Telesat has announced that it has been selected by the World Broadcasting Unions International Satellite Operations Group (WBU-ISOG) as the host site for critical tests to ensure the global interoperability of codecs used for high-definition television (HDTV) video transmissions.
Telesat will work with WBU-ISOG representatives in partnership with Communication Research Centre Canada (CRC) and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC).
“For years, Telesat has been at the forefront of the HDTV revolution,” said Paul Bush, Telesat’s vice president of broadcasting and corporate development.
“We believe that this testing program shows that Telesat is known not just as one of the world’s top satellite operators, but also as a global source of technology expertise and innovation.”
The tests will involve trials to investigate the interoperability of HDTV codecs – the technology used for the compression and decompression of HDTV signals.
The high-quality codecs operate at rates between 20 and 100 megabits per second (Mbps), and are used nationally and internationally for satellite links between studios and other venues.
“The WBU-ISOG selected Telesat for its exceptional expertise and its enthusiasm,” said Dick Tauber, chair of the World Broadcasting Unions’ International-Satellite Operations Group.
“We believe that the HDTV codec interoperability testing program is vital to the continued expansion of HDTV worldwide – and Telesat will play an important role to make this happen.”
Testing is scheduled to begin at Telesat’s R&D lab in March 2005.
“We are very happy to be able to collaborate with Telesat on this important project,” said Bernard Caron, Vice President of Broadcast Technology Research at the Communications Research Centre Canada.
“As the Government of Canada’s primary research laboratory for R&D in advanced telecommunications, CRC is perfectly placed to advise Telesat on a number of key issues related to this project.”
