's bandwidth efficiency, providing video and audio transcoding for up to 20 HD or 60 SD channels from a single rack unit. This solution also features ASI-IP multiplexing, scrambling, and seamless integration with existing front-end systems, including the Harri PVR™7000 integrated receiver decoder (IRD). The advanced DiviTrack™ statistical multiplexing pool provided by the ProStream solution allows for 16 code conversion channels across 64 channels, enabling Eutelsat to deliver optimal video quality with the lowest possible total bandwidth using statistical multiplexing technology. With the ProStream 1000 ACE solution, significant bandwidth savings enable the European Communication Satellite Organization to support more than double the channels per satellite transponder. The high-density platform reduces capital and operational expenditures by minimizing rack space and energy consumption, using only 10 watts per HD channel and less than 3 watts per SD channel. Through its scalable architecture, the ProStream solution offers the European Communication Satellite Organization the flexibility to support more channels and value-added services, such as future multi-screen capabilities, to meet the demands of its growing customer base.
"Harris has successfully implemented numerous DTH deployments across Africa and around the world. The bandwidth issues influenced by Eutelsat and the innovative dual illumination project have provided us with a unique perspective," said Ian Graham, Vice President of Sales for Harris EMEA. "By leveraging our market-leading MPEG-2/MPEG-4 encoding and transcoding solutions, the European Telecommunications Satellite Organization can economically and effectively deliver improved video quality and an increased quantity of digital video services to customers."