Elemental® Live systems will power real-time video streaming of the Osaka Marathon on October 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.
“With resolution four times that of HD, demand for 4K content on high-quality, large-format screens is increasing,” said Mr. Takao Fujino, President of K-Opticom. “The advanced K-OPT optical fiber network combined with the power and flexibility of Elemental’s software-based architecture is vital to meeting this demand and to enabling this unprecedented experimental transmission.”
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.
“The stunning images and high quality of 4K are best showcased at a world-class sporting event like the Osaka marathon,” said Keith Wymbs, VP of marketing for Elemental. “Elemental’s award-winning H.265 codec makes it possible to smoothly transmit 4K images across wideband networks provided by operators like K-Opticom.”
Elemental Live provides real-time encoding for linear pay TV broadcast as well as live streaming to new media platforms. The system is designed to integrate seamlessly into an end-to-end workflow, eliminating configuration complexity and optimizing video for multiscreen viewing.
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.
