SPECIAL
SATELLITE 2015
Away from 4K Ultra HD , satellite remains a key content delivery platform in Asia-Pacific , including the delivery of DTH ( direct-tohome ) services .
The artist ’ s impression of the Measat-3b satellite shown here will form part of the Measat-3 satellite constellation , designed to create the strongest DTH orbital slot in Asia-Pacific .
Asia-Pacific to lead in UHDTV adoption ? In addition to 4K UHD broadcasting , it has been well documented that Japan is pushing ahead with plans to broadcast the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio in 8K , on its way to providing 8K broadcasting services by the time the Olympic Games arrives in Tokyo in 2020 .
4K UHD has clearly arrived in Japan . However , should Japan be seen as the exception rather than the rule , or an indication that 4K UHD is indeed preparing to land on more Asian shores ?
4K UHD is progressing on a faster trajectory than first projected , particularly within the Asia-Pacific region , declared Peter Ostapiuk , vice-president , Media Product Management , Intelsat . “ As is common for cutting-edge consumer trends , all eyes are on Asia [ for 4K UHD ],” he said .
And it would appear Intelsat ’ s optimism for 4K UHD in Asia-Pacific is backed up by some of the leading global media executives . In Intelsat ’ s September 2014 survey 4K UHDTV : Adoption and Business Models , 63 % of the survey respondents believe that 4K UHDTV will be mainstream in five to seven years , while 85 % expect 4K UHDTV programming to become the de facto norm for media viewing in 10 years ’ time .
Crucially , in terms of region adoption , Asia-Pacific and North America are expected to lead the pack , with 47 % of respondents expecting 4K UHDTV to gain momentum in Asia , followed by North America ( 34 %).
Asia should be at the forefront of 4K UHDTV sets sales in the initial development phase of the format , argued Dimitri Buchs , consultant at Euroconsult .
This , Buchs explained , can be mainly linked to the fact that most TV households in mature markets are already equipped with HD screens and therefore will “ wait a few years ” before buying a new TV screen .
He added : “ Asia , led by China , is currently the leading region in terms of UHDTV households , with the region expected to maintain its leading position in coming years ... If prices of UHD screens continue to drop , it is possible that many countries outside of China , where HD penetration remain lows , will move directly from SD programming to 4K UHD without passing through the HD phase .
“ This could notably be the case of Thailand and India .”
And should these predictions come to fruition , satellite is strongly positioned to play a key enabling role from a ubiquity , cost and network flexibility standpoint , said Intelsat ’ s Ostapiuk .
He added : “ Satellite will play a particularly important role in the delivery of 4K UHDTV content via push-VoD ( video-on-demand ) for DTH . This method is secure , highly reliable , of high quality and can extend to the most remote regions of the world .”
Other satellite service providers appear to be equally bullish about the prospects of 4K UHD over satellite in Asia . At CommunicAsia2014 in Singapore , Measat , working with satellite equipment and technologies provider Newtec , demonstrated a satellite transmission of 4K UHD video distributed using the new DVB-S2X standard .
Published in February 2014 , DVB-S2X standard is expected to achieve efficiency gains of up to 51 % for professional applications and up to 20 % for DTH — in comparison with its predecessor , DVB-S2 . Alongside other emerging technologies such as HEVC ( High Efficiency Video Coding )/ H . 265 , DVB-S2X is expected to be key in addressing the bandwidth issues — or the lack of bandwidth , to be exact — that are likely to arise from the delivery of 4K UHD content .
Technologically , the satellite industry is already well positioned for UHDTV , according to Jarod Lopez , vicepresident , Broadcast Sales , Measat Satellite Systems .
Lopez believes that economic factors and consumer demand will likely have a greater influence on how fast UHDTV takes off in Asia-Pacific . He advised : “ As with HDTV , the media industry will have to decide on the best business model for UHDTV . A number of content owners have already begun producing UHDTV content which should accelerate the take-up of UHDTV content in the region .”
Ken Loke , CEO of Eutelsat Asia , agreed that content production is a critical success factor for 4K UHD . He cited Netflix ’ s production of 4K UHD content as a motivating factor for other content producers to follow suit .
Although at an early stage from a commercial perspective , the UHD ecosystem is “ rapidly taking shape ,” declared Loke , who reiterated Eutelsat ’ s commitment to advancing 4K UHD .
Also at CommunicAsia2014 , Eutelsat set up a 4K UHD demonstration using the Eutelsat 70B satellite , highlighting the newest phase of the company ’ s 4K UHDTV development to Asia ’ s broadcast community .
Loke said : “ Satellites will be the primary platforms for UHD delivery , leveraging their cost-efficiency for delivering high throughput to millions of users , with low bandwidth costs . Up to two UHD channels in MPEG-4 using HEVC compression can be carried on a standard 36MHz transponder .”
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Supplement
Satellite still a key content delivery platform in Asia-Pacific
As already discussed , content could hold the key to the widespread adoption of 4K UHD . Going back to the Intelsat survey , a majority ( 82 %) of respondents cited the availability of mass 4K UHDTV content as critical to the acceleration of widespread adoption .
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