[SatNews] SES S.A. (NYSE Euronext Paris and Luxembourg Stock Exchange: SESG) has launched their first Ultra HD (UHD) demonstration channel serving the North American television market.

Artistic rendition of the SES-3 satellite.

The demonstration channel, broadcast via SES-3 at 103 degrees West, will enable cable operators to prepare and test their networks for Ultra HD trials. The SES-3 satellite provides broad coverage over the North America market, ideally positioned to deliver live and linear Ultra HD to cable networks. With three UHD demo channels already available across Europe—broadcast at 19.2 degrees East, 28.2 East and 5 degrees East, SES extends its global leadership in HD and UHD delivery with this new channel in North America.

SES initiated the new UHD demo channel in response to strong cable operator demand following its highly successful demonstration of the first-ever, live and linear, Ultra HD broadcasts to cable systems at the NAB and INTX conferences earlier this spring. The milestone Ultra HD broadcasts were enabled by SES’s Ultra-HD-ready linear content delivery network, which is used to transmit the UHD demo channel. The camera-to-screen ecosystem is built on satellite’s inherent broadcast advantages coupled with the multicasting capability of DOCSIS 3.0, the most advanced transmission standard that is used by most cable systems today.

Executive Comment

“This new SES Ultra HD demo channel is playing an important role in accelerating the successful delivery of Ultra HD to cable homes across North America,” explained Steve Corda, Vice President of Business Development for SES in North America. “Cable operators and content distributors can now begin to prepare their systems and test their networks for Ultra HD delivery, leading into major trials this summer,” Corda said, noting the Ultra HD demo channel is expected to reach cable subscribers’ homes later this year.