Japan Telecom Operator Chooses Elemental for Live 4K Marathon Coverage

PORTLAND, ORE. – Japan telecom company K-Opticom will use Elemental Technologies’ HEVC video processing technology to cover the country’s first live 4K Ultra HD high-efficiency video coding (H.265/HEVC) transmission. Elemental Live systems will power real-time video streaming of the Osaka Marathon on Oct. 27 in a K-Opticom-designed trial workflow.

A subsidiary of the Kansai Electric Power Company, Inc., K-Opticom (K-OPT) provides high-quality fiber optic services for the Kansai Region of Japan, including the prefectures of Kobe, Kyoto and Osaka, which together comprise the second most populated area in Japan after greater Tokyo.

The Japanese telco is using Elemental Live systems to provide HEVC encoding of 4K/59.94p material acquired from Sony PMW-F55 CineAlta 4K cameras located at the midpoint and finish line of the racecourse. Each camera will be mounted with an AJA Ki-Pro Quad, which will send source content to Elemental systems via live 3G-SDI interfaces.

Elemental video processing systems will encode live content in real-time HEVC at 4Kp30 and stream video over K-OPT optical fiber networks to an NTT Docomo decoder with final rendering on an 84-inch Sony 4K Bravia TV. The public will be able to view 4K live coverage of the marathon in a special K-OPT exhibit located at the Intex (International Exhibition Center) Building 2 in Osaka.

K-OPT has acted as the presenting sponsor for the Osaka Marathon for three consecutive years, providing FTTH network technologies and support for the event’s social portal and mobile device applications. This year, the telco has also developed the event’s official application, accessible via the marathon website and on iOS and Android devices.