NBC To Use Scopus Encoders, Decoders for Olympics Coverage

NBC Olympics will use digital video transmission equipment from Scopus Network Technologies to transport its 24-hour coverage of the 2004 Olympic Games from Athens this August. NBC will transmit signals from the International Broadcast Center (IBC) in Athens to various sites in the United States for broadcast via NBC networks, including the first Spanish-language U.S. broadcast of the Olympics on Telemundo.

Scopus E-1100 MPEG-2 DVB encoders were installed in the IBC and will transmit coverage of the games on six channels via satellite and fiber optic cable to Scopus IRD-2800 integrated receiver decoders (IRDs) at NBC's U.S. headquarters in New York and facilities in Hauppauge, N.Y., Secaucus and Englewood Cliffs, N.J., Hialeah, Fla., and Burbank, Calif.

Scopus also will support NBC's local video content creation in Athens, equipping two digital satellite newsgathering (DSNG) units with MPEG-2 encoders for up to four high-quality transmission channels per DSNG van. The mobile units will be deployed to enable multiple feeds from remote events, and to produce news and feature coverage. Additionally, Scopus E-900 encoders based at NBC headquarters and IRD-2600 decoding systems installed at the IBC will enable closed-circuit monitoring of the broadcasts.