The 2024 Paris Olympics officially opened, and Intel's artificial intelligence platform helped present 8K ultra-high-definition live broadcast

The live stream is powered by Intel Xeon Scalable processors and other hardware

Perhaps before this, watching live Olympic events at home in 8K resolution, the highest level of video quality, was almost impossible. At the 2024 Paris Olympics, Intel will present the results of its long-term collaboration with the Olympic Broadcasting Service (OBS) and many broadcasters and partners around the world to make this idea a reality.

As the official global AI platform partner of the 2024 Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games, Intel will launch a series of innovative AI experiences based on Intel hardware and software to bring unprecedented participation experiences to sports fans, organizers, athletes and spectators from all over the world.

Throughout the 2024 Paris Olympics, AI-optimized broadcast servers powered by 5th Gen Intel Xeon Scalable processors (codenamed “Emerald Rapids”) and 4th Gen Intel Xeon Scalable processors (codenamed “Sapphire Rapids”) with Intel Advanced Matrix eXtensible (AMX) AI Engine and Deep Learning Acceleration will encode and compress the live 8K signals generated by the Olympic Broadcast Service (OBS) and deliver them to selected media rights holders via open internet channels.

Encoding and compressing data on the other side of the world is no small feat: Intel is compressing the original 48 Gbps live signal to a VVC-compliant live signal of 40 to 60 Mbps, a thousand-fold compression in less than 400 milliseconds. The Olympic Broadcasting Service (OBS) will then transmit these 8K OTT signals to new Intel-powered PCs connected to 8K TVs.

Intel has extensive experience in this area.

Intel, in partnership with the Olympic Broadcasting Service (OBS), major broadcasters and technology providers, provided 416 hours of live and recorded Olympic content to the Olympic Broadcasting Service (OBS) during the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Throughout the process, Intel processed 4.7PB of data, which is 333 times the amount of data stored in the U.S. Library of Congress.

At the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, Intel provided the Olympic Broadcast Service (OBS) and global broadcasters with complete 8K virtual reality image production, further deepening the industry partnership.

Ravindra (Ravi) Velhal, global content technology strategist and 8K project lead for Intel's Software and Advanced Technology Group, stands at the company's booth at the International Broadcast Center in the Olympic Village ahead of the 2024 Paris Olympics. (Image credit: Intel Corporation)

Intel-based servers and PCs deliver high-quality visual content at low bit rates

“We are committed to driving 8K mainstream at the 2024 Paris Olympics and using advanced h.266/VVC encoding technology to deliver high-quality 8K live streaming services to viewers around the world at the lowest possible bitrate,” said Ravindra (Ravi) Velhal, global content technology strategist and 8K project leader at Intel’s Software and Advanced Technology Group. Ravi said that at the 2024 Paris Olympics, Intel will present an end-to-end 8K VVC live broadcast experience encoded by 5th Generation Intel Xeon Scalable processors and decoded based on Intel’s client processors and Arc GPUs.

This clarifies the direction for the future development of low-latency, broadcast-level 8K resolution live video streaming on the Internet.

Transmitting 8K live content from the Olympic venues in Paris to an 8K-enabled TV on the other side of the globe is a very complex process. This process is supported by a series of hardware and software technologies from Intel. The steps to complete the 8K broadcast include:

• In selected Olympic venues, 8K real-time content was captured using broadcast-grade cameras at 60 frames per second high definition (HDR), 48 Gbps bit rate and 32 audio channels.

• A dedicated “broadcast-in-a-box” encoder powered by 5th Generation Intel Xeon Scalable processors can process this raw content in less than 400 milliseconds and quickly publish it to the Internet in seconds.

• Globally, PCs based on Intel Core i9 processors, equipped with Intel Arc graphics processors, and laptops based on Intel Core Ultra 9 processors can decode content released by the Olympic Broadcast Service (OBS) in real time and then display the video images on 8K TVs protected by Intel's High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection technology (HDCP).

Intel processors power 8K display technology, pushing HD video further into the future

Intel Xeon Scalable Processors, equipped with Intel Advanced Matrix Extensions (Intel AMX) AI Engine, built-in AI accelerators, and Intel Deep Learning Acceleration Technology (Intel DL Boost), can encode 8K/60FPS/HDR real-time original signals within milliseconds. These innovative technologies have pushed the entire industry to take an important step towards 8K display and its popularization.

The world's first 4K TV was released in 2012, and 8K display technology is the successor to the 4K ultra-high-definition standard introduced in the early 21st century. Generally speaking, the media industry takes 7 to 10 years to develop and accept the standards for the next generation of audio-visual technology. Ravi gave an example of the important changes in the development of the global media industry:

• In the late 1990s, the transition from analog to digital signals

• In the early 2000s, there was a shift from standard definition (SD) content to high definition (HD) content

• In about a decade, Intel and its ecosystem partners will lead the transition from HD to 4K

8K display technology allows viewers to be fully immersed in rich audio-visual content, with higher dynamic range and frame rate, which can present buttery smooth sports actions and bring a stronger sense of reality to the audience.

AI platform algorithms help solve “world-class distribution problems”

Capturing rich, immersive 8K content may sound like a complex undertaking. However, delivering it to the screens of viewers around the world is an even more daunting task. During the 2024 Paris Olympics, Ravi and his team will be involved in multiple events, collecting, processing, and transmitting gigabytes of data.

The work will leverage a range of Intel-based advanced AI platform technologies, such as the Intel Advanced Matrix eXtensions (Intel AMX) AI Engine and Intel Deep Learning Acceleration (Intel DL Boost), which are capable of running complex AI workloads without increasing the overall computing footprint.

“We use these technologies in Intel Xeon processors to analyze each scene frame by frame and train our algorithms to ensure low latency and high quality processing of fast-moving data,” Ravi stressed, adding, “From the moment the camera captures the signal to the final presentation on the TV, the latency is only a few seconds, which was not possible in the past.”

“Together with our industry colleagues and technology partners, we are working together to overcome the world-class distribution challenges of 8K live broadcasting. The 2024 Paris Olympics will prove that the era of low-latency, 8K UHD live broadcasting is now.”

Intel will work with the Olympic Broadcast Services (OBS) to broadcast selected events from the Paris Olympic Games to Intel campuses and major broadcasters around the world.