Special Ultra HD broadcast with ARTE on FRANSAT and HOT BIRD 4K1

Photo © Wiener Staatsballett / Ashley Taylor

Paris, 29 March 2016 – FRANSAT, Eutelsat’s TV platform for digital homes in France, is partnering with Arte on 2 April for a live broadcast in Ultra HD of the ballet “Le Corsaire” from the Vienna Opera House.

“Le Corsaire” in Ultra HD: a first partnership with Arte

The live UHD broadcast is a first-time partnership between Eutelsat, its subsidiary FRANSAT and Arte, the French-German channel. FRANSAT viewers will be able to watch the entire performance live from 7pm on 2 April on Channel 444. The performance will also be shown simultaneously in the HOT BIRD 4K1 demo channel broadcast from Eutelsat’s HOT BIRD position that reaches viewers across Europe, North Africa and the Middle East.

Image quality four times beyond HD

Launched in 2014 from the EUTELSAT 5 West A satellite, FRANSAT’s UHD channel is the first Ultra HD channel exclusively for the French market. The high quality images are encoded in HEVC at a rate of 50 frames per second with 10-bit colour depth, i.e. one billion colours. The channel is available to FRANSAT households equipped with a UHD television set with an integrated satellite tuner and a CAM CI+ module.

A range of Ultra HD content

FRANSAT’s dedicated channel offers a selection of programmes highlighting the enhanced quality of UHD. Travel, sport and culture are brought into focus with exotic images of Polynesia, technical feats of the Porsche 911R or iconic museums and their collections compiled by The Museum Channel. Channel 444 also offers live broadcasts of major events, including the opening of the Holy Door that marked the beginning of the Vatican’s Jubilee Year.