Hollytorial

TANDBERG Television, today announced that it is providing an MPEG-4 AVC high definition (HD) encoding system to Spanish-based broadcast solutions provider Overon for the delivery of National Geographic Channel HD to broadcasters and TV service providers across Europe. The TANDBERG Television solution will provide a bandwidth efficient satellite distribution service of National Geographic Channel HD, further increasing its presence on networks throughout Europe.

National Geographic Channel HD (NGC HD) is part of National Geographic Channel International (NGCI) and it is distributed worldwide by Fox International Channels, the multimedia company, part of the media group News Corporation, dedicated to the implementation of pay TV channels and digital services all over the world. NGC HD brings compelling stories with stunning visuals and credibility that people have come to expect from National Geographic. NGC HD showcases top rating programs spanning wildlife, science, technology, culture and natural phenomena. With world-class scientists and cutting-edge filmmakers, viewers are taken to some of the most visually stunning places on earth with incredible clarity, breathtaking color and superior sound quality.

NGC HD’s innovative factual programming will be distributed to broadcast head-ends across Europe via satellite using the TANDBERG Television EN8090 encoder. This award-winning MPEG-4 AVC solution enables a substantial reduction in the bandwidth required for distributing HDTV services.

“TANDBERG Television’s experience and expertise in developing market-leading HDTV head-end solutions left us in no doubt that we could deliver National Geographic’s fascinating content using extremely reliable encoding technology. In addition to the excellent bandwidth saving capabilities, one of the major advantages of selecting TANDBERG Television’s EN8090 was the versatility of its audio inputs with advanced multi-channel audio encoding support which provides the flexibility that we required,” said Ramon Caro, Technical Director, Overon.

Overon’s catalog of products and services is utilized extensively by major national and international broadcasters, production houses and corporations with the need for global connectivity.

“We are pleased that our encoding technology continues to be chosen for the delivery of pioneering content. National Geographic brings a whole new world of sights, colors and sounds to the viewer at home, brought even more to life through high definition,” said Eric Baron, President of TANDBERG Television EMEA. “We are delighted to be enabling the further roll-out of this fascinating content across Europe. Our EN8090 solution provides extraordinary picture quality and significant bandwidth management for higher performance encoding.”