Four leading players in the region's broadcast industry came together in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, to demonstrate the region's first live HD transmission via satellite during CabSat2005 earlier this month.
The four companies included ABSAT, which contributed transponder capacity on its ARABSAT 2D satellite; Samacom, which provided end-to-end system operation and uplinking services, Sony's Broadcast & Professional MEA, which provided its HDW-750P HDCAM camera and HD monitor; and Harmonic which provided its HD Encoding Technology (DiviCom MV450).
Sony HD camera captured live pictures from the CabSat 2005 show floor, where the signal was encoded using Harmonic's MV450 HD Encoder, and transmitted to an Arabsat satellite using Samacom's fly-away satellite terminal at the CabSat exhibition. The signal received from the Arabsat satellite was then displayed live on the show floor. This is believed to be the first time live commercial HD has been transmitted via satellite in the Middle East.
