Euro1080
Encyclopedia
Commerce
While business refers to the value-creating activities of an organization for profit, commerce means the whole system of an economy that constitutes an environment for business. The system includes legal, economic, political, social, cultural, and technological systems that are in operation in any...
broadcaster
Broadcasting
Broadcasting is the distribution of audio and video content to a dispersed audience via any audio visual medium. Receiving parties may include the general public or a relatively large subset of thereof...
in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
to air full-time HDTV
High-definition television
High-definition television is video that has resolution substantially higher than that of traditional television systems . HDTV has one or two million pixels per frame, roughly five times that of SD...
content. It was founded by Gabriel Fehervari
Gabriel Fehervari
Gabriel Fehervari is a Belgian businessman and CEO of the Alfacam Group, which consists of three divisions: Alfacam, Euro1080 and Eurolinx. He is the son of Hungarian immigrants...
in 2004 and is owned by Alfacam.
The name originates from the 1080 lines of vertical resolution in the signal broadcast, which is 1080i50 - 1920 x 1080 at an interlaced frame rate of 50 Hz
Hertz
The hertz is the SI unit of frequency defined as the number of cycles per second of a periodic phenomenon. One of its most common uses is the description of the sine wave, particularly those used in radio and audio applications....
. The signal features Dolby Digital
Dolby Digital
Dolby Digital is the name for audio compression technologies developed by Dolby Laboratories. It was originally called Dolby Stereo Digital until 1994. Except for Dolby TrueHD, the audio compression is lossy. The first use of Dolby Digital was to provide digital sound in cinemas from 35mm film prints...
5.1 sound.
The headquarters
Headquarters
Headquarters denotes the location where most, if not all, of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. In the United States, the corporate headquarters represents the entity at the center or the top of a corporation taking full responsibility managing all business activities...
and studios are located in Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
at the Eurocam Media Center. The parent company
Parent company
A parent company is a company that owns enough voting stock in another firm to control management and operations by influencing or electing its board of directors; the second company being deemed as a subsidiary of the parent company...
of Euro1080 is the Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
-based Alfacam Group.
Euro1080 began broadcasting on January 1, 2004 from the Astra 1H satellite at 19.2° east
Astra 19.2°E
Astra 19.2°E is the name for the group of communications satellites co-located at the 19.2°East orbital position in the Clarke Belt that are owned and operated by SES Astra, a subsidiary of SES based in Betzdorf, Luxembourg....
and was free to air during its first few months. Thereafter the Euro1080 signal was encrypted
Encryption
In cryptography, encryption is the process of transforming information using an algorithm to make it unreadable to anyone except those possessing special knowledge, usually referred to as a key. The result of the process is encrypted information...
in Irdeto and a €
Euro
The euro is the official currency of the eurozone: 17 of the 27 member states of the European Union. It is also the currency used by the Institutions of the European Union. The eurozone consists of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg,...
200 Conditional Access Card was required to watch the flagship
Flagship
A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, reflecting the custom of its commander, characteristically a flag officer, flying a distinguishing flag...
channel HD1.
In addition to HD1, which content is primarily HDTV showcasing for regular users, a second channel was soon created, HD-2 focusing on live and recorded HDTV broadcasts of special event for selected theatres. Euro1080 currently broadcasts HD1 and HD3 on the following satellite
Satellite
In the context of spaceflight, a satellite is an object which has been placed into orbit by human endeavour. Such objects are sometimes called artificial satellites to distinguish them from natural satellites such as the Moon....
:
- EutelsatEutelsatEutelsat S.A. is a French-based satellite provider. Providing coverage over the entire European continent, as well as the Middle East, Africa, India and significant parts of Asia and the Americas, it is one of the world's three leading satellite operators in terms of revenues.Eutelsat’s satellites...
W3A at 7°E, 10.880 MHz, DVB-S2, QPSK, Symbol rate 13.333 Mbit/s, Vertical, FEC 4/5, MPEG4.
It is also possible to receive it on a growing number of cable
Cable television
Cable television is a system of providing television programs to consumers via radio frequency signals transmitted to televisions through coaxial cables or digital light pulses through fixed optical fibers located on the subscriber's property, much like the over-the-air method used in traditional...
operators.
Two channels have been temporarily removed recently:
- HD2 (previously HDevents or Hde): broadcasts premium events in pay-per-viewPay-per-viewPay-per-view provides a service by which a television audience can purchase events to view via private telecast. The broadcaster shows the event at the same time to everyone ordering it...
. - HD5 (timesharing with HD2): promotional channel, broadcasting a six-minute informative videoVideoVideo is the technology of electronically capturing, recording, processing, storing, transmitting, and reconstructing a sequence of still images representing scenes in motion.- History :...
about HDTV and what Euro1080 is as well a brief glimpse of previous day footageFootageIn filmmaking and video production, footage is the raw, unedited material as it had been originally filmed by movie camera or recorded by a video camera which usually must be edited to create a motion picture, video clip, television show or similar completed work...
.
A new channel was launched in 2008:
- HD3: Culture with music.
(HD1 will then become a sports channel
Sports channel
Sports channels are television specialty channels broadcast sporting events, usually live, and when not broadcasting events, sports news and other related programming....
).
In October 2005, HD1 and HD2 simulcast
Simulcast
Simulcast, shorthand for "simultaneous broadcast", refers to programs or events broadcast across more than one medium, or more than one service on the same medium, at the same time. For example, Absolute Radio is simulcast on both AM and on satellite radio, and the BBC's Prom concerts are often...
in both MPEG-4 and MPEG-2. This dual encoding lasted until 2007.
Telenet, the main cable operator in Flanders
Flanders
Flanders is the community of the Flemings but also one of the institutions in Belgium, and a geographical region located in parts of present-day Belgium, France and the Netherlands. "Flanders" can also refer to the northern part of Belgium that contains Brussels, Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp...
(the northern
Northern
-Geography:* Northern , various regions, states, territories, etc.* Northern Range, a range of hills in Trinidad* Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States-Education:* Northern University , various institutions...
region of Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
), confirmed as part of its launch announcement of "Telenet Digital TV" on June 16, 2005 that it would sell HDTV set-top-boxes as of June 2006.
As of July 2005, cable
Cable
A cable is two or more wires running side by side and bonded, twisted or braided together to form a single assembly. In mechanics cables, otherwise known as wire ropes, are used for lifting, hauling and towing or conveying force through tension. In electrical engineering cables are used to carry...
operator Integan is broadcasting HDTV in the outskirts of the city of Antwerp, in partnership with Euro1080.
On October 1, 2006, Euro1080 started a new digital
Digital
A digital system is a data technology that uses discrete values. By contrast, non-digital systems use a continuous range of values to represent information...
culture
Culture
Culture is a term that has many different inter-related meanings. For example, in 1952, Alfred Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn compiled a list of 164 definitions of "culture" in Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions...
channel named EXQI. The first target audience
Audience
An audience is a group of people who participate in a show or encounter a work of art, literature , theatre, music or academics in any medium...
is the Flemish
Flanders
Flanders is the community of the Flemings but also one of the institutions in Belgium, and a geographical region located in parts of present-day Belgium, France and the Netherlands. "Flanders" can also refer to the northern part of Belgium that contains Brussels, Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp...
and Dutch
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
market, but the channel has expansion plans to more than 10 channels for the major European countries.
On January 7, 2007, Euro1080 switched to MPEG-4 AVC for its satellite broadcasts. MPEG-2 broadcasts for HD1 were switched off on January 1, 2008.