The U.K’.s Channel 4 has successfully launched its first HD service — C4 HD — with core technology supplied by Pro-Bel.
Channel 4 is a long-term customer of the company and this is the extension of an ongoing business relationship.
C4 HD, which launched in December, is carried on BSkyB's digital DTH service. The channel uses a mixture of native HD and SD content that is upconverted to HD.
As part of this service the broadcaster has purchased and installed additional Morpheus automation as well as Masterpiece master control technology and a 32-×-32 SD/HD Sirius router.
"We felt that the time was right to extend the channel's presence into the developing HD market. With the amount of content available in HD increasing it made sense to do it now", said C4 Technology Projects Manager Robert Luggar.
"The biggest technical challenge was not actually the video, it was devising the systems to handle the multitrack audio content. We were also working to very tight timescales and this HD solution had to integrate seamlessly with existing Pro-Bel technology", he said.
