Harmonic Announces the Availability of NASA TV UHD

Harmonic Announces the Availability of NASA TV UHD posted: 10/11/2015

Ambient Video Channel Provides Viewers With Breathtaking Imagery of Space Leveraging Advanced 4K UHD Technologies From Harmonic

Harmonic (NASDAQ: HLIT), the worldwide leader in video delivery infrastructure, today announced that NASA TV UHD, the first consumer Ultra HD (UHD) channel in North America, is now available. Leveraging an end-to-end UHD delivery system from Harmonic, NASAs ambient video channel provides consumers with a wide array of out-of-this-world linear 2160p60 video content, capturing the breathtaking beauty of the space program.

Transmitted in the clear via the SES AMC-18C satellite, NASA TV UHD is remotely produced by Harmonic and jointly operated with NASA. Harmonic is currently in discussions with pay-TV operators to carry the channel on their satellite DTH, cable and optical networks. Tests are underway to enable consumption on a wide range of television and IP-connected devices. The channel will also be available for OTT streaming at a later date, to be determined.

NASA TV UHD consists of eight brand-new TV series designed to explore the various facets of NASAs space program. These include: ISS Life, documenting life on the space station from the first-person perspective of the astronauts; Earth View, the astronauts unique perception of our planet; Solar System, showing vibrant imagery of the earths neighboring planets and the sun, including time-lapse videos using solar dynamics observatory images; Deep Space, animated UHD still imagery captured from the Hubble telescope and other telescopic platforms; NASA Classics, important highlights from NASAs history, such as the Apollo program; Mars, an entire program dedicated to the intriguing red planet; Liftoff, an up-close look at spacecraft launches, including rocket tests; and Development, detailing the training and R&D efforts that take place before each NASA mission.

Not only is NASA TV UHD the first consumer UHD channel in North America, the ambient nature of the channel is unlike anything anyone has ever seen before, taking the consumer entertainment experience to a whole new level, said Peter Alexander, chief marketing officer at Harmonic. Each program featured on NASA TV UHD is composed of long, beautiful shots that can only be described as breathtaking. Delivered in the eight million pixel resolution of the UHD format, it truly is a remarkable viewing experience that would not have been possible without Harmonics complete solution for Ultra HD video production and delivery. Were happy that the channel is now operational with the first tranche of content.

The NASA TV UHD utilizes an end-to-end solution that includes Harmonics Ellipse 3000 contribution encoder, ProView 7100 integrated receiver-decoder (IRD), MediaGrid shared storage system, Polaris playout management suite, Spectrum X advanced media server system, Electra X2 and Electra X3 advanced media processors, ProMedia Origin packager and streaming video server and NSG Exo distributed CCAP system.

At the heart of the UHD workflow is Harmonics Electra X3 advanced media processor, the industrys first converged media processor for UHD content with live, full-frame, full-GOP UHD encoding. Powered by the Harmonic PURE Compression Engine , an advanced encoding technology that supports resolutions up to 2160p60 (HEVC Main 10) for broadcast and OTT multiscreen delivery, the Electra X3 enables superior video quality at minimum bandwidth.

About DigitalGlue

DigitalGlue provides equipment, integration, and software development for the production and distribution of digital video. The company analyzes clients workflows to build optimized solutions for collaborative editing, automation, media asset management, storage, and archiving. From contribution to distribution, the DigitalGlue team works with customers to efficiently deliver their programming over fiber, cable, satellite, IPTV, and OTT. DigitalGlue designs, integrates, and supports systems based on todays needs, yet draw from years of real-world experience to engineer a technology path for tomorrow.

About Harmonic

Harmonic (NASDAQ: HLIT) is the worldwide leader in video delivery infrastructure for emerging television and video services. Harmonic enables customers to produce, deliver and monetize amazing video experiences, with unequalled business agility and operational efficiency, by providing market-leading innovation, high-quality service and compelling total cost of ownership.

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