NPO expands streaming capabilities for London Olympics

Nederlandse Publieke Omroep (NPO), the Netherlands Public Broadcasting system, has expanded its streaming operations with the purchase of 10 dual-channel Digital Rapids encoding systems.

The new encoders complement NPO's existing deployment of Digital Rapids solutions, and have been added in support of streaming projects, including this year's European soccer championships, Tour de France cycling, and NPO broadcaster Nederlandse Omroep Stichting's (NOS) online and mobile coverage of the 2012 London Olympic Games.

NPO is using the Digital Rapids systems for full-time operation encoding live source video feeds of the three Dutch public broadcasting channels as well as dedicated event and theme channels. The encoders' flexible format support is a key benefit for NPO as it migrates from traditional streaming protocols to HTTP-based adaptive streaming while delivering content to devices ranging from desktop computers to tablets and mobile phones.

"The reliability and resilience of Digital Rapids' encoders allow us to run our operations 24/7 without interruptions, while their quality, deep configurability and format flexibility are also significant advantages," said Jeroen Mol, manager at NPO ICT 3, NPO's internal service provider organization for networking, Internet hosting, application support and streaming services.

Powering applications from online and mobile video to over-the-top (OTT) services and IPTV, Digital Rapids encoders' rich output capabilities and adaptive streaming support are well suited to capitalising on today's multi-screen content distribution opportunities, allowing content and rights owners to reach viewers on devices from tablets and mobile phones to game consoles, PCs and smart TVs.

See Digital Rapids at IBC2012 Stands 7.F33 and 14.351.