Canal+ Overseas sets sail with Thomson Video Networks

Canal+ Overseas has begun a migration to Thomson technology for its digital headend serving Indian Ocean territories. The newly equipped platform, located in Boulogne, France, near Paris, will be rolled out by November 2011, transmitting 90 SD and HD channels, all encoded in MPEG-4 format.

Canal+ Overseas is replacing its existing infrastructure with a combination of Thomson Video Networks products, including ViBE EM2002 dual-channel SD encoders, ViBE EM3000 HD encoders, and NetProcessor 9030 multiplexers. In 2012, Canal+ will upgrade to Thomson’s new ViBE EM4000 multichannel HD encoder.

“The clear lead in MPEG-4 picture quality delivered by the Thomson compression technology, combined with the exciting potential offered by the ViBE EM4000, made this an obvious choice for us,” says Catherine Carde, technical director of distribution for Canal+. “The new platform we are creating, based on the ViBE encoder range, will be a highly efficient long-term solution for expanding our HD services over the next few years.”

Canal+ Overseas, a subsidiary of the leading French pay-TV operator Canal+ Group, is the largest French-language operator in the French Overseas Territories and Africa, and provides more than 300 channels to viewers in the Caribbean, Indian Ocean, and Pacific regions.

“Canal+ Overseas will be one of the first broadcasters to benefit from the next generation of Thomson’s industry-leading HD compression technology,” says Eric Louvet, vice president of worldwide sales and services for Thomson Video Networks. “We are particularly proud to be chosen by Canal+ to provide the compression infrastructure for its future development, because the choice reflects not only the exceptional performance and reliability of the latest Thomson products, but also the customer’s confidence in our long-term roadmap.”