Archive notice: This article was originally published on December 11, 2008. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
By choosing Quantel’s server-based Enterprise sQ system, Sport TV, Portugal’s leading sports broadcaster, has given the go-ahead to produce and broadcast its programming in HD. Sport TV operates four sports channels, three of which are distributed via cable, satellite and IPTV platforms. Another channel is broadcast by satellite to sub-Saharan Africa. Program and commercial ingest, production and playout are handled in HD quality within the Enterprise sQ system. The order also marks the beginning of the Portuguese television market’s transition to HD production.
At the heart of the new system are a four-port sQ 800 server and two integrated eQ effects editing workstations. Sport TV already produces its news using the existing SD Enterprise sQ system. “This is the first step in the transition to HD, which will cover our entire broadcast production,” explained José M. Mourão, Technical Director at Sport TV. “The transition is made easier because we can retain the existing Quantel workflow and the connected editing workstations.”
The order was handled through Ibertelco, Quantel’s representative in Portugal, whose Managing Director João Pessanha was delighted with the first order for an HD system. “This shows that existing server technology originally designed for just one SD channel can now be expanded further. With this technical platform and its human resources, Sport TV can now broadcast four independent channels, soon to be expanded to five. Sport TV is a genuine success story, and we are proud to be involved as a partner.”
