TANDBERG Television to Provide HD MPEG-4 AVC Encoders for NBC’s Coverage of the Beijing Olympic Games

August 4, 2008

TANDBERG Television, has been selected to provide TANDBERG MPEG-4 AVC video processing solutions to NBC during the network’s coverage of the 2008 Beijing Olympics from Beijing, China August 8-24. This is the first Olympics where MPEG-4 AVC will be used for HD content contribution and NBC will deploy a variety of TANDBERG Television products at the International Broadcast Center (IBC) in Beijing and in the US including HD encoders, professional receiver/decoders, multiplexers, modulators, IP adapters and other control equipment. 

"Preparing for this major event required us to make very careful equipment, vendor and solution choices," said Dave Mazza, Senior Vice President, NBC Olympics Engineering. "Selecting TANDBERG Television for this project was easy. Their rock solid contribution and distribution products and the expertise of their team members allow us to continually raise the bar and provide our viewer's with exceptional picture quality." 

NBC's HD coverage, sent to the United States via NBC's contribution network, will be encoded by TANDBERG Television EN8090 HD MPEG-4 AVC encoders. The raw video and audio feeds captured at the events will be transported from the IBC to the NBC studios for US Distribution, before post-production. The contribution feeds sent from NBC Universal to its cable affiliates will be compressed by TANDBERG Television encoders and delivered via MPEG-2 to the cable head-ends.

"NBC will offer the most in-depth Olympic coverage in history, and we are honored to support them as they embark on this unprecedented project," said Eric Cooney President and CEO of TANDBERG Television. "We look forward to working with NBC to deliver an outstanding broadcast of the Beijing Olympic Games to millions of viewers across the US."