TVU covers South Korea elections live using multi-solution approach
TVU Networks’ multi-solution approach could be seen earlier this month, when South Korea held its ninth local elections, with more than 44 million voters nationwide casting ballots in one of the largest national elections the country has seen in recent years.
To support media coverage of this major political event in real time, TVU deployed a fully integrated, three-part solution – TVU One live broadcast backpacks, the TVU Anywhere mobile broadcasting app, and the TVU Grid IP routing and distribution system. Together, they formed a complete technical pipeline spanning on-site acquisition, mobile transmission, and multi-point distribution.
On election day, more than 200 TVU One backpacks were in active use across key reporting locations nationwide – from Seoul to Jeju Island – covering polling stations, vote-counting centres, and the campaign headquarters of each party’s candidates. Of these, 50 units were supplied through TVU’s rental fleet, with the remainder drawn from broadcasters’ own TVU One inventories.
TVU One is built on the next-generation ISX multi-network bonding transmission technology, capable of aggregating up to 12 simultaneous network connections spanning multiple 5G/4G mobile networks, WiFi, Ethernet, and even satellite links to create a stable, high-bandwidth transmission channel in challenging network environments.
Building on this, its adaptive algorithm accurately anticipates network conditions and dynamically reallocates bandwidth across links — ensuring reliable signal transmission even in the crowded, congested network conditions around polling stations and counting centres.
Combined with intelligent HEVC variable bitrate (VBR) encoding and a Forward Error Correction (FEC) optimisation algorithm, the device automatically adjusts its encoding bitrate and data redundancy based on real-time network conditions, maintaining high image quality while delivering ultra-low latency.
To cover the many dispersed polling sites and on-the-street interview scenarios, frontline reporters were each equipped with mobile devices running the TVU Anywhere app.
All field signals were transmitted in real time to each broadcaster’s Seoul studio centre. After live switching, graphics packaging, and compositing with studio footage, the final PGM signal was distributed via TVU Grid to broadcast stations nationwide and to overseas partner media.
Through the coordinated deployment of these three solutions, the live coverage of these local elections was delivered without interruption. Whether for instant live shots from polling sites, real-time tracking at vote-counting centres, or immediate responses from each party’s candidates, TVU’s solutions provided stable signal transmission and high-quality imaging throughout.
