MediaKind, a global media technology leader, was selected by the Brazilian TV network RecordTV to enable its delivery of over 1,000 hours of programming of the 18th Pan American Games, across its Play Plus streaming services, R7 news portal and Record News and RecordTV channels. The Games took place in Lima, Peru, between July 26 – August 11, 2019.
Among the technical challenges RecordTV faced in preparation of its coverage of the 2019 Pan American Games was a change in the default encode of the transmitted satellite images delivered by the host producer, who opted to use the HEVC 4:2:2 codec rather than commonly used H.264 4:2:0 standard. To receive these satellite signals, RecordTV deployed MediaKind’s RX8200 Advanced Modular Receivers, the world’s best-selling integrated receiver decoder (IRD).
The successful integration of the RX8200 receivers enabled RecordTV to benefit from an upgraded IRD, offering backward compatibility with HEVC 4:2:2 encoding to both reinforce its existing capabilities and deliver a smooth pathway towards new standards. Avicom Engenharia, MediaKind’s channel partner in Brazil, acted as the project’s system integrator.
Sergio Bruzetti, Project Engineer, RecordTV, said: “This is the first time we have attempted to decode 4:2:2 video and to ensure the successful delivery of such high value, live content, we naturally opted to extend our long-standing partnership with Avicom Engenharia and MediaKind. Through the acquisition of MediaKind’s RX8200 Advanced Modular Receivers earlier this year, we were able to seamlessly configure and tailor the units into our infrastructure by the time the Games began in late July. The implementation of this IRD provided the necessary functionality to meet our operational requirements and enabled the delivery of a high-class broadcast of this prestigious sporting event.”
Geraldo Marques, the station’s Technical Systems Manager, further explains that MediaKind RX8200 receivers will be incorporated into the broadcaster’s reception park, as well as backward compatibility with HEVC 4:2:2 encoding, they support earlier standards such as MPEG-4 4:2:0. This reinforces RecordTV’s current capabilities and ensures a smooth evolution to new standards.
In addition to HEVC decode capabilities, MediaKind’s RX8200 IRD offers satellite operators optimal bandwidth efficiency gains through full support of the DVB-S2X international open standard. Combined, the technologies offer a step-change in transmission efficiency, enabling operators such as RecordTV to dramatically reduce operational costs or free-up bandwidth to launch new revenue generating services.
Jaime Ferreira, Director, Avicom Engenharia, said: “The 2019 Pan American Games involved 6,000 athletes from 41 countries in 417 events across 38 sports and reached an international audience of over 400 million viewers. Broadcasting such a large event to viewers is a highly complex challenge and RecordTV had a very successful Games. Its team of expert professionals worked tirelessly to bring together all the beautiful images of the various disciplines, medal ceremonies and expert commentary to audiences in Brazil, across multiple platforms. It was an honor to work with RecordTV to deliver its coverage and through MediaKind’s leading compression technology, we were able to leverage enormous efficiency gains in receiving and transmitting these live streams.”
Capable of decoding a multitude of video formats and offering total connectivity for all transmission mediums via a comprehensive and modular choice of options, MediaKind’s RX8200 IRD offers a bespoke world-class offering that delivers true operational flexibility. This feature-rich platform provides a complete low latency suite of tools, enabling all broadcasters to optimize their content contribution and news applications.
Clayton Cruz, Regional Head, Latin America, MediaKind, said: “We are proud to contribute our technology and enrich the user experience of RecordTV’s extensive and widespread coverage of the Pan American Games in Brazil, a competition which is enjoyed and celebrated by millions of people throughout Latin America. By collaborating with our channel partners Avicom Engenharia on this exciting project, we continue to demonstrate our ongoing commitment to raising broadcast standards in the region and always providing our customers with the highest level of excellence.”
About MediaKind at IBC2019
At IBC2019, MediaKind (#4.A01) will show how it is enabling content owners and originators, broadcasters and pay TV service providers to continually evolve and adapt in response to the latest shifts in the media landscape. Based on an IBC show theme of ‘Destination Media’, visitors to MediaKind’s stand will experience the full breadth of its next-generation solutions and services portfolio, the MediaKind Universe, and see the value it enables through a wide range of real-world customer applications deployments. During the show, MediaKind will demonstrate how its award-winning technology and solutions are helping customers deliver unique immersive experiences to everyone, everywhere. For further information, please visit here.
About MediaKind
We are MediaKind, a global leader of media technology and services, established as a joint venture between One Equity Partners and Ericsson. Our mission is to be the first choice among service providers, operators, content owners and broadcasters looking to deliver immersive media experiences. Drawing on our longstanding industry heritage, we are driving next-generation live and on-demand, mobile and multiscreen media experiences for everyone, everywhere. Our end-to-end portfolio of media solutions include Emmy award-winning video compression solutions for contribution and direct-to-consumer video service distribution; advertising and content personalization solutions; high efficiency cloud DVR; and TV and video delivery platforms. For more information, please visit: www.mediakind.com.
About RecordTV
Founded in 1953, Record TV is the oldest active broadcaster in Brazil. Since opening, Record TV’s concern has been to offer quality products that meet the needs of its viewers. Today the network totals 108 broadcasters spread across 26 states, plus the Federal District. Over the years, Record TV became the network that has mostly contributed to the evolution of Brazilian Popular Music. Its history composed of successful programs and initiatives that had helped the Brazilian culture and society. Currently, Record TV is the second TV network in Brazil, reaching excellent ratings and increasing its market share.
About Avicom Engenharia
Avicom Engenharia is a Brazilian company created in 2012 to represent commercially high tech companies in the Avionic, Defense and Broadcast TV business. The founder of the company Electronic Engineer Jaime Fernando Ferreira has more than 30 years experience working in the sales and technical divisions from companies like TV Globo, Barco Communications, Philips, Thomson and Grass Valley. Avicom team also can provide system integration, technical support and project management to better support it´s clients for all business development.
