How is Live Video Streaming is Bringing Videos from Outer Space?

Streaming extremely high-resolution videos of occurrences in space is now possible with UHD.

FERMONT, CA: The current buzzword for high-resolution displays is something that is referred to by many marketers as 4K, but is also more accurately referred to as 'UHD.' User demands for better visual quality coupled with advancements in display computing networking, storage, and video codec technology have resulted in a steady increase in the quality of video over the past few years. Most broadcasters recognize that network connections play a critical role in creating a great live video.

Under NASA UHD TV, the UHD camera's 8-megapixel resolution displays up to 6k high-resolution videos and images from the International Space Station and other current NASA missions. The ability of the camera to capture up to 300 frames per second in high resolution makes it ideal for capturing dynamic events such as spacecraft activities close to the space station.

NASA TV UHD videos are generated from high-resolution images and video from the International Space Station (ISS). The program also includes advanced footage from historical missions and shots from NASA'S development and training processes. For example, TV UHD will establish the closest possible viewing experience of ISS’s Cupola.

NASA TV UHD will be broadcasted through AMC-18C satellite, in the clear, with a North American footprint, like the existing NASA TV channels, and on the same transponder. Harmonic, a video delivery infrastructure provider, is currently negotiating pay-tv operators to carry the channel on satellite, cable, and optical networks. Some of the critical creation of the UHD workflow is Harmonic's advanced media processor Electra X3, the industry's first converged media processor with live, full-frame, full-GOP UHD encoding for UHD content. This is powered by Harmonic PURE Compression Engine, which is an innovative encoding technology that supports resolutions up to 2160p60 for broadcast and multi-screen OTT delivery with superior video quality at minimum bandwidth.