© 2005 FAV Inc.

HD Distribution:The Reality of Codec Compatibility

Marie Josée Drouinmj@favnet.net

05/05/24

2/9

Agenda• Pool Feed Set-ups

• Specifications

• Preparation

• Technical Results

• Going forward

3/9

Special Event over Satellite

HD Production Van Uplink to Satellite

Pool Feed

Takers

4/9

Special Event over Integrated Network

HD Production VanUplink to Satellite

Fiber Terrestrial Network Pool Feed

Takers

5/9

Specifications – Set-up• HD SDI with 4 embedded audio

channels• 1920x1080i• Compression MPEG2 MP@HL (4:2:0)• Video Bit rate ~ 36 Mbps• Musicam audio• Standard GOP

– Length = 9, Structure = IBBP• Standard RF Set-up

– Reed-Solomon, QPSK, FEC ¾

6/9

Preparation• Broadcasters and HD

decoders• Encoder/decoder compatibility

testing• Pre-show testing• SD backup

7/9

Technical Results• Surprising compatibility of encoders/decoders• Standard set-ups work well• Typical RX chain RF problems (full

transponder digital signal)– PLL,– Interference,– Rain fade, and– Faulty RX chains

• HD/SD decoder confusion• Several broadcasters without encoders and

simply turning 19 Mbps around

8/9

Specifications - Hardware• Encoder

– Tandberg• Decoders

– Motorola– Sencore– Harris– Tandberg– Tiernan– KTech

9/9

Going Forward with HD• Necessity of purchasing DVB-ASI

or SDTI compatible equipment• More complex encoding set-ups• Video on Servers: File

compatibility and inter-operability between vendors

• Questions?