New technologies get a workout at World Cup
For new technologies such as MPEG-4 compression and 3-D television, the World Cup has been like a global proving ground — giving television technicians valuable experience and satisfying end users that the technologies are finally reliable.
One such technology is MPEG-4. The 2006 World Cup and the 2008 Beijing Olympics relied on the older MPEG-2 compression, but that has now changed. Intelsat, with a staff of 13 and 3.5tons of equipment in South Africa, is encoding the 2010 World Cup feed with MPEG-4 and distributing it around the world.
