BT Displays Future Of Broadcasting At This Year's IBC

BT's Media & Broadcast division is exhibiting exciting developments in next-generation broadcast technologies at this year's IBC.

The team will display their latest capabilities by broadcasting a number of sporting events, showcasing demos and hosting panel sessions with experts for attendees to enjoy.

To kick off proceedings on Saturday, BT will live broadcast an Aviva Rugby Championship match in UHD, using the latest High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) equipment from NTT Electronics, supplied by their UK partner, Garland. HEVC equipment provides exceptionally high quality and bandwidth efficient video performance. NTT's solution offers additional benefits such as 100 milliseconds low latency, High Dynamic Range (HDR) and support for Dolby.

The company will also demo visually lossless UHD contribution, using Imagine Communications' equipment, with IntoPIX TICO mezzanine compression. This demo will show how live UHD feeds from Premier League stadiums can be transported to production hubs, without compromising picture quality. BT's bespoke fibre cabinets were built specifically to provide the bandwidth required for these high quality transmissions and will be on display at the BT stand. Experts will be on hand to also demonstrate how the cabinets can be monitored and controlled remotely.

The company is also hosting a series of panel sessions on their stand, starting with a discussion on the future of outside broadcasting. Speakers from IMG Worldwide and Premier League Productions will discuss how BT's terabit next-generation fibre based contribution network is enabling them to further innovate and enhance their offering overseas to broadcasters of the Premier League.

On Sunday, speakers from the BBC, Cisco and Nevion will also gather to discuss the broadcaster's new all-IP broadcast network, which was delivered by a team of over a thousand engineers over the last eighteen months. The new network will deliver considerable savings and pave the way for future digital innovation for the BBC.

The BT team will also share insights on broadcasting the 2017 UEFA Champions League Final using HDR technology in UHD with Dolby Atmos sound and using virtual reality.

Register your interest to attend at: www.mediaandbroadcast.bt.com/ibc2017.

BT's stand is O.D02.

This article also features in the September edition of Broadcast Film & Video.

(JP)