Euro football championship destined for HD

Alfacam, the Belgian high-definition TV facilities company, EVS Broadcast Equipment and SES ASTRA, the leader for DTH satellite applications, are collaborating with VIASAT - TV3, the Norwegian broadcaster, in the production and transmission of Live HDTV sport content to electronic cinemas in Denmark and Norway.
Alfacam's HDTV teams captured the European Championship qualifying match Denmark versus Norway in Copenhagen. The game was shot by means of 19 HD cameras and live replays with highlight editing was performed using eight networked HD LSM-XTs. The HD feeds were uplinked via the SES ASTRA 3A satellite. These HD transmissions were received by a number of selected electronic cinemas in Copenhagen in Denmark and Bergen in Norway where the match was displayed on 12-metre screens using HD projectors.
Gabriel Fehervari, General Manager of Alfacam, comments: "The live HD transmission on June 7 to several European e-cinemas was the first official test case for Euro1080, the first European HDTV channel that goes on air on January 1, 2004.
“This new channel will broadcast exclusively in high definition, and offer high-quality programs on music, sports, shows, cultural events, and documentaries. It actually consists of two channels: the Main Channel serving European households, and the Event Channel, providing special event programs, such as the football match in Copenhagen this weekend, to e-cinemas. This formula proves to be a real success: the demand for tickets in the Scandinavian e-cinemas was tenfold of what we had available. We are convinced that Europe is ready for HDTV."
Another seven LSM's, most of which were recording Supermotion footage, were deployed for the parallel and independent standard Definition (SD) production path. The internal down converters of the HD LSM-XTs, however, conveniently provided additional angles to the standard broadcast production.
HDTV is a reality at EVS for a while already, selling not only HDTV sports systems in the US, Japan, Korea and Australia but also with HD play-out solutions in those countries. This weekends' experience clearly illustrates the potential of HDTV in Europe in general and more specifically as alternative content for cinemas.
For more information visit www.euro1080.tv/ or www.alfacam.com.
(SP)