Intel at Olympics

As the Official Worldwide AI Platform Partner of the Olympic and Paralympic Games Paris 2024, Intel introduces AI-optimised broadcast servers to encode and compress OBS-produced 8K live signals that OBS will deliver to selected media rights holders across the open internet.

The servers are powered by the latest 5th Gen Intel Xeon processors (Emerald Rapids) and 4th Gen Intel Xeon processors (Sapphire Rapids) with Intel AI accelerator (AMX), and Deep Learning Boost technology.

Compressing that data and decoding it on the other side of the world is by no means a simple feat: Intel is compressing live raw feeds measuring 48 gigabits per second (Gbps) into a VVC-enabled livestream measuring 40 to 60 megabits per second (Mbps) – a compression ratio of 1,000 times – in under 400 milliseconds.

That 8K over-the-top (OTT) broadcast will then be delivered by OBS around the world to 8K TVs connected to the latest Intel-enabled PCs.

Olympic Games Paris 2024 are the world’s first live demonstration of an end-to-end 8K VVC livestreaming experience utilising Intel’s 5th Gen Xeon CPUs to encode and Intel-based client CPUs and Arc GPUs to decode.

It provides a pathway for the future of low-latency, broadcast-grade 8K livestreaming over the internet.

That process of getting 8K live content from the Olympic Games stadium in Paris to an 8K-enabled TV on the other side of the planet is highly complex. It’s enabled by a constellation of Intel hardware and software technologies. The steps to accomplish the 8K broadcasts include:

• Broadcast-grade cameras in select Olympic Games venues capture live content in 8K at 60 frames per second in high definition (HDR) at 48 Gbps bitrate mixed with 32 audio channels.
• A purpose-built “broadcast in a box” encoder powered by the latest 5th Gen Intel Xeon CPUs processes that raw content in less than 400 milliseconds and distributes it across the internet within seconds.
• Around the world, Intel Core i9 processor-based PCs with Intel Arc graphics processing units and Intel Core Ultra 9 processor-based laptops decode the OBS content in real time before displaying the video feed on an 8K TV protected by Intel’s high-bandwidth digital content protection technology.

Innovations like Intel Xeon Scalable processors with Intel Advanced Matrix Extensions (Intel AMX), a built-in AI accelerator and Intel Deep Learning Boost (Intel DL Boost) that encode live 8K/60FPS/HDR raw feed in milliseconds have been helping the industry take a revolutionary step toward 8K displays and its democratisation.

ASBIS is the official distributor for Intel products.