Harmonic Inc. Powers Live Broadcast of 2010 FIFA World Cup for South African Broadcasting Corporation

Strategic Insights -

The 2010 FIFA World Cup, a highly anticipated international soccer event, was broadcast live to fans around the world thanks in part to Harmonic Inc.'s cutting-edge contribution and distribution solutions. The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC), the official South African broadcaster of the FIFA World Cup, selected Harmonic's Ellipse 1000 contribution encoders, Electra 8000 HD broadcast encoders, and ProView integrated receiver/decoders (IRDs) to facilitate the live broadcast of the tournament. This deployment marked a significant milestone for Harmonic, as it showcased the company's ability to deliver high-quality video services to a global audience.

Key Takeaways:

  • Harmonic's Ellipse 1000 contribution encoders, Electra 8000 HD broadcast encoders, and ProView IRDs were deployed by the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) to facilitate the live broadcast of the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
  • The SABC selected Harmonic due to the company's video quality, scalability, support, integration, and performance.
  • The solution provided a good quality, cost-effective, integrated, and feature-rich video solution that met the SABC's needs.
  • The deployment enabled the SABC to offer its viewers high-quality video services for live event programming.
  • The Ellipse 1000 encoder is ideal for fixed contribution over IP and legacy ATM/PDH/SDH networks.
  • The ProView family of integrated receiver/decoders are broadcast-quality decoders, decryptors, and interface converters that provide MPEG-2 and AVC SD/HD decoding, advanced transport stream processing, and cutting-edge IP processing technologies.
  • Graphic Image Technologies (GIT), a specialist in broadcast video compression and transmission, was Harmonic's local partner in the deployment.
  • GIT provided Atecom's ATM adaptors which were used to integrate Harmonic's solutions with SABC's video infrastructure.
  • The solution was seamless and provided a unique and integrated solution that enhanced scalability, improved performance, and eased management of video services for SABC.

Statistics:

  • 10 stadiums in 9 South African cities hosted the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
  • The tournament was played from June 11 to July 11, 2010.
  • The SABC delivered live coverage of all 64 World Cup matches across their network through their 3 television channels and 18 radio stations.
  • Harmonic's Ellipse 1000 encoder simultaneously encodes video feeds as MPEG-2 SD 4:2:0/4:2:2 and MPEG-4 AVC SD 4:2:0.
  • The encoder is firmware-upgradeable to MPEG-4 AVC HD, making it one of the most versatile encoders available.

Sources:

  • "Harmonic Inc. Powers Live Broadcast of 2010 FIFA World Cup for South African Broadcasting Corporation" (Marketwire via COMTEX)
  • Harmonic Inc. website (www.harmonicinc.com)
  • South African Broadcasting Corporation website (www.sabc.co.za)
  • Graphic Image Technologies website (www.git.co.za)