International compressed video by satellite

NTL has been at the forefront of the development of MPEG digital video compression, launching its MPEG 1 System 2000 product in early 1993. This was the first commercial implementation of the MPEG standard for use in broadcast television applications and many organisations have since operated the system both for point to multipoint distribution to cable head-ends and also for point-to-point delivery of television services. September 1994 saw the launch at the International Broadcasting Convention of NTLs system 3000 MPEG 2 system with a demonstration of eight television programmes carried in a 33 MHz RF channel, each programme being encoded at bit rates of between 3 and 4 Mb/S. NTL is an established service provider and operates a major earth station located at its main office site near Winchester in Southern England. The earth station offers C and Ku-band international services for video, voice and data as well as direct-to-home uplinking. Since January 1994, NTL has been operating international compressed video links over satellite. This paper describes in technical detail the planning criteria adopted for implementing the transmissions and includes the results both of test transmissions and customer contracted services