China’s First 5G VR Live Broadcast Conducted for Spring Festival Gala

The most prominent TV show in China, Spring Festival Gala broadcast by China Central Television (CCTV), applied an innovative VR live streaming system over 5G network to make a remarkable audio-visual feast this year. To achieve success of the first VR live broadcasting and enable people to enjoy the Spring Festival Gala in an immersive way, CCTV, in partnership with China Unicom, China Mobile, and tech giant Huawei, applied 8K VR live system and VR camera supplied by Kandao based on the 5G network.

Spring Festival Gala Shenzhen Sub-venue Live Broadcast

CCTV collaborating with China Unicom, China Telecom and Huawei, has set up several Kandao Obsidian 8K VR cameras in the No.1 Studio in China Media Group’s headquarters on Fuxing Road in Beijing, and in Shenzhen and Changchun sub-venues as well. The image data of the Spring Festival Gala captured by Kandao Obsidian was stitched and processed in real time to produce the VR live stream. Benefiting from the 5G network, CCTV transmitted the image data with dramatically improved stability and significantly lower latency to successfully complete China’s first real-time VR live broadcast for Spring Festival Gala.

CCTV News about 5G VR

Providing truly immersive experience with smooth live streaming, the VR live broadcasting over 5G will revolutionize how people watch concerts, sports, and other live events. Thanks to the high-quality images of Obsidian and real-time stitching, low latency and high stability of VR live system, Kandao gains remarkable achievements and built trust with their partners like CCTV, China Mobile, China Telecom, China Unicom, etc. The Spring Festival Gala is not the first case to apply Kandao VR live system. Last year, PGA European Tour, World Internet Conference, and FINA Short Course World Championships successfully applied 8K VR live to stream. Especially the FINA Short Course World Championships broadcast in 8K VR enables people to view every minute of the thrilling contest from the most favorable vantage point.