More HEVC Use Could Hit Satellite Video Distribution Market, NSR Analyst Says

Satellites will enjoy direct-to-home (DTH) and video distribution work for a long time, but capacity growth will be limited by cable TV and IPTV platforms using HEVC to cut costs, said Northern Sky Research (NSR) analyst Alan Crisp in a blog post Monday. Satellite operators thus need to account for accelerating video compression levels in their long-term strategic planning, and the biggest growth opportunities will be emerging markets, NSR said. HEVC generally has been talked about for Ultra HD content, but SD and HD channels likely will move to HEVC compression, which could cut capacity requirements by more than 40 percent, it said, noting only some platforms will likely make that switch in the next decade, with DTH unlikely to get into HEVC much because of the cost of upgrading set-top boxes to handle HEVC compression.