Slovenia’s largest marathon covered by Planet TV with TVU Networks solutions

The marathons great international recognition is largely due to its highly attractive course, which runs through the streets of Ljubljana. The two main races are a marathon (42km) and a half marathon (21km), but the event also consists of recreational runs of varying lengths and degrees of difficulty for runners of all ages and fitness levels. The event has grown considerably over the years and now attracts a crowd of well over 20,000 athletes from around the world.
 

Planet TV needed a reliable and flexible solution to continuously live broadcast from various locations throughout the city, where large crowds gathered to watch the action. Ultimately, the network deployed 4 TVU One mobile live video transmitters in addition to TVU Anywhere, the powerful application that turns mobile smart devices into HEVC transmitters with TVU’s patented IS+ transmission algorithm, allowing live HD IP video to transport at sub-second latency with bitrates as low as 3Mbps.

The compact nature and reliability of these TVU solutions provided Planet TV a successful platform to capture the event from moving cars, motorbikes and on foot. The live broadcast was successfully aired directly to Planet TV and the Ljubljana Marathon website, where over 30,000 viewers live streamed the event.

“We wanted to be forward-thinking in our coverage of an event as dynamic as the Ljubljana Marathon. Our solution had to be dependable and powerful but also small in size and low in weight for our crew to guarantee mobility. A highlight of the equipment was the H.265 encoding which produced high quality video in hard conditions,” explained Rok Mareš, Technical Director at Planet TV. “The combination of TVU Networks’ solutions allowed us to achieve the video quality and stability that was necessary for our live broadcast, but beyond that, it also made it possible to capture footage from different angles, locations and speeds.”

“We’re very proud that our solutions were chosen by Planet TV to cover Slovenia’s largest marathon. The TVU One and TVU Anywhere are ideal for a wide variety of scenarios, particularly requiring reliable and high quality live video transmission. The Ljubljana Marathon is a perfect example of how applicable and useful our products can be, regardless of the environment and circumstances,” said David Jorba, Managing Director Europe, at TVU Networks.

All TVU Networks solutions utilize HEVC/H.265 compression standard to optimize data use and generate less overhead, leading to lower operational costs while delivering even greater transmission reliability. TVU One’s award-winning mobile IP video transmitter is a breakthrough in size and performance, allowing up to 4K60fps HDR live transmissions at bit-rates as low as 3Mbps. TVU Anywhere is a mobile app for capturing and streaming live video from anywhere, delivering picture quality usually reserved for more expensive professional video equipment.