German public broadcaster Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR) has deployed Elemental Technologies’ Elemental Live video processing systems to encode live content.

Elemental systems allow NDR to create video streams of program broadcasts, news and special events for publicly and freely accessible web portals and mobile apps. The deployment is supported by Elemental partner LOGIC Media Solutions in Germany.

NDR selected Elemental systems to advance its multiscreen initiatives, citing powerful video processing, encoding density and high-quality video output as key advantages. In the NDR workflow, each Elemental Live system supports four HD-SDI inputs simultaneously. Eleven streams are encoded from each input for distribution directly to the Akamai content delivery network (CDN). This architecture allows NDR to ramp up its live streaming in a reduced footprint while scaling back on its use of an external service provider in favor of an internal transcoding and transmission workflow.

“NDR has taken a pioneering approach to video processing, streaming and delivery by bringing encoding in-house to lower distribution costs,” said John Nemeth, Elemental VP sales, EMEA. “We are pleased to partner with Logic Media to offer NDR a solution that reduces costs, saves power and improves video quality as well as strong local support.”