“We see strong evidence of a vibrant Ultra HD environment taking shape, including an array of Ultra HD TV panel producers, broadcasting expertise by operators such as Eutelsat, a competitive price-performance ratio of 4K scanners and video camera, and potential for TV advertising. With the new measuring method developed by Smart TV Data and accepted by TV consumers we now have a solid base to work on from the first day of our venture into Ultra HD,” said Emanouil Lapidakis, Managing Director of ANIXE HD Television.

Markus Fritz, Director of Commercial Development & Marketing at Eutelsat, added, “Following last year’s successful collaboration with Red Bull we are delighted to welcome more providers of German-speaking content onto HOT BIRD 4K1. We are proud that broadcasters appreciate our innovation leadership in Ultra HD and to show how close the market is to commercial-roll out of 4K channels that will further raise the game for broadcasting and propel TV viewing into a new era. Twelve months after launch, our demo channel is established as a platform of choice and progress for partners in the broadcasting chain and is attracting increasing attention from terrestrial network operators who want to deliver more 4K content to viewers.”

HOT BIRD 4K1 was launched in May 2014 as Europe’s first channel encoded in HEVC (High Efficiency Video Encoding) and broadcasting at 50 frames per second with 10-bit colour depth. These three parameters are key for creating a favourable economic environment for Ultra HD and delivering consumers the best viewing experience on new-generation displays. As a point of reference for the TV industry and partners along the broadcasting chain HOT BIRD 4K1 is further evidence of Eutelsat’s commitment to support and drive innovation to economic maturity.