Eutelsat Communications and V-Nova Ltd. are unveiling in IBC 2017 a new HD contribution solution that promises broadcasters and video service providers a back-up to fibre in terms of quality and bandwidth-efficiency.

The new solution leverages V-Nova’s Perseus Pro technology in order to replicate typical fibre-based video contribution links, including full-colour resolution and individual frame compression, and combines them with satellite delivery that the company claims, contributes to ubiquity and flexibility. This allows broadcasters to contribute studio-quality feeds to maintain quality and also to benefit from editing capabilities from any location. These features are combined with compression that enables 80 Mbps of HD 4:2:2 10 bit video feeds to be uplinked by off-the-shelf flyaway antennas and routed through a standard 36 MHz transponder on Eutelsat’s global satellite fleet.

Using broadcast industry metrics and with independent third-party support, Eutelsat and V-Nova have completed a quality assessment of Perseus Pro via Eutelsat satellite capacity versus reference compression standards normally used via fibre. The assessment validated, the companies claim, the quality of Perseus versus legacy contribution codecs at rates typical of satellite delivery, completing previous assessments which had demonstrated an average 30% bandwidth gain of Perseus Pro versus JPEG2000.

Commenting on the value to the broadcast industry, Michel Azibert, Eutelsat Chief Commercial and Development Officer, said: “The innovation we are presenting at IBC this week with V-Nova gives broadcasters and video service providers a true alternative to fibre and ensures that no compromises need be taken for studio-quality HD contribution of premium sports, cultural and news events.”

Lauding the collaboration, Guido Meardi, CEO and Co-Founder of V-Nova, said: “I am delighted to see the results of the hard work of our combined teams, following the coverage of UEFA Euro 2016 and the extensive tests of the past year. This solution proves that our compression technology, Perseus, is a truly cross-media codec, bringing tangible benefits across multiple markets including satellite contribution.”