SES, SmarDTV and Samsung demonstrate CA-protected UltraHD broadcasts at IBC 2014

Thursday, September 11th, 2014
SES S.A logo

SES, SmarDTV and Samsung Demonstrate World’s First Ultra HD CAS-Protected Broadcast Service Using DVB Standards

  • CAS-protected broadcast Ultra HD (UHD) content broadcast via satellite received directly by Samsung UHD TV using SmarDTV CI Plus CAMs for content protection
  • Live Ultra HD transmission in the new HEVC standard from an SES satellite at 19.2 degrees East using DVB UHD Phase 1 specifications
  • Pay-TV service providers can now directly deliver Ultra HD content on Samsung Ultra HD TVs without the need for an STB

LUXEMBOURG & CHESEAUX, Switzerland & SEOUL — IBC2014 — SES S.A. (NYSE Paris:SESG) (LuxX:SESG), SmarDTV, a Kudelski Group company (SIX:KUD.S), and Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd announced today that they will be demonstrating the first end-to-end encrypted Ultra HD content – via an SES satellite to a Samsung Ultra HD TV by using a SmarDTV CI Plus CAM module — at the IBC 2014 in Amsterdam.

The demonstration will mark a major milestone for the Ultra HD broadcast chain, as it is the first time that a full 3840×2160 pixel CAS protected Ultra HD signal in HEVC will be decrypted by a standard SmarDTV CI Plus Module and rendered on Samsung Ultra HD TV models. This opens the door for pay-TV service providers to directly access the new UHD TV Sets that are being rapidly adopted by consumers around the world. The Ultra HD content will be broadcast live from an SES satellite at the orbital position of 19.2 degrees East using DVB UHD Phase 1 signaling specifications.

“Many of our pay-TV customers and numerous services providers around the world are interested in deploying Ultra HD and this will allow them to jump start their activities with minimum investments,” said Conor Ryan, Vice President of Marketing at SmarDTV. “The ability to use standard CI Plus CAM modules with the latest generation of Ultra HD TVs opens the door to rapid and cost effective UltraHD services.”

Thomas Wrede, Vice President of Reception Systems at SES, said, “The Ultra HD broadcast ecosystem has been developing rapidly in the last 18 months, with global satellite operators such as SES playing a leading role in readying the satellite and ground infrastructure to support our customers with the delivery of Ultra HD pay-TV events and services. Ultra HD will further leverage the high quality of images delivered via satellite.”

“Once again we can see the DVB family of specifications enabling the market to move to the next generation of digital broadcast. I think this end-to-end demonstration is the clearest indication yet that all the pieces are now in place for the new era of Ultra HD broadcasting to begin,” commented John Adam, Head of Business Development and Industrial Affairs at Samsung Electronic Research Institute (UK).

The live demonstration will be shown in IBC at the SmarDTV/NAGRA booth 1C81 in Hall #1 and at the SES booth B51 in Hall #1.