PlayBox Plays Out BravaHDTV
PlayBox Technology has supplied high definition playout equipment for the 24/7 BravaHDTV channel in The Netherlands. The initial launch is on cable with a satellite service due to start in the late summer.
The PlayBox equipment makes up a large part of the playout chain. The content is supplied on HDCAM tapes in 1080/50i, with any 1080/60i material converted to the station’s format. A CaptureBox HD ingests the 1080/50i material via HD-SDI, storing it as MPEG-2. This is copied to the PlayBox HD server. Playout is provided by an AirBox HD with TitleBox HD adding graphics and captions and SubtitleBox HD providing the live subtitles. The HD-SDI output from the AirBox HD is coded by a Tandberg 8090 HD MPEG-4 encoder with the signal output as ASI to the digital transmission platform. System integrator for the project in The Nederlands is Basmedia Services.
BravaHDTV is a 24/7 cultural broadcaster with offerings including opera, operetta, ballet, choral works, concerts and documentaries all shown in Full HD (1920 x 1080/50i) resolution with Dolby Surround audio. The station opens on 2 July on the CAIW HD cable network in The Netherlands and can be received with a DVB-C HD set-top box. At the end of Q3 2007 the channel will also transmit via satellite from CanalDigitaal.
“We are delighted to be supporting BarvaHDTV for their playout… Interest in HD is rising fast and our playout structure allows us to adapt to this.”, says Don Ash, Director Sales