The announcement was made at NAB following the first 3D live broadcast via satellite of a complete basketball game in Europe to multiple locations across Italy on April 19th. The event was broadcast by OpenSky, who purchased and installed their first Pro Cinema 3D live decoders prior to NAB as an add-on to the digital cinema broadcast network previously provided to them by IDC. The SENSIO 3D technology used in the system adds additional revenue generating capability to Opensky’s new satellite broadband DVB-S2 distribution network which has been deployed specifically for live events and alternate content delivery to theatres across Europe equipped with digital cinema projection systems.
As part of their digital cinema service offering, OpenSky has formed the 3D Stereoscopic group (3DSG), a partnership with dBW Communication and Eutelsat for the end-to-end production and distribution of 3D live events across Europe. This first event on an operationally deployed network is a major milestone for all participating companies. Participants at the event were impressed with the high quality transmission that showed all of the action in crisp, real-time, high definition 3D. OpenSky is using IDC’s SuperFlex Pro Cinema product line for their digital cinema network rollout. The Pro Cinema product line is a family of modular products that can easily be configured to provide a range of end-to-end solutions for the delivery of both file-based movies and live events over a broadband satellite network. The product line features open standards including the latest DVB-S2 broadcast technology with a variety of encryption options and plug and play interoperability with terrestrial Internet Protocol (IP) networks. The Pro Cinema 3D Live Encoder and Decoder, with leading SENSIO 3-D technology onboard supports 2D and 3D live and pre-recorded events, which provides movie houses and other venues increased new revenue opportunities via alternative content programming. SENSIO’s 3D technology, originally developed for the consumer 3D entertainment market, transforms stereoscopic HD video (e.g., from dual HD cameras) into its proprietary format that allows distribution of 3D content over standard infrastructure. The technology features visually loss-less stereoscopic compression and is compatible with all existing and future 3D projection technologies for 2D or 3D viewing.
